It Was the Nameservers

If you're following my website building adventures, I had built a website, but was having trouble getting it uploaded to the internet.

I submitted a ticket to my host, HostGator. It only took a half hour to receive a reply explaining the problem. Not bad!

The problem: I hadn't pointed the nameservers to HostGator.

Okay, that's happened to me before. The first time I heard it, I felt like I was reading a foreign language. At this point, I should know better. But this is exactly the kind of thing that made me want to create Website Building 4 Newbies. If you've hired a web designer, he/she will probably do this for you. And I would guess that if your host is also your domain registrar this will be done for you (though I'm not sure). Otherwise, you need to know this.

How to Point Your nameservers to Your Host

When you create an account with your new host, the host will tell you what your nameservers are. Usually there are two. It's just a string of characters.

Go to your domain registrar, log in, and go to your domain name. Somewhere, you'll find a place where you will tell the domain registrar what your nameservers are.

Simply input the nameservers and save the info.

If you can't figure out where to input the nameserver information, do submit a ticket for help or telephone help.

I just did this about an hour ago, with my domain registrar, NameCheap, and frankly, I didn't find it easy to find the info. I just kept stubbornly clicking things until I found it. But it's definitely easier to just ask for help.

For NameCheap, here's what I did (I will need to click around again to figure it out, but I will do that for you!).

After logging in, I'm choosing "manage domains" from the top menu. A screen comes up with the two domain names I have registered there.

I click on www.heartbeat-childrens-music.com and another screen comes up.

On the left there is a menu. Okay, the second item down is an obvious giveaway: Domain Name Server Setup.

I don't remember that being there before, honest!

Okay, I click on that, and a screen comes up that has five different fields so that you can add up to five nameservers. I've never had more than two.

Click on "save changes" and logout. You're done!

If you want to see how my website looks now that I've finally uploaded it, visit www.heartbeat-childrens-music.com. Frankly, I do not like this template. But it's a start.

I'll be updating this blog as I make progress.

Janet

My Progress So Far

By now I had hoped to have at least a website template up at www.heartbeat-childrens-music.com.

No such luck.

I did find a music-oriented template at XSitePro . I don't really like it. But it's a start.

Now all I need to do it publish it, using XSitePro's automatic publishing page. It asks for a bunch of information. And apparently, I'm getting at least some of it wrong. Because I keep changing the info and hitting "publish" and there's still no site up.

At this point I have three choices:

1. Submit a ticket to HostGator asking for the right info.

2. Call HostGator, asking for the right info.

3. Spend hours trying to figure it out myself.

For may years, I've chosen option 3. Maybe I have more testosterone than most females, because it's a bit like men refusing to ask for directions (yeah, I've done that too).

But I'm ready to try one of the other options. Be back later today with the results.

Janet

Update: I just submitted a ticket at 10:33am. They have been VERY prompt with their replies, so I expect to have an answer within a few hours at the most. I will let you know how long it takes to get the right info.

Time to Make That Website

Okay, I've got my host and my domain name. Time to bite the bullet and get something, anything up there.

I'm going to use XSitePro to design the site. I'll start with a template and then I'll work on changing it to meet the site's needs. So please bear with me as I finally turn HeartBeat Children's Music into a real website.

Janet

HostGator

So I finally found a web host for HeartBeat Children’s Music. It’s HostGator.

If you’ve been following this blog, you may be wondering why I went back to the same host I had given up on earlier.

Well, I did some research, and frankly, HostGator came out ahead. I’m still not happy about the poor way they communicate their prices (for more on that, see my post Watch Me Get a Host for My Site.

But my colleagues and friends gave HostGator high marks. And it came out on top on website reviews.

Originally, I was going for their least expensive plan, Hatchling, advertised at $4.95 a month. It’s actually $8.95 a month if you pay from month to month.

For only a dollar more per month, I can have unlimited domains. That means I can switch two of my other websites there for just $12 a year!

