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Own domain name?
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MacGirl80
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Apr 26, 2013, 06:19 AM
 
Any suggestions for someone starting their own website? I've been told I need to register my own domain name but is this relevant for individuals as well as businesses? What's the best way to go about finding a unique one? I've been looking around after someone suggested these guysBuy a domain name at 1&1 and build your own website now and they seem to offer other services too.
Any recommendations?
     
andi*pandi
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Apr 26, 2013, 07:50 AM
 
I would never use 1 and 1, have heard horrible things.

I use Dreamhost, you can buy the domain and have the site hosted with them. Very friendly.

Domain registration, domain hosting, transfer domain by Dreamhost

Picking out the domain is just figuring out what you want, and what's available. What type of website?

If you are just doing a personal blog, you could use tumblr.com or wordpress.com and not bother with your own domain.
     
MacGirl80  (op)
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Apr 26, 2013, 08:23 AM
 
I'll have a look at that, thanks.
It's a writer website.
     
turtle777
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Apr 26, 2013, 09:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by andi*pandi View Post
I would never use 1 and 1, have heard horrible things.

I use Dreamhost, you can buy the domain and have the site hosted with them. Very friendly.
I have been with 1&1 before, and would not recommend them for anything halfway mission critical.

I've been with Dreamhost for 9 years. Good stuff.

-t
     
besson3c
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Apr 27, 2013, 12:19 AM
 
Dreamhost is an insecure mess, I wouldn't host anything other than pictures of my cat there. Things may have improved recently, but there are widely documented reports of intrusions as recent as Dec. 2012 (DreamHost hacked, mass password-reset issued | ZDNet), and given that their business model is high volume low cost I really have my doubts and strong bias that they are still crap. What this means for you potentially is your site being defaced and injected with malware. About the only company that seems worse is GoDaddy, which I'd stay away from too.

MacGirl, why not just create yourself a WordPress site? WordPress.com - Get a Free Blog Here. Since you said "writer website" this made me think that you need a nice blogging platform, which WordPress certainly is.
     
turtle777
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Apr 27, 2013, 10:38 PM
 
Well, yeah, I probably wouldn't go to Dresmhost with a business site, but 1&1 wouldn't even get a useless personal website from me.

-t
     
Waragainstsleep
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Apr 28, 2013, 06:49 AM
 
If your business model is a blog-type site or a site with resources, reference material, forums etc which will rely on advertising to generate revenue, then using a hosted Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr or whatever you like is probably fine. If you plan on communicating directly with paying customers via email, I personally think it looks much more professional to have your own domain name. Also I think if you plan to advertise your site in certain ways, having a domain is better too. If you will be handing out business cards or flyers or posting ads in print media (something I imagine writers are still fond of) or on bus stops or billboards then people are far more likely to remember a good domain name than they are a generic looking address tacked on to Wordpress or whatever.

Decide who your target market is and work out how tech-savvy you think they are. If they are all tech writers they aren't going to struggle to deal with ugly URLs if your site or service is sufficiently compelling. If you are aiming at 60+ year-olds who prefer things leather bound and dusty in a wingback chair with a glass of single malt then you need to think about a domain which is catchy, to the point, easy to remember etc etc.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
besson3c
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Apr 28, 2013, 06:59 AM
 
Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep View Post
If your business model is a blog-type site or a site with resources, reference material, forums etc which will rely on advertising to generate revenue, then using a hosted Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr or whatever you like is probably fine. If you plan on communicating directly with paying customers via email, I personally think it looks much more professional to have your own domain name. Also I think if you plan to advertise your site in certain ways, having a domain is better too. If you will be handing out business cards or flyers or posting ads in print media (something I imagine writers are still fond of) or on bus stops or billboards then people are far more likely to remember a good domain name than they are a generic looking address tacked on to Wordpress or whatever.

Decide who your target market is and work out how tech-savvy you think they are. If they are all tech writers they aren't going to struggle to deal with ugly URLs if your site or service is sufficiently compelling. If you are aiming at 60+ year-olds who prefer things leather bound and dusty in a wingback chair with a glass of single malt then you need to think about a domain which is catchy, to the point, easy to remember etc etc.

Good suggestions!

wordpress.com will host your own domain for you for $18/year, FWIW...
     
Waragainstsleep
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Apr 28, 2013, 03:50 PM
 
Originally Posted by besson3c View Post
Good suggestions!

wordpress.com will host your own domain for you for $18/year, FWIW...
That seems pricey for a DNS forward that would come free with the domain name from most providers. I guess masking the whole website would look a little better though.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
MacGirl80  (op)
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Apr 29, 2013, 04:38 AM
 
All great suggestions, thanks. I need to do some more thinking about this.
     
shifuimam
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Apr 30, 2013, 02:04 PM
 
I love my VPS. I use 1and1 for domain registration, but use Linode to do the hosting for all of my domains and sites.
Sell or send me your vintage Mac things if you don't want them.
     
besson3c
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Apr 30, 2013, 02:15 PM
 
I like Linode a great deal too, although I prefer Amazon EC2. I find that in many cases they are cheaper and offer some additional tools and flexibility that Linode doesn't. It is obviously a huge headache to figure out how to use their cost calculator and think about your costs in terms of the resources you are consuming. There is a definite beauty to the simplicity of Linode's product matrix, for so long as what you need fits nicely inside of their product matrix.
     
   
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