Domain Owl

I have come to use a new system of measurement with my domainer peers and colleagues, one that reflects their concrete commitment to developing their domains versus the merely stated intent or practice of doing so. So many domain buyers pose as active promoters it is easy to see how some domain name buyers can get lost trying to figure the players without a scorecard.

I never judge another domainer based on whether they use the same tools as I do or whether they favor the same site estimators.  No two domainers are going to use the same system, even if they have the same vendor accounts and use the same site analytics. Based on how these tools have served each domainer in the past, they will come to their own conclusion about the relative worth of each.

It’s a habit for domain name buyers and sellers to hype their latest online app or website find to each other. It’s part of the game. But sometimes I don’t really have time to expend double digit hours per month (or week) evaluating new interfaces or plugging into new websites that claim heightened value for website marketing. You can take the opinion of a domaining peer, or you ca try it out for yourself.

It’s completely possible that a “power domainer” within your acquaintance may favor you with emails concerning the latest fad website or the newest website or domain evaluator which generates the most pleasing estimation responses. it’s wise to be wary of following any one domainers and their practices and viewpoints too closely. It is entirely possible they may be affiliated with the new site or service, or derive a signup credit or kickback.

By the same measure, qualified recommendations by senior experts in the domain world can save you time and put you on a footing with the best in the business.  Checking out their communications keeps you in the loop regarding where the domain herd is moving and how fast it is going. And signing up for a new service can keep you abreast with first hand opinion regarding the efficiency of a website and how prurient their abilities are.

I had one such recent experience lately. One of my clients wanted me to make some blog posts (blurbs) on a service called BuildMyRank.com. Before this gig I had never heard of BuildMyRank.com. This program had some kind of promotional public relations slash distribution channel for brief informational posts about the clients’ relative keywords. The individual client would input the blurb and link them with interconnected anchor links at the target site.

One of the requirements of this site is that your site be “developed”. It’s not clear from the BuildMyRank prose if this means a minisite will qualify, if a parking page disqualifies the url, or of forwarding does the trick. I know I was irritated with how long the BuildMyRank.com signup process took, and the installation of the original url had unrelated interface problems that reflected a beta launch software edition.But nobody wants to walk away from a free (or paid but worthwhile) SEO advancement instrument.

I had used proformatted links inside BuildMyRank.com with my client and so duly posted a website and put up content. (At this time I had no intention of publishing a review) When I resubmitted the information for the newly developed site, many of the key links did not align and the interface keep issuing error messages not in concordance with the posted content. The keywords fit into the linking convention but the “save” operation would plug the links into the software. So I emailed customer support about the problem.

Well, you learn a lot about a website (and their “SEO” services) by the customer service response. My frustration was met with bitchy and argumentative responses again and again. The operator from BuildMyRank.com never addressed the specific bugs. They assured me that “thousands of users worked just fine” and immediately decided to close my account rather than deal with the issue.

Not only had my first attempt to use this Buildmyrank.com service broken down, but my account had significant bugs. Email to BuildMyRank.com did not yield working fruit. The difference between my client and me getting anywhere was that his BuildMyRank.com items were from a paid account service, and I was still in “free trial” mode.Would the eventual SEO value diminish or disappear under similar circumstances? If it indeed ever appeared?

The emails from BuildMyRank.com are snotty and stupid. This told me a lot about how they approached getting things done. Knowing this so far in advance was a relief. I hadn’t recommended this site to anyone yet. They would never know how many referral clients they lost, domainers with huge portfolios looking for SEO results and only the assurance of a trained site operator to work with.

I don’t know the net benefit of is service to my client, but I do not recommend BuildMyRank.com. The argumentative and offensive stack of response emails form their “administrators” reveals a bunch of coffee drinking teenagers pretending to run a business. Risking your url’s white SEO hat on this company is a risk. If you get difference experience at BuildMyRank.com you have my heartfelt congratulations.

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While navigating three hosting accounts in one morning I remembered more than I wish I had forgotten about the in’s and out’s of relative advantages of different hosting companies. Administrating Wordpress websites is about as easy as being a webmaster can get short of editing mere HTML pages strung together. But it can still be a headache. And performing tasks in MySQL on no coffee is torture.

I went between Godaddy.com and 1 & 1 Hosting, between 1 & 1 hosting and Hostgator, and back again from Hostgator.com to Godaddy again. This is the chore when different hosting accounts get different parts of the hosting account offering formula right and different parts of it wrong. Experiencing multiple hosting account interfaces before breakfast can take a lot of elbow grease and keyboard forgiveness.

A lot depends on the browser. At one point in the project I realized I had both Firefox and Internet Explorer open because one hosting account stayed open better in Explorer while another transited better between navigation screens in Explorer. But Explorer seemed more secure in certain parts of the hosting account interface where security was tighter, and Firefox sort of stalled in the Backup/Restore pathway of commands.