So I chose the Baby plan, which is advertised as $7.95 a month, but costs $9.95 a month if you pay from month to month.

So is my hosting account all set?

Well, not exactly.

Just to get the web hosting working, I need to point the “name servers” to the new host. What does that mean? I’ll tell you in my next post, when I actually do it.

If you buy your domain name from your web host, you don’t need to worry about that. But I have read advice suggesting that you do not buy your domain name from your host.

Why not? Because if you later change hosts, you may end up in an awkward situation. It’s been suggested that the host might make it difficult for you to switch hosts.

This actually happened to me with my first domain name and host. And yes, switching was a pain in the neck. But I don’t remember any real horror stories. So you may want to make your life easier and simply buy the domain name from the host, especially if this technical stuff intimidates you.

What do I need to do after that?

Once I point the name servers to the new host, I still need to design the site, or get it designed.

I have no idea what I’m going to do about that, so it should be fun exploring the many options (which I describe at WB4N).

Meanwhile, I’m happy to have finally chosen HostGator and gotten the important web hosting aspect of this job completed.

Janet

Site Build It! special extended to Sept. 9

Just a quick note to let you know that the SBI special I mentioned in the last post has been extended until Sept. 9.

Here's a link to the SBI site:

Site Build It!

Wishing you peace & prosperity,

Janet

Site Build It is having a Back to Work Special until August 29

Site Build It (SBI) is a great website building program, the only one I highly recommend. Every now and then they have a special and they're having one right now:

Purchase a one-year subscription of SBI for $299 and get a second for $100.

If the cost sounds high, I encourage you to read my review of SBI so you know what you get with the subscription. Compare it to any other method of website building, and you'll see that, unless you're a crack website building and designer, you come out ahead.

When I first heard of this special, I wondered why anyone would want two subscriptions. Well, you can give it to your spouse or your older child, or you can split the cost with a friend who wants to build a website.

In any case, Site Build It is a unique program that's well worth looking into, especially if you're looking to build a solid, satisfying, long-term business.

For more information, or to order SBI, visit their main page at SiteSell.

Janet

P.S. If you're waiting for me to finally choose a host for my children's music website, sorry for the long wait! So much has been happening this summer. I'm hoping to get to this soon, maybe even today, if this turns out to be the relaxing Sunday I could use right now! ;-)

Watch me get a host for my site

Apologies for the delay, I've been on vacation!

It's about time I get a host for this website. When I was researching the hosting page at Website Building 4 Newbies, I decided that HostGator was my first choice for hosting, other than the host I've been using, Banana Hosting.

Well, I've never used Host Gator, and I want to experience using the host I recommend to you. So right now, as I write this, I will get my host for www.heartbeat-childrens-music.com.

Okay, I'm at the website, looking at their $4.95/month option. I clicked on the "Learn More" button. Looks like the plan for me. It has unlimited bandwidth and unlimited disk space. That's all I need for this site. If I were planning to host a forum on the site, offering products and using a shopping cart, or making it uber-popular, then I might want something more. But for my purposes, this is fine.

I click on the order button. There are two options:

o Register New Domain

or

o I will use My Existing Domain and update My Nameservers only.

I've already got my domain. I've heard its best to get your domain and your host in two different places. That way, if you have a problem with the host, you can switch hosts without having to fiddle with the domain name.

This is reminding me that I need to deal with the nameservers. I hate doing that. It's not hard, just confusing. So I'll write about that here, so you can suffer with me, uh, I mean, learn how to do it. ;-)

Okay, I'm entering my domain name and clicking the "next" button.

Hmmm, this is interesting. It's telling me the cost is $8.95 plus $5 setup. What happened to the $4.95 option?

I'll click on live chat and find out what the story is.

Okay, Douglas Be was wonderfully helpful. But I am not going to get hosting with Host Gator today. Here's the scoop:

The cost comes out to $4.95 per month if you pay for three years worth of hosting all at once. The cost is $8.95 per month if you pay from month to month.

