{"id":6985,"date":"2020-11-30T11:21:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T00:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/butterfly.mcraecomms.com\/?p=6985"},"modified":"2021-11-17T17:20:48","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T06:20:48","slug":"the-ruler-of-your-domain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/butterfly.writefromsource.com\/?p=6985","title":{"rendered":"The Ruler of your Domain"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"6985\" class=\"elementor elementor-6985\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-42a693bb elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"42a693bb\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-638806b4\" data-id=\"638806b4\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-42f0b6a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"42f0b6a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><\/p>\n<p>These days writers, authors and creatives need to be so much more than \u2018just\u2019 a writer or creative. Publishing Houses are increasingly looking to their Authors to create their branded platform from which to promote and sell their material. For many the online world can seem a little daunting but if you get to grips with some fundamentals early on, it can open up avenues to sales and raise awareness about you and your work.<\/p>\n<p>One of the first areas you may be called upon to consider if you are creating a website is your Domain Name. <\/p>\n<p>The second thing you will need to consider is who \u2018hosts\u2019 your website \u2013 but I will save that joyous discussion for another post (just be aware the two things are different \u2013 and you will need both).<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s start with a definition so we are all on the same page.<\/p>\n<p>A domain name is an \u2018identification string\u2019 of numbers \u2013 or simply the \u2018address\u2019 of your website that people type in the browser URL bar to visit your website. If your website was a physical house, then your domain name would be its door number and street name.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>The internet is a huge network of computers connected to each other through a global network of cables. Each computer on this network can communicate with other computers.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>To identify them, each computer is assigned an&nbsp;IP address&nbsp;-a&nbsp;series of numbers that identify a particular computer on the internet. A typical IP address looks like this:<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>172.16.09.1.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>It would be a bit of a pain to have to remember all these numbers though wouldn\u2019t it? I mean how would we remember all our favourite sites? We can\u2019t even remember phone numbers these days so we save them under a person\u2019s name. It\u2019s a similar concept with website addresses.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Domain names solve this memory problem.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>If you have some latent geek tendencies you may be interested in what happens when we type an address into the browser \u2013 but for those of you glazing over right now I will keep it down to a few bullet points.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Visitor: I need directions to \u201cThe Butterfly Bureau\u201d please.<\/li>\n<li>The global network of servers (<strong>D<\/strong>omain&nbsp;<strong>N<\/strong>ame&nbsp;<strong>S<\/strong>ystem) responds: &#8216;Listen up &#8211; any of you lot got The Butterfly Bureau in their database or cache?&#8217;<\/li>\n<li>Host Server (say GoDaddy or other) waves their hand: Hey \u2013 yes \u2013 over here. I have their address&nbsp; \u2013 it\u2019s 101.01.11.90 \u2026I\u2019ll send the address over right now.<\/li>\n<li>The global network of servers (<strong>D<\/strong>omain&nbsp;<strong>N<\/strong>ame&nbsp;<strong>S<\/strong>ystem) responds: Great we\u2019ll store it in case it is asked for again.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>This is very basic of course but hopefully gives you an idea of how a Domain works. In a nutshell, your Domain name is your address on the Internet Highway so your visitors can be directed\/delivered to your door.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>With me so far?<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Different Types of Domain Names<\/h4>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Domain names are available in many different extensions.&nbsp;The most popular one is&nbsp;.com.&nbsp;There are many other options like .org, .net, .tv, .info, .io, however,&nbsp;I always recommend buying a dot.com&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;and I will explain why in a moment.&nbsp;For now, here are the different types of Domains you need to be aware of.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Top Level Domain \u2013 TLD<br><\/strong>Top-level domain or TLD \u2013&nbsp;<strong>the highest level<\/strong>&nbsp;in the domain name system.&nbsp;There are hundreds of TLDs, but the most popular ones are .com .org, and .net.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Other TLDs are lesser-known and consequently, I advise you not to buy them. You will be amazed at the effect it has on your brand to refer to something as a dot.biz&nbsp;rather than a dot.com.&nbsp;The biz makes it seems rather \u2018tabloid\u2019 \u2013 fine if that\u2019s what you are going for.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Country Code Top Level Domain \u2013 ccTLD<\/strong>Country-code top-level domain or ccTLD are&nbsp;<strong>country-specific<\/strong>&nbsp;domain names which end with country code extensions like dot.au&nbsp;for Australia or dot.uk&nbsp;the United Kingdom, dot.de&nbsp;for Germany or dot.co&nbsp;for Columbia (yes dot.co is actually a ccTDL but Columbia allow it to be used globally).<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>So \u2013 ccTLDs are used by websites that want to target audiences in a&nbsp;<strong>specific country<\/strong>. If you want to take your work GLOBAL though, this is just one reason to stick with dot.com<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sub Domain<br><\/strong>In the hierarchy of the Domain Name System, a subdomain is a domain that is a&nbsp;<em>part of another domain<\/em>. For example,&nbsp;domain name.&nbsp;<strong>shop<\/strong>.com<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sponsored Top-Level Domain \u2013 sTLD&nbsp;<\/strong><br>Sponsored top-level domain or sTLD is a category of TLDs that has a sponsor representing a specific community served by the domain extension.