GoDaddy.com does have a cornered market on the Godaddy Hosting Connection installation utility. It’s a nice arrangement that unfortunately you have to learn to be comfortable with. Control panel and ControlPanel Deluxe have that absolute party favorite of all hosting account surfers, Fantastico. Except to get version information you have to sift carefully and compare versions and perform upgrades per application before executing database restore and upload tasks.

The jury is never really out when debating which hosting account vendor online is the best. Certainly Enom.com is a stable bedrock names registrar. but just try and get a name hosted there or working with any application without Indian medicinal juju working for you. Frustration with one hosting account leads to the germination of another at a new company. This cycle can only continue so far.

Godaddy.com has the most fluid domain manager but the bells and whistles flavor of the nonstop “Buy This” circus inside a hosting login can’t exhaust even a patient webmaster fast. This administration environment seems very commercial next to the minimal functionality of the Hostgator Control panel. The Fantastico “hosting connection” delivers good install functionality for third party applications, if the versions are consistent with the “exit” versions on other outgoing site hosting accounts.

What this means is that a WordPress install at Godaddy might be at Wordpress 3.01.01 yet the Fantastico release at HostGator might have the WordPress installation release only at 2.98.2. This means the security and support is not guaranteed for custom tweaks and plugins that are the main feature of the updated Wordpress. Backwards blog migration is never a pretty site.

Thus the hosting account selection equation might be reduced to the smoothest and most updated installation suite. Yet so many functions inside the Control Panel (except Fantastico) can remain untouched for the life of the account. Or worse, they can be experimentally tried with brilliant reactions of equal parts of glee, panic and chaos. Having the tech support number close at hand is a must.

The hosting at 1&1 hosting is a curiosity to me. The custom tweaked interface for administration of the hosting account seems to mask more than it reveals of available and necessary domaining chores. The ease of use never seems to be 100% there. For a domainer intent on SEO and marketing and domain name promotion, supposedly only programmers venture this far.

I have a 1 & 1 hosting account that it took a considerable amount of time to cancel, simply because the process was so labyrinthine I barely got the confirmation of the account cancellation in time. I got quickly into the habit of not using the account because I didn’t like the interface as was constantly stalled by the “lookup and see” factor involved in very simple tasks.

To be sure, Godaddy captures a big part of its hosting and domain business from ease of use and familiarity. But not often do I get the opportunity to see triple hosting company side by side performance. I remember how much I resisted the Godaddy interface on my journey from ControlPanel. I like the direct file management approach but miss the protections and hidden file attributes of the Godaddy File manager.

For the 1 & 1 Hosting file access was almost impossible, rendering many templates and theme graphics closed to customization. I used to cling tearfully to my Control panel until an installation version got so vulnerable to failure almost every operation was liable to disappear from day to day. This is the sort of thing that causes hosting account migration.

My love affair with Fantastico was long and meaningful. But many other administration options when navigating through reseller accounts and multiple hosting trees became necessary. Godaddy is a hosting account utility most webmasters will shoulder sooner or later simply by nature of the amount of domains hosted there. Until there is a definitive result for the best hosting company for SEO, the choice for domainers remains personal.

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Want to use Joomla to make a website? Joomla to enhanced a domain name and build value by making a website. Sticky content and updated articles using a text-driven keyword focused engine makes a full (not a mini) website. Joomla is a free open source software domain owners can use with basic editing skills.

Test the Joomla Demo first. Browse online for free Joomla templates.

Print this article or use it as a checklist to make a WYSIWYG assisted web page with one of the best site making tools webmasters can utilize. Once a domainer knows the steps, any site becomes  a matter of keystrokes and administration interface manipulation. Use the Joomla forum when in doubt.

1. Install Joomla

Download the source code application zip files or login to your hosting account and initialize Joomla installation. Joomla is one of the pioneer content management systems with highly efficient text and article publishing tools.

At the installation layer, build the Joomla database, assign passwords, and build the site manager Joomla site administration profile.

2. Unpark servers, redirect masked forward

This is done at the domain registrar for the domain name. If you are not using a subdomain or a separate hosting account, assign the settings of the domain functionality to find the destination landing page of the Joomla application.

3. Replace Joomla’s default Web Page message with your domain message and section greeting. Sections are master categories that organize Joomla articles. Categories are division of Sections. Plot these with pencil and paper.

Replace Joomla FrontPage message with your domain message and section greeting. This can include nicknames, slang, and sets the tone for readers to see what level the text is. This can be changed as often as you like.