I asked Douglas if this was stated anywhere on the site. He said that if you are on the order page and you hover your mouse over the price, it gives you the details.

Well, expecting people to hover their mouses is no way to communicate! I'm not sure I want a host who can't be clear about its pricing. And I told them just that.

The pricing itself is fair enough. I'm not looking for a cheaper host. I'm looking for a more honest host.

So no hosting yet. I will do some more research and write another blog post when I find a good host.

Peace,

Janet

Watch me choose a domain name for my site

As promised, I'm letting you look over my shoulder as I build a new website, www.HeartBeat-Childrens-Music.com.

If you visit Website Building 4 Newbies, you'll notice the first step is niche research (also known as keyword research).

I already know I'm offering children's music classes, even if it isn't promising, because I love it. So did I skip this step? Yes and no.

Google's AdWords tool is a free tool for doing keyword research. It can help you find a good niche. But it can also help you find good keywords to use in your domain name and web content.

So I looked up "childrens music" and "family music". You can't use apostrophes in the domain name, which is why I didn't use it in the search.

Turns out "childrens music" gets about 60,500 monthly searches for the exact phrase, and "family music" gets about 4,400. If the number is over 3,000, that's promising. The tool also said "family music" is far less competitive than "childrens music". So I should go with heartbeat-family-music.com, right?

Well...

When I Googled "Family music" I found it gets 278 million organic* results! Wow, that's a lot of competition! And the results aren't necessarily targeted to my audience of parents with very young children.

"Childrens music" gets 47.3 million organic* results. That's still a huge number. Probably too big. But surprisingly, it's much lower than the "family music" results.

What about competing with pay-per-click ads? Google's tool tells me if I place AdWords ads, "childrens music" will cost 60 cents per click, while "family music" will cost 51 cents.

I'm hoping to avoid paying for AdWords, or I might analyze this more carefully. But the 9-cent difference is not a huge.

Now, realistically, I'm not likely to get up in the search engines for either keyword. But you never know - it doesn't hurt to be optimistic, right?

So I decided to go with "childrens music."

In this case, either domain name would probably have worked as well, but it's worth checking with the AdWords tool. It's not unlikely that your niche might include some great keywords with a lot less competition than this.

Next time, I'll tell you where I registered my domain and how I avoided losing my chosen name to a practice known as "front running" or "domain tasting".

To be sure you catch my next post, click on the orange button at the top right and subscribe to my blog.

Wishing you peace & prosperity,

Janet

*Organic search results are the natural, non-sponsored search results.

Watch Me Build a New Site!

I just purchased a new domain name, www.HeartBeat-Childrens-Music.com. I'll be offering classes to young children in my area.

It occurred to me that this is a perfect opportunity for you to watch me build a new site.

I can't afford a web designer, so I'll be stumbling to get this right. I'll be updating my progress right here on this blog.

So far it's just a parked domain. I took the first step yesterday, which was to visit www.namecheap.com, check the availability of my preferred domains, and buy the one that was closest to what I wanted. The cost was just under $10 for one year, so don't fall for any company that tries to charge you more than that.

You can find out more about choosing a domain name at the Domain Name page and its related pages at Website Building 4 Newbies.

If you'd like to subscribe to my posts (which will include more than this project), click on the orange button to the right, the one that says "posts."

Looking forward to having you along on my journey!

Wishing you peace & prosperity,

Janet

Site Build It is having its Summer Sandals special until June 21

Site Build It is having another special. This happens fairly often, but it's worth catching if you may want two websites. For instance, you might want one for yourself and another for your teenager.

The deal is, if you buy one website for $299, you get a second for $100. The special ends at midnight on June 21.

To find out more about the special, visit SiteSell and click on the box with the sand in it (the sandbox?).

