Your Own Domain registration is the cost you can't afford to
cut out of your business budget
Your Own Domain registration is the cost you can't afford to
cut out of your business budget
Often time I've browsed sites and seen the same thing - general
rep websites or free hosted sites. Pop ups irritate me from the
free sites as does the blatant ads getting in the way of the text,
and if you have seen one rep site you literally have seen them
all. Boring, unoriginal, and unprofessional.
But after all they are free, and free is good right? Wrong - not
when it comes to your image online.
Regardless of the business you are in, it's important you have
your own website. Meaning you have a unique domain name with purchased
hosting. There are many benefits to owning your own website and
I'll explain why:
1. Ability to Track Visitors
If you don't know where your visitors are coming from, there is
no way to know if your advertising is working or not. It's a shot
in the dark, and the internet is too large to take a chance like
that.
While some free hosting companies offer the ability to edit your
pages and add trackers, general rep sites usually do not.
2. Eliminates unwanted information/ads
Most free hosting company will place their own ads on your
website. How many potential customers could you be loosing with
this? The same applies for company information on rep websites.
Should your potential customer contact the company directly instead
of you, you've lost that commission/sale.
3. Ability to give your site a personal feel
Company rep sites of course all look alike. Very few give the
option of editing, so you are "stuck" with their design,
their content and descriptions, and their information. Many free
hosting companies only have templates to use, so your sites
would look like many others online. Giving your website a personal
feel with your own design, descriptions, and information sets you
apart from your competition.
4. Creates a Professional Look
Not only is your website easy to remember when you have a
unique domain name, but your visitors will take you seriously. They
know you are serious about your online business, and are quicker
to trust… and buy. You've shown them you care about your business
and your customers as well by creating a friendly site.
5. Ability to Edit Pages for SEO purposes
Many free hosting sites are frowned on by major search engines,
and rep sites of course are definitely frowned on. Most company
rep sites cannot be edited, which means you cannot add link exchange
pages to increase your rankings, nor can you edit the titles for
SEO purposes. Many potential customers are being lost from search
engines with these types of sites.
There are of course other reasons why you need your own website
- such as for many directories that do not accept links from anything
but top-level domains (like www.yourdomain.com). Domain names are
very reasonable, costing around $8 per year while hosting costs
as low as $6/month. Domain and hosting companies are everywhere,
it just depends on what your needs are. For small websites
I recommend Mommy's Helper ( http://www.mommyshelper.com/web-hosting.html
)
This is cost you can't afford to cut out of your business budget.
About the Author
About the author: Kara Kelso is the co-owner of Home Business Specialists
( http://www.home-business-specialists.com
), which offers services to help run a successful home based business.
Mothers in business can receive home business tips by subscribing
to Mommy's Helper - Mom's Market Ezine: http://www.momsmarketonline.com/Ezine.html
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