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Understanding Domain Authority

Domain authority is a number that helps you determine your website’s rank power on search engines such as Google. Even though this number doesn’t directly determine your search engine ranking, it gives you great information that you can then use to improve your web page which will in turn help you attract your preferred target audience. 

Domain Authority (DA) was developed by Moz, is a ranking system that helps predict how well a website will perform on search engines. The higher a web page’s domain authority, the higher it will be in position on search engine results pages. 

Your domain authority does not have a direct impact on your search rankings but it will help you make good predictions. Those predictions help you boost your rank but it shouldn’t be your final predictor for your webpage’s performance. 

Here are a few ways to improve your DA:

  • Check your outgoing links. Ensure they link to high-quality sites. Also, try to include a lot of them throughout your website.
  • Check your incoming links. Link-building schemes have a way of lowering your page DA. Disallow any unwanted sites linking to your web pages.
  • Have great content. Great content is a sure way to gain high-quality organic links to your website. High-quality content cannot be overemphasized.

Domain Name Pitfalls to Avoid.

Some mistakes can be avoided.

It can’t be overemphasized how important a good domain name is and how it can either make or mar your business. During marketing campaigns, you want people to end up on your site, and if your domain name is hard to remember or doesn’t make sense, you won’t be getting any visitors at all. Here are a few pitfalls to avoid when choosing a domain name:

  1. Using your business name: This might not always be a good idea because your business name might be too long or your customers may represent your company by a different name.
  2. Assuming your dream URL is taken: Don’t be quick to give up on your dream URL after you try the first time. Domain names that don’t get renewed come back on the market and are up for grabs. 
  3. Not registering other common versions of your domain name: If your business is known by some other common name, it’d pay to register that domain just in case. Don’t assume everyone will know the full domain name. Even if they do, still assume some section of your customers don’t and you’d be surprised just how many website visits you get. 
  4. Not using your relevant keywords: Google ranking is based on keywords and if you fail to use your keywords in your URL, you jeopardize your place on Google’s rank table and as such, you risk losing lots of potential customers.

Be wary of the pitfalls above and watch your domain name and website visits soar.

Tips For Choosing The Best Website Template

Hiking website template. Credit: Freepik

Building a website these days is not such a hard job anymore. You don’t even need to be a designer or web developer to be able to have a fully functional website, thanks to the numerous ready-to-use website builders and templates around. 

But because there are so many to choose from, it can be overwhelming. Here are some tips to help you get the best.

  1. Know what type of site you are building. You are not only looking out for a pretty template that is colorful and fun, you want something that serves the purpose of your business and meets your customers’ needs.
  2. Don’t compromise costs. There are lots of free stuff out there, but honestly, many of them will not meet your business needs. They may also require a lot more work. So ask yourself if you’d rather spend time fixing up a website or tailoring your products.
  3. Choose one that is flexible and customizable. As you progress in your business, you may want to tweak a few things on your website as you go. A template that is fixed will have you searching for a web developer rather than doing it yourself.
  4. Go for responsive. Don’t rely on people always using their laptops to view your website. Choose a template that allows users to explore your site on laptops, phones, and tablets without compromising quality.
  5. Don’t rush. It may be tempting to get it out there as quickly as possible but take your time so as not to make mistakes.

Types of Web Hosting Services

Hosting a website gets easier by the day. Hosting your website can be done by a number of website hosting services. There are different kinds, so it is important to know what your website needs and what services would be required. It would also pay to know what server you’d need and the budget you require.

There are four main types of hosting services:

  • Website builders
  • Shared hosting
  • Dedicated hosting
  • Collocated hosting

Website Builders

This hosting service is basically for newbies who do not have the technical skills or knowledge to build a website but need to host one. This service gives you an online-based interface where you can build your website and also hosts it without any extra setup required.

Shared Hosting

In this type of hosting service, you and other website owners share one server. You also share the physical server and all the software applications on the server. This service is affordable because the costs are shared, but the server can be very slow.

Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting services give you all the resources without your need to share with other website owners. By this, you have faster performance but you will be solely responsible for all server operation costs. 

Collocated Hosting

For this service, you buy your own server and house it in a web host’s facility. You are fully responsible for the server and have full control.

Web hosting made easy.

Every website has a “foundation”, also referred to as its host. This is where all the website files are accessible anytime and from anywhere. For you to have a website, you must first have a host. There are several reasons why you should have good hosting. Here are a few:

  • A good host makes your website fast, and that also means your site will be accessible almost always.
  • It is low-maintenance, affordable, and scaleable. 
  • Having a bad host gives your site a low load-time and eventually costs more money and time.

Without proper hosting, you will have a horrible foundation for your website. Getting the right hosting foundation for your website is quite easy and there are two ways to get it done.

  1. Use a web hosting platform
  2. Host it locally (by yourself)

Whichever you decide to use will depend on your experience level.

By using a web hosting platform, you will first need to compare different hosting companies to see which one properly aligns with what you require. You will also need to choose one that is within your budget. This comparison will help you make a choice and decide on a hosting plan, and finally decide on a domain name. 

If you decide to host locally, you will need to install a WAMP software, upload your site files, and then make your website public. This requires a more hands-on approach and it isn’t entirely reliable. Such connections are slow, you are solely in charge of all maintenance, and your computer will always be on.

Get started here.

How to choose the best web host for content marketing

Starting a website for your business can seem a bit daunting considering everything you need to put in place. But that shouldn’t deter you. A website is a very important part of your business growth, and the first step involves getting a web host. A web host is a line between your website working and failing. 

A web host is a service provider that offers services and the tech to store your website on a server. 

There are quite a number of web hosts available and they all offer different services, prices, and more. So, how do you know which web host is best for your business?

Support

Find a web host service provider that has 24/7 support. Imagine your site were to go down at midnight, you want to work with a web host service that will be available to fix your issues.

Speed

Look out for the types of servers a web host offers. You want to be hosted on a server that is able to return your data to a viewer immediately when they input your URL in their browser.

Backup

Mistakes happen. If you mistakenly delete an entire webpage, you should be able to rest easy knowing that your web host has got you covered.

Site Creation Tools

With a web hosts’ site creation tool, you can easily build your own websites using their premade website builders without needing any coding knowledge.

In addition to these, look out for accessibility to your website, high uptime, multiple hosting, and shared hosting.

Tips for Choosing The Best Domain Name.

Choosing the right domain name is as important as real estate, but online. Your domain name is the business hub of your brand. It drives customers to what you offer and helps build your credibility, authority, and expertise. That is why choosing the best domain name is so important. 

Your domain name is the web address you enter that will give access to your brand website. There are a few things you must consider when choosing a domain name for your business. 

  • It is important to keep your domain name and website name similar, if not the same. You want to make it easy for your potential customers to find you. E.g if your business name is Cuddly Toys Inc., you don’t want your domain name to read as “Carla’s Toys Store”.
  • Be sure to include your keywords in your domain name. It may not do too much for your SEO, but you are sure to get some traction that way.
  • Keep it short and clean. As much as you would like to include all your preferred keywords, you shouldn’t make it too long because you want it to be easy to remember but still close to the brand. 
  • Use a .com extension. It’s ok to use any of the many other domain extensions, but a .com extension is easily the best. You can also go for a localized extension such as .com.ng