Webmaster Tips

Just a few tips to get you started with your website, and to help get your site listed in search engines...

Buying domain names

First, I'd start by saying DON'T use GoDaddy.com! For newbies and experienced users alike, GoDaddy is just about the most awkward and complex and fiddly system I've ever come across. Avoid.

I personally use directNIC. It's simple and easy, and the domains are about as cheap as they come at $15 for top level domains (less for certain other domains). If you buy a lot of domains then you can save even more money, but you probably need to be a webmaster to take advantage of that since the prices only drop when you buy hundreds. I've been using this company for a long time and, for the most part, have been very happy with them.

Click here to buy a domain name

Website Optimization

There is a wealth of information out there about how to optimize your website. Don't expect your site to miraculously appear at the top of the search engines; you have to do a bit of ground work first. A lot of the work is (hopefully) already done in the website creation process, but there's still a bit for the site owner to do too. You can find some really good information at sites like these:

Reciprocal Links

One thing you might consider for your site is a small list of repricocal links. Link exchange is quite a nice way to get people linking to your site, although it doesn't always help you. Don't think that quantity is all you need; a fewer number of good quality links will work better than several hundred irrelevant links. The keywords between the linking sites need to correlate – so, for instance, I need to swap links with websites about "website design" and "web hosting" and so on. If "Joe's Pizza" links to me, that's fine, but pizza has nothing to do websites so that link is considered pretty worthless in terms of search engine rankings.

Of course, sometimes you need to get your name listed in a directory that has nothing in particular to do with your line of business. That's fine too; linking to seemingly "irrelevant" sites is harmless, and does mean you get that return link that you crave.

Here are a few reciprocal links for my site. Sometimes you have to use the code and text these other sites provide, and other times you can write your own...