4. Replace global configuration setting with your Domain Name

In the Admin interface, navigate to the Global Configuration setting. Edit the text. This will show up in the blue frame of the Explorer window in the browser.

5a. Make custom logo using Cooltext.com.com.

Shrink text to fit banner footprint, or use basic Cooltext generated .jpg to make further editions to the graphic for a fine tuned logo presence.

5.b. Replace Joomla logo with custom logo.

Introduce logo graphic to various levels of the interface where they apply.

6.  Mockup 3 main headers (PNG’s) and ad graphics for sponsor ads.

Copy and save the PNG file to your desktop to get file size attributes in pixels. Then convert to a .jpg and edit. Then save as a PNG again to upload to the file manager inside the appropriate template files.

7. Upload 3 main header graphics

Navigate to proper place in the template files in the file manager. Delete placeholders @template/images/header.

8. Write text for 5 newsflashes

Newsflashes are succinct blurbs that alternate inside the browser for quick text bites. Add or edit content inside the admin menu using the Joomla category for Newflashes.

9. Write Text for 6-7 Original Text Stories

These can be done while the webmaster or domain owner is waiting for installation. Using article template files and search and replacing keywords per website domain name can make multiple Joomla site launches easy.

Use 2 news stories, one site review, one “about us” introduction story, and then three translations of current features stories touching your field or topic. Rewrite them in your own words and link back to the source material.

10. Replace OSM ad client accounts and pictures w/substitutes

Default will feature fruit or general images. Navigate to banners area and edit client data or add a new client and input images. Select these ads in the OSM banner and advertisement sections. Make new “customers” for your contact ads.

11. Edit 4 text ads (advertisement module)  to reflect putative ad code.

If you can’t get code from Adsense for your domain name or don’t have it yet, edit the code furnished to reflect keywords, topics, offers and likely ad text from your site’s keyword generator. This can help proof the site.

12. Unpublish non domain specific resources .

Many Joomla module defaults will simply not apply to your site concept or design.  Delete key concepts/irrelevant resources. They can be re-introduced later as needed.

13. Edit poll/add poll module to reflect domain specific content matter

Use a creative time to pencil out a fun survey question and funny poll answers. Joomla offers a small window but makes a site look extremely complete with these multiple features.

14. Compare meta tag & keywords to meta tags for domain forward entry.

Navigate to the appropriate Admin areas inside the menu. Use this tool as a way to furnish key data to Google search result and main site info areas.

15. Verify Masked Domain Resolution to new web site’s public url

Make sure when you type in the domain name, the masked domain shows with the new Joomla landing page. Visually check how the words look against featured front page text.

16. Archive sample Joomla data to archives, add additional keywords to existing stories.

Archiving and deleting get rid of things you don’t want and can’t use.

17. Edit header 1, header2,  header 3

These are the file names of the main three graphics that alternate in the background of the landing page banner area.

Navigate to the theme area in the file menu and find the graphics for the header image. Substitute  the new ones and and in a separate window test them for a fit. Using a one shade block image as the  lighter header mask can lighten the area within the graphic and result in a lighter shade using th default theme..

18. Add Graphics.

Replace the library of standard buttons with custom colors or icons with a special feel. The Media Manager inside Joomla handles all images. Upload topical images and select those directories you chose for the images inside the categories and sections for those types of stories and articles.

19. Edit the Joomla Wrapper.

The Wrapper module allows a feature of an entire other site within the current site. Pick a great recommendation site or sister site to your topic and add commentary and criticisms, tips and feedback. Reward visitors with a best of breed snapshot of a another great site.

20. Edit ‘home”.

Navigate to the home page in the text editing menu (the Frontpage) and create the first text eyeballs will see when your Joomla website loads in a visitor’s browser.

21. Edit weblink boilerplate.

Edit the test in the weblink area after making categories for them. Categories can be functional or topical, i.e. “New sources”, or (subject related )Gossip Blogs. Furnish about ten entries at least to make custom resource web directory for your site. Be as complete as possible when furnishing plate “About Us”.

Edit the default “About us” page in the articles menu and edit the “More About Us” page too.

22. Edit Joomla Community Text

Use  the Joomla Tutorial to fill in the blanks.

23. Convert Template if default style does not work for you.

Milky Way and JA Purity are the main default installed themes.

With a safe beta version in the default Joomla installation theme format, experiment with template uploads. Using the Joomla Administration menu, change the templates and preview them. Upload zip files after unzipping to the file manager in the hosting account using the FTP utility.

24. Edit the weblink directory

Web Links should be likely browsing destinations of your topical visitor or site user. Add links to the Joomla accurate details, keywords, links and category text.

25. Schedule future article publication.

Make sure to input future publishing articles in the Joomla interface to keep the flow of material updated and the schedule of text constantly new.

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