&nbsp;For example, .edu for education-related organisations or dot.gov&nbsp;for a country\u2019s government.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Choose a Domain Name for Your Website?<\/h4>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>There are millions of registered domain names and thousands are registered every day.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Chances are all the really great ones are already registered to someone else \u2013 so there is a lot of pressure on you to get creative with your domain name for your website.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>There are free business name generator tools available that will help you come up with something creative \u2013 if you are stumped.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>As a creative or author, you may want to use your name.com and that is certainly a great way to go if all your books are going to be written under one name.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>If you are going to write many different books using different pen names though, this would not be such a great idea.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Instead, think of your BRAND. What does your brand represent? If you are writing or creating spiritual content you may want to think about themes in your work. For example, The Butterfly Bureau is part of a wider Communications Consultancy \u2013 and there is a \u2018transformational\u2019 element to that work (hence the butterfly) so you can see where this would come into play in choosing the Domain name. The parent business is McRae Communications Consultancy \u2013 shortened to mcraecomms.com as the top-level domain \u2013 and then \u2018butterfly\u2019 to show the relationship and brand attributes.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Here are some quick tips to help you choose a domain name for your website.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Stick with a dot.com&nbsp;domain name as it is the most popular, easy to remember, and easy to promote. When you buy a dot.com you often will own the extensions too (save perhaps a handful of them).So it follows if you buy a dot.com, it could save you any \u2018ownership\u2019 issues later down the track. If someone else owns \u2018transform<strong>.com<\/strong>\u2018 \u2013 don\u2019t be tempted to buy \u2018transform.net\u2019 (i.e. using the dot.net&nbsp;extension).&nbsp;There are many reasons why this would not be a good idea, but the worst-case scenario you could be sued for trying to cash in on the traffic and success of \u2018transform.com\u2019 \u2013 so make your domain your own \u2013 and search for and buy the registration to the dot.com.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>The shorter the better.&nbsp; Generally speaking the shorter the better (best practice says a maximum of 10-15 characters \u2013 even shorter is optimum though). If it\u2019s borderline from that perspective \u2013 it\u2019s fine \u2013 but if you had something related that was shorter that would be even better). You may find really short domain names are a premium though but may be worth the higher price for a memorable address.<\/li>\n<li>Think about how your domain name will look on printed material (how much space it takes up etc).<\/li>\n<li>Make it easy to pronounce and spell.<\/li>\n<li>Do not use numbers or hyphens.<\/li>\n<li>If you are really stuck, look for a Domain Name Generator.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Buy a Domain Name?<\/h4>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>You can buy domain names from one of the many domain name registrars. A domain name can cost around $1800 AUD a year (you\u2019ll need to convert that for your currency). Really great domain names can sell for much more though.&nbsp; If you have no idea where to start in terms of buying a domain name \u2013 these companies will point you in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Domain.com<\/li>\n<li>Bluehost<\/li>\n<li>GoDaddy<\/li>\n<li>Hover<\/li>\n<li>Dynadot<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Please note The Butterfly Bureau is not affiliated with any of those listed above.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Just remember buying a domain\/name does not automatically give you hosting service. For that, you will need a website hosting account which I will go into in another day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Well, I hope that has demystified the subject of Domains for you. At the very least, when you hear the word it won\u2019t sound like a foreign language. The Butterfly Bureau can of course help you with all of this as a service, but I always think if you have the desire to learn it puts the power back in your hands. That said \u2013 I am here to help if this really is a step too far \u2013 believe me, I understand!&nbsp;\u00a9 2020 The Butterfly Bureau&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class='kindleWidget kindleLight' ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/butterfly.writefromsource.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/send-to-kindle\/media\/white-25.png\" \/><span>Send to Kindle<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These days writers, authors and creatives need to be so much more than \u2018just\u2019 a writer or creative. Publishing Houses are increasingly looking to their Authors to create their branded platform from which to promote and sell their material. For many the online world can seem a little daunting but if you get to grips &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/butterfly.writefromsource.com\/?p=6985\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,154],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/butterfly.writefromsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/butterfly.writefromsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/butterfly.writefromsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/butterfly.writefromsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/butterfly.writefromsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6985"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/butterfly.writefromsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7322,"href":"https:\/\/butterfly.writefromsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6985\/revisions\/7322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/butterfly.writefromsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/butterfly.writefromsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/butterfly.writefromsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/butterfly.writefromsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}