What is a domain name? What better example than www.BakaDev.com!

A domain name is intended to be a friendly and memorable “nickname” for accessing your website. The real address of a website is its Internet Protocol Address, or IP Address; but it’s a heck of a lot easier to remember www.google.com than it is http://74.125.45.105/ – don’t you think? A domain can also serve as much more than just a nickname – it’s also the face of your online business. Your domain name is how the world will see you and/or your business. It’s part of your branding and marketing plan.

Rules
There are various rules about domains. Firstly, issues around copyright and legal ownership must be avoided. You can use up to 63 characters in the domain name. No spaces or underscores allowed. Use letters, numbers and hyphens – but it must not start or end with a hyphen and must contain at least one letter. Capital letters can be used to make the domain look more clearer but capitalization is ignored.

The different parts of a DomainTime to dissect!

You commonly see domains like so: BakaDev.com, and here is a simple breakdown:

1. The first part; BakaDev
   This is the website name, or “Second-Level Domain”, it represents your company or brand name.
2. The last part, .com
   This is the extension, or “Top-Level Domain”. Most people instinctively type in .com after the website name, so unless you fit within a specific category of TLD, it’s always recommended to get a .com extension.(an example of a website that would not use .com is a Library – an educational entity will typically choose .edu over .com. See a list of common TLD’s below)

The History of Domain Name SystemYay for history!

When the Domain Name System was created in the 1980s, the domain name space was divided into two main groups of domains. The country code top-level domains (ex: .uk, .jp) were primarily based on the two-character country abbreviations. In addition, a group of seven generic top-level domains was implemented which represented a set of categories – .gov, .edu, .com, .mil, .org, .net, and .int. As time went on there was a desire for more top-level domains, so as of October 2009, there are 21 generic top-level domains and 250 two-letter country-code top-level domains.

Uniform Resource Locator or URLI thought we were talking about domains?

So you might have heard the abbreviation URL in conjunction/or interchangeably with domain name – is there a difference? Yes. But don’t worry they are related and used together; in fact a domain is part of a URL. The difference however is that a URL is a direct link to a specific file or resource – that file can be an HTML web page, PDF document, or MP3 – it’s the entire line you see in the address bar when you go to a specific page or file. Let’s dissect another frog…err website address.

For this section we’re going to use the following URL:

http://bakadev.com/webdev/address.jpg

Top-Level Domains and What They RepresentSo many to choose from!

• .COM — Abbreviation of “Commerce” — Commercial business site, available to all
• .NET — Abbreviation of “Network” — Network organizations, available to all
• .ORG — Abbreviation of “Organization” — Non-Profit Organizations and others, available to all
• .INFO — Abbreviation of “Information” — available to all
• .BIZ — Abbreviation of “Business” — available to all
• .GOV — Abbreviation of “Government” — reserved for U.S. government agencies (non-military)
• .EDU — Abbreviation of “Education” — reserved for educational institutions (usually a university, college or school)
• .MIL — Abbreviation of “Military” — U.S. Military sites or agencies

Because the Internet was created in the United States, .us was not originally assigned to U.S. domain names; however it is used to designate American State & Local Government hosts.

• .ca.us – California
• .nc.us – North Carolina
• .tx.us – Texas

Other countries have their own two-letter codes as the top level of their domain name.

• .ca – Canada
• .jp – Japan
• .uk – United Kingdom

MoleHill is a Carolina’s based publishing group dedicated to creating & selling calendars for charity. Rodger from MoleHill approached us about creating a website that would showcase their upcoming calendars and allow people to pre-order/order. During production we also added an area where MoleHill can post a “Behind the Scenes” look at creating the calendars. Lastly we added in a generic Contact Form, a Partner’s Link (to showcase other who gave their time or support in creating the calendars) and general About information. Because their organization works to benefit charities, such as the Breast Cancer Research Foundation; we reduced our pricing by 75%!! The Breast Cancer Research Foundation is a particularly special charity for BakaDev owner, Travis Wilson, and as such felt this would be a great way to give to the charity.

