FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Below offers introductory answers to frequently asked questions about website development, digital media marketing, and graphic design services. Click on a subject heading below to view questions and answers relating to your selection. Links throughout the answers will guide you to further information on our website or from other sources. Should you have any further questions, please consult our Contact Us page.

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  How do I choose a good domain name?
  This depends on how you are going to use it. If you are going to be telling people over the phone, choose one that is easy to say and spell out loud. Above all, choose one that is memorable and not to long or confusing.
     
  When choosing my domain name, are there any "rules" i should follow?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Yes and here they are

The Top Ten things you should know before choosing a domain name.

 

1. Brainstorm 5 Top Keywords

When you first begin your domain name search, it helps to have 5 terms or phrases in mind that best describe the domain you're seeking. Once you have this list, you can start to pair them or add prefixes & suffixes to create good domain ideas. For example, if you're launching a mortgage related domain, you might start with words like "mortage, finance, home equity, interest rate, house payment" then play around until you can find a good match.

 

2. Make the Domain Unique

Having your website confused with a popular site alreadyowned by someone else is a recipe for disaster. Thus, Inever choose domains that are simply the plural, hyphenatedor misspelled version of an already established domain. Istill believe that Flickr desperately needs to buy
Flicker.com - I hear kids in their 20's tell parents in their 40's and 50's to see photos on Flickr and always envision that traffic going straight to the wrong domain.

 

3. Only Choose Dot-Com Available Domains

If you're not concerned with type-in traffic, branding or name recognition, you don't need to worry about this one.However, if you're at all serious about building asuccessful website over the long-term, you should be worriedabout all of these elements, and while directing traffic to
a .net or .org (as SEOmoz does) is fine, owning and 301'ingthe .com is critical. With the exception of the verytech-savvy, most people who use the web still make theautomatic assumption that .com is all that's out there -
don't make the mistake of locking out or losing traffic to these folks.

 

4. Make it Easy to Type

If a domain name requires considerable attention to type correctly, due to spelling, length or the use ofun-memorable words or sounds, you've lost a good portion of your branding and marketing value. I've even heard usability folks toute the value of having the letters include
easy-to-type letters (which I interpret as avoiding "q," "z," "x," "c," and "p").

 

5.Make it Easy to Remember

Remember that word-of-mouth and SERPs dominance marketing (where your domain consistently comes up for industry-related searches) both rely on the ease with which the domain can be called to mind. You don't want to be the company with the terrific website that no one can ever remember to tell their friends about because they can't remember the domain name.

 

6. Keep the Name as Short as Possible

Short names are easy to type and easy to remember (the previous two rules). They also allow for more characters in the URL in the SERPs and a better fit on business cards and other offline media.

 

7. Create and Fulfill Expectations

When someone hears about your domain name for the first time, they should be able to instantly and accurately guess at the type of content that might be found there. That's why I love domain names like Hotmail.com, CareerBuilder.com, AutoTrader.com and WebMD.com. Domains like Monster.com, Amazon.com and Zillow.com (whom I usually praise) required far more branding because of their un-intuitive names.

 

8. Avoid Copyright Infringement

This is a mistake that isn't made too often, but can kill a great domain and a great company when it does. To be sure you're not infringing on anyone's copyright with your site's name, visit copyright.gov and search before you buy.

 

9. Set Yourself Apart with a Brand

Using a unique moniker is a great way to build additional value with your domain name. A "brand" is more than just a combination of words, which is why names like mortgageforyourhome.com or shoesandboots.com aren't as compelling as branded names like bankrate.com or
lendingtree.com. SEOmoz itself is a good example - "SEO" does a good job of explaining the industry we're in and creating expectations, while "moz" gives a web association, and an association with being free, open, and community-driven.

 

10. Reject Hyphens and Numbers

Both hyphens and numbers make it hard to give your domain name verbally and falls down on being easy to remember or type. I'd suggest not using spelled-out or roman numerals in domains, as both can be confusing and mistaken for the other
     
  How long does it take to have a web site designed?
  One of the most asked questions in our industry. The time frame is determined by the size and complexity of your project. Another important factor is how long it take the client to supply us with ALL final content for the site.To give you a ballpark figue, most site take between 3 to 6 weeks.
     
  How much does a web site cost?
 

There are quite a few factors that are going to affect the final cost of your web site. These factors include how many pages you are going to have, if you will sell products on your website, do you need things like a photo gallery, a blog, all these things factor in when pricing a website project. Here at IMCsites.com we have custom websites starting at only $399.00 also you need to decide is you need hosting and
a domain name, these also add to the cost.
     
  What is hosting?
  hosting is basically where you site "live' on the internet, it a bit like paying rent for a small piece of the internet to display your site.
     
 

Can I choose you to design my site and use my own web hosting?
  yes, we will just set up the final site on your hosting provider.
     
  What is "SEO"?
  Short for search engine optimization, the process of increasing the amount of visitors to a Web site by optimizing a website thus increasing its ranking in the search results of a search engine. The higher a Web site ranks in the results of a search, the greater the chance that that site will be visited by a user. It is common practice for Internet users to not click through pages and pages of search results, so where a site ranks in a search is essential for directing more traffic toward the site.