I used SBI to create Website Building 4 Newbies, and I think it's fantastic. To find out more about why I like it so much, check out My Experience with SBI.

Wishing you peace & prosperity,

Janet

Beware of Domain Name Renewal Notices

A while ago I got a domain renewal notice in the mail for Website-Building-4-Newbies. A company called Domain Renewal Group was kind enough to inform me that my registration for that domain name would expire on July 30, 2009.

Just one problem: My domain is not registered through them.

That didn't stop them from offering me the following deal:

Renew for 1 year for $30

Renew for 2 years (Recommended) for $50 (save $10)

Renew for 5 years (Best Value) for $95 (save $55)

Those parenthetical comments are theirs, not mine.

Now, you can register a domain name at namecheap for less than $10 a year.

So if you get a "bill" telling you you'll save $55 by paying $95 by renewing your domain name for five years through them - even if they are your real registrar, get a new one!

What makes me really angry about this notice is that it is indeed made to look like a bill.

Here's a paragraph from this "Domain Name Expiration Notice" as it is labeled:

"You must renew your domain name to retain exclusive rights to it on the web and now is the time ot transfer and renew your name from your current Registrar to the Domain Renewal Group. Failure to renew your domain name by the expiration date may result in a loss of your online identity making it difficult for your customers and friends to locate you on the web."

Never mind that it takes a day or two to renew a domain name, that this domain name doesn't expire until July 30, and that they requested a reply by March 30, 2009.

The moral: If you get a domain renewal notice in the mail, first, be sure it's from your actual domain registrar! Second, if you're paying more than $10 for your domain name, be sure there's a good reason why (for instance, you want several extensions - e.g., .com, .net, and .org).

Hope this was helpful.

Wishing you peace & prosperity,

Janet
Website Building 4 Newbies

Site Build It is having a Mother's Day Special!

Site Build It is the website building program I used to create Website Building 4 Newbies. I've been impressed with the quality of this program.

Its owner,Ken Evoy, has a lot of integrity. He emphasizes that this is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It is an opportunity to build a long-term business.

To find out about the special, visit SBI Mother's Day Special and click on the box with the yellow flower on it.

To find out more about why I love SBI, check out My Experience with SBI.

Wishing you peace & prosperity,

Janet

Direct Response Copy & Catalog Copy

I updated Website Building 4 Newbies with two new pages this week.

One is about direct response copy.

The other is about catalog copy.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of having good copy on your website. I hope you find these articles useful.

Wishing you peace & prosperity,

Janet

SBI Special Ends Today (January 5)

Just a quick reminder that the Site Build It! special ends tonight at midnight. This is their best special of the year. It won't be back until December 2009. So if you're interested, don't delay!

You can see my SBI review at:

Janet's Site Build It Review

It's a wonderful program for people who are willing to take their time and work hard at building a profitable site that offers truly valuable content to its visitors.

Janet

How to build a website, explained in plain English

Hi and Happy New Year!

Today, I'm starting a new blog as a companion to my website at www.website-building-4-newbies.com.

That website explains every step of the website building process in plain English.

I'm creating this blog to keep you updated on what's going on the world of website building.

The blog will have a looser focus than the website. And I plan to include related information on things like driving traffic to your site, building a list, etc.

Right now the biggest news is the Site Build It! special. It's their best special of the year. Buy one website and get the second free. It started on December 12 and it ends on Monday, January 5, at midnight.

I used SBI to build www.website-building-4-newbies.com. Now I had built several sites already, but I had never had such success! I'm really impressed.

You can see my review of SBI here:

Janet's SBI Review Page

Or you can go straight to SBI:

Site Build It!

This special won't be repeated until December, 2009, so this is your last chance to take advantage of it.

There's a 100% money-back guarantee, so you can't go wrong.

If you don't want to miss the latest news, you can subscribe to this blog using the link to the left.

Best wishes for a joyous, peaceful & prosperous 2009,

Janet