Strategies For Building an Online Presence

With a domain name and products from Sportingdomains.com, it's easy to build a viable online presence in stages. Getting started is surprisingly inexpensive, and you can add or subtract services as your needs change.

The first step is to purchase a meaningful domain name with an appropriate TLD extension. (For example, .com, .net, .org, .us, and .biz are the most popular with our customers.) All SportingDomains.com domain names are registered in your name, not ours. (Private registrations are also available.) Many people are happy with starting off by creating a simple one-page website, which is the Internet equivalent of a business card. We offer a free starter page with each domain purchased from SportingDomains.com. (For examples, check out http://sportingdomains.us/.)

An easy and inexpensive upgrade for creating a one-page website with a professional appearance is our Basic WebSite Tonight product. Other WebSite Tonight site builder options can be your guide as you create a multi-page website using interactive tools with professionally-designed page templates and royalty-free artwork. With WebSite Tonight, anyone with a domain name and basic computing skills can create an attactive and functional website (with an associated email account) in very little time.

If you can use one of the many HTML authoring programs currently available on the market, then one of our regular hosting options is for you. The IllinoisHunter.com web site is an example of a site created with our products that can easily be hosted on our least expensive (only $5.95/month) hosting plan. Please note that the professional HTML authoring software titles like Macromedia Dreamweaver have a steep learning curve, but there are several free or inexpensive entry-level programs available through your regular software vendor. Compared to the site builder approach, you are getting greater power and flexibility with lower costs - but be prepared to spend the necessary time and effort.

For customers wanting to set up an online store, choosing between our Quick Shopping Cart compared to our Merchant Accounts is similar to the above hosting comparison. The Quick Shopping Cart does not require authoring expertise, but the Merchant Accounts offer more powerful features in exchange for their steeper learning curve.

Once your site is created, products like our Traffic Blazer and Express Email Marketing package can help you to increase your site's traffic and visibility on the Internet. Don't forget to make personal contact with webmasters of other sites that are complimentary to your content. Legitimate incoming links are a major factor in search engine rankings, and links from local sites like Chambers of Commerce are easy to obtain but often overlooked.