For more information about how you can donate to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, view their website here – or – order/pre-order a calendar from MoleHill today!

So you’re thinking of creating a website for you or your business. The first thing you need to ask yourself is; “Do I need a website?” Here are a few reasons why you should say “Yes!”

• Online Presence!

  Having an online presence serves as an identity for you and/or your company.

• Advertising!

  If I told you I can make your company visible to millions of people and it would cost you $60 a year why wouldn’t you spend the money? *

• Educate & Inform!

  We want our customers informed with as much upfront information as possible; ie. Store Hours, Phone, Address, etc.

Ok – now you have decided you want a website, yes? Well let’s examine the costs involved and see just how much you would spend on a website.  Here are the essentials:

• Domain ($10/year)

• Hosting ($50/year)

• Web Design & Development  (varies)

Domain (Typical cost is $10 per year)

This is your address on the web! (ex. www.BakaDev.com ) There are different types of domains; .com, .net, .org, etc. The first thing you want to do is come up with an address you like, and then check if it’s been registered yet (Domain Name Search). If you’re domain is available you can purchase it at any online hosting or domain reseller. What you will find is that certain types of domains can be cheaper or more expensive; typically though your average .Com domain is $10 per year.

Hosting (Typical cost is $50 per year or $6 per month)

Your hosting account is where your files live. So if your domain is your address, then your hosting is your house. This is where all the files needed to create your website reside. There are 2 standard types of hosting packages; Windows or Linux. Most people think; “Well, I use Windows, so it’s probably the best.” – I couldn’t disagree more. You want to base your hosting options on your needs. If you plan to run an ASP/.Net application then Windows is certainly the way to go – however – if you want to use PHP and content management systems like WordPress; then Linux is the optimal choice. Here at BakaDev we do very little ASP/.Net work, so we always recommend a Linux Hosting Plan. Linux hosting packages start as little as $50 a year (if paid in full) or the more popular option is the monthly plan of $6 per month. **

Web Design & Development (Pricing varies)

So you have your address, and you have your house; now you need to fill that house with stuff! The next step is to create your website and you have two options; create the website yourself or hire someone. Creating a website yourself is doable with the right software and resources; it may not come out as professional as you like but it can be done for free. Much like tiling your kitchen floor can be done for free. If you buy the tools necessary you can tile your kitchen floor, but don’t expect it to come out as professional looking as someone who has been doing it for 10+years. So you may decide to hire someone, the pricing (and quality) can vary tremendously depending on who you select. Domain and Hosting prices are typically around the same price at all hosting and domain resellers; but Web Design & Development can fluctuate from a couple hundred to several thousands of dollars. As always you can find our pricing right on the website; but with other firms you may need to call for an initial quote – then depending on changes, revisions, additions, etc – it could change the original quote dramatically.

Final Price

So in conclusion; setting up a website can be as cheap as $60 per year for hosting and domain. The Design & Development pricing can be as little as free or more costly than a brand new 2010 Camaro! With all things, research as much as possible. Make sure that a hosting company guarantees 99% uptime, make sure you know the domain renewal price, and lastly verify that whomever you select to develop your website has a good portfolio and references! Or if you decide to build your own website; read up on HTML & CSS – those are the building blocks of web development.

*Having a website does not mean it will come up first on google – but with proper search engine optimization you can make yourself visible to a great majority. SEO makes your website more likely to be found when someone searches for certain keywords – ie. Charlotte Antique Motorcycle

Cindy Holiday is a model in the Charlotte, NC area. Cindy requested a website that would allow her to display her work and photography. The layout we chose allows Cindy to display a thumbnail of her work with a lightbox feature to open the images in full screen. She also had a set of icons she wanted to use for social networks but was unable to find matching icons for Deviant Art and Model Mayhem. BakaDev was able to create 2 new icons in the same style to match her iconset. We also created the logo to match her background design.