Digital Homesteads for the Entrepreneur
From experienced professionals chasing the freelance/self-employment life to students creating online portfolios, it feels like everyone needs a website right now.
Websites become the homestead for the solopreneur, for the go-getter who is finally expanding on their million-dollar idea, for the entrepreneur pivoting their passion into paychecks. Anyone who wants to begin marketing themselves online, which is becoming increasingly important in this digital revolution, is an ideal candidate for purchasing a domain and investing in their future.
But any good website starts with a good domain name. And for those just getting started, you might find that Domain.com has the most advanced algorithms for helping you find that perfect moniker. It is a company designed for believers in the gig economy.
History of Domain.com
The company was formed out of Dotster. By 2010, Dotster had over 1.1 million domain names under its management, accounting for nearly 1% of all websites on the internet worldwide. Dotster accrued an impressive collection of awards, including the “Domain Pioneer Award” in 2010, and was listed as one of Washington state’s top 100 privately held businesses in 2009.
In 2011, Dotster and its subsidiaries were acquired by Endurance International Group. As EIG leadership looked at the growth strategy for that brand, they decided to rebrand the domain-leading entities as Domain.com, a domain name asset that came along with the Dotster acquisition, given that it was the strongest option for both branding and rankings.
Domain.com was established and became the parent company for Dotster, My Domain, and Netfirms. Although they now offer a wide range of service options (web hosting, website builders, etc.), their unique place in the market is that they continue to invest in their domain search algorithm, which helps customers find the best possible domain name with lightning-fast speed.
Customer Lifecycle & Symbiotic Growth
Domain.com is a gateway for customers who want to hop on the domain train early on in their branding. It focuses on helping its customers, who are often in the early stage of their business or idea, get started.
A Domain.com customer can secure their domain whether or not their idea is fully fleshed out. Heck, they can register as many names as they want at a relatively inexpensive price to serve as a placeholder for if they want to pursue any of those ideas.
Many business hopefuls register additional domain name variations of their idea so they have them warehoused should they ever need them. Then customers can maintain their domain name registration indefinitely with the registrar, so they have a whole lifetime to grow their business.
Once a domain name is purchased, website development can begin so that entrepreneurs/ online presence can begin to take shape. Although it’s simple to integrate your domain registration from Domain.com with other web hosts, the company also offers a number of other services to simplify the process and ensure ventures can experience long-term growth without getting bogged down with cross-platform complications.
The nice thing about being able to find a scalable, integrated provider is that you’re able to focus on only the specific things your site needs. If you only need basic services, you can start there and then evolve into next-level features tailored to your industry-specific needs. As a company grows, features are in place to grow with them. It’s truly symbiotic.
Defining Success and Understanding Needs
Every single individual creating a website has varying needs.
As of September 2020, there are nearly 1.2 billion websites on the internet, ranging from business landing pages to eCommerce catalogs to portfolios to anything else you could imagine. Each business advocates its unique model, audience, tactics, and, most importantly, mission.
Unfortunately, many resources you’ll find available offer only limited options for services offered. It’s important to find a company to partner with that celebrates the importance of individuality.
Of the various services out there, one I’ve found to be pretty valuable is the 24/7 advising offered by the aforementioned Domain.com. When a consumer purchases a plan involving web design, they will have access to round-the-clock live chat and email support. If someone registers for the Business Plan, telephone support is also included, and the eCommerce Plan offers priority support.
Domain.com also offers around-the-clock advising for web hosting purchases because they know your business never sleeps. This is great news for those who are moving on their business aspirations as a side hustle after a long workday and the kids have gone to sleep. When you’re ready, they’re ready.
Building a website can be hard; and because of the high learning curve associated with website designing, domain companies have to watch out for cancellations made in the heat of frustration. Once customers receive a few one-on-one tips — and feel like a valued customer — they are far more likely to experience success.
This is particularly true with sites created for one-off events. The process is simple enough, that anyone can build a website for literally everything. Selling your house? Market it online. Your wedding is next year? Share with loved ones on a landing page. Hosting a golf tournament? Class it up and make it formal with a website of its very own.
Although these are one-time events, we all experience a variety of milestones in our lives. Consider registering a domain that could be evergreen and hold on to it. Rather than a single event name, maybe something timeless that you can reuse in the future so you don’t have to go through the process of registration again.
One-Stop-Shop for Website Features
Depending on the scope of your ambition, building a website can either be a relatively simple task or a more in-depth investment of your time and resources. To have a functioning platform, you need a domain and a web host at minimum, but it can also save you a lot of time to utilize a website builder.
You could integrate these various services from a number of different providers, but it’s handy to have them all in one place; one login, one bill to pay, and one customer support team to work with.
It’s also nice when there are simple to use add-ons to make your business run more smoothly. For instance, you’re likely to need an SSL certificate for security so that your website doesn’t flag potential visitors as “unsecure”. It helps keep internet connection secure while safeguarding private data; something your customers are sure to appreciate.
Perhaps more importantly to you personally is that it also prevents hackers from accessing the backend of your site. Depending on the category of your business, you may need different levels of protection. For example, a landing page created to promote your business may opt for a lower level of security, while someone running an eCommerce store would likely want to select a higher level of protection to protect customer data.
Looking for branded email addresses to give your idea some legitimacy when reaching out to potential customers?
Fortunately, this feature used by many entrepreneurs is readily available and pretty easy to set up. Business owners can purchase a G Suite or Microsoft 365 email plan with the ability to brand your email address with a personal domain.
For example, instead of [email protected], you may own [email protected]. This provides a sense of professionalism and communicates legitimacy to customers, which helps to establish trust.
ProTip: Not ready for a website? You can just register a domain name and set up an email service so that you can still have a branded email before you even have a page.
You’ll find that some providers even offer significantly more advanced services. One reason that I’m a fan of Domain.com is that they actually offer web design and marketing services. If the opportunity cost to design your own site is too high, you can utilize expert designers that can build an entire website along with a detailed strategic marketing plan.
They partner with the site owner on how to manage the updates and execute the marketing plan, providing them with all the resources and tools they need to successfully run the company on their own. You are the only person who can sell the business itself, so being able to pass the buck on these things can buy back time doing the things only you can do. Particularly for those solopreneurs venturing out on their own for the first time, it’s incredibly helpful to have someone to brainstorm with.
Whether you’re purchasing your first or fifteenth domain, you still want the benefits of making the website building process stress-free and straightforward. Although there are seemingly endless options out there, which can make it hard to decide who to use, I advocate that you at least check out Domain.com.
Their domain registration system is the most advanced out there, all of the things you need for your site are in one place, and 24/7 advising is a rare find indeed. With the proper support, you can focus less on coding and more on conversions.
This article has been published in collaboration with Magnus Opus.
