FAQ’s

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Hacking/
How Long/
Keywords/
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Product Categories/
Products/
SEO/
Security/
Server Space/
Spam/
Video embedding/
Website Hosting/
WordPress/
eCommerce/

This is a question I am always getting asked.

The answer isn’t all that straight forward, and opinions differ as to what constitutes a good Domain Name.

What makes a Good Domain Name?

  • It should reflect your Business.  So if your Business Name is “Widgets ‘R’ Us“, then perhaps you might want to use www.widgets.com.au
  • It should contain the main Keyword that you want to target.  ie.  If you sell “Widgets“, then the word “widget” would ideally be in there somewhere, like www.widgets4sale.com.au
  • It should be relatively short without hyphens.  Hyphens are OK, because it will help Search Engines determine what the keywords are, but there is the potential for a visitor to omit the hyphen when typing the web address.  So I try to avoid them.  However, sometimes it is not possible and you need to use them to get the name that you want, or sometimes it just makes sense to do so.  Using the Widgets ‘R’ Us example, www.widgets-r-us.com.au makes more sense than www.widgetsrus.com.au

What makes a Bad Domain Name?

Some classic bad Domain Names and Domain Names that should have seriously incorporated hypens are:

  • Experts Exchange is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange Advice and views at www.expertsexchange.com
  • Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at www.penisland.net
  • Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at www.therapistfinder.com

Should I use a .com or .com.au?

Well my belief is that wherever possible, use a .com.au.

.com.au Domain Names are tightly controlled and are effectively more valuable to you and your business because not just anyone can register one.  This means that there is a degree of legitimacy straight away.  For example, if you are a scammer from the backwoods of Russia, it would be impossible to register a .com.au without having an ABN.

The easiest way to accept payments by Credit Card on an eCommerce website is to use PayPal.

By using PayPal, all the processing of sensitive information is done by them and it means you don’t have to worry about having a secure website that requires an SSL certificate and you also don’t need a Merchant Bank Account.

By far and away this is the easiest and cheapest way to do it.

You can have as many eCommerce Products as you like.

I normally recommend that we setup your eCommerce Product Categories and at least one Product for each Category, and then you can add the other products at your leisure.

Of course we can add all the products for you if that is your preference.

I am often asked, “Is it OK to complete most of the website first, and then revisit it later to add in keywords etc, or is it more efficient to do SEO as I go?”

Well the short answer to that is yes, it is OK, but it’s not ideal.

It is true that it is better to get pages and content out there rather than have nothing at all, even if you have to go back later and tweak it.

On the efficiency part of the question, yes it is more efficient to do it as you go.  I also find that addressing the SEO of the page or post and images you are currently working on is easier to do as you go.  This works best for me because I can concentrate and focus fully on what it is I am trying to target, rather than having to switch horses in mid stream and go between pages and posts.

Whatever you do, whether you do it as you go, or revisit your pages and content later, SEO is a must and should be done – Sooner rather than later ?

My position is that this is true.

I’ve used other Content Management Systems (CMS), and it is my opinion that WordPress doesn’t have a learning curve as steep as the others.

Having said that, it really comes down to the individuals technical ability and how quickly you learn.

Well that’s a tough one to answer because it depends on a whole lot of different factors.

However, there are some constants like the cost of the Domain Name, Website Hosting (Shared Hosting or VPS) and Monthly Maintenance Fees, and the cost of a Theme and potentially specific plug-in’s.

On top of that you have the web development costs, and this really comes down to how many hours are spent on web development.

Rather than try and account for all the different variables and scenarios, just give me a call and we can discuss it in full at that time.

There is no definitive answer for this, as it depends on many variables.

If it is a large website, with many pages, then obviously it will take substantially longer than a four or five page website.

Some of the other things that will impact on the time frame are:

  • Do you have an idea of what pages you want and do you have the content you want on those pages?
  • Do you have a logo and is it in an electronic format?  If not, do you need one developed?
  • Do you have images for use on the website, and are the images optimised for web use?
  • Do you want SEO undertaken? (it might seem strange to say that, but some people just want their website wholly and solely for information purposes only).
  • Do you want Google Analytics setup?
  • Do you want Google Apps setup?

Having said all that, on average you are looking at somewhere between 2 and 6 weeks to have a website that is at least ready to go live.

That really depends on how big the website is, how many pages it has, and what sort of content is on those pages.

Having said that, our smallest Web Hosting Plan has 150GB of space, so that should be able to accommodate just about any website.

Domain Names start at $18/year.

For example, a .org.au is $18/year, but a .xxx is $88/year.

To check Domain Name pricing visit Domain Pricing, and to register a Domain Name visit Register a Domain Name.

Web Hosting starts at $3.40/month.

There are three Web Hosting Plan types to choose from:

  • Basic – starts at $3.40/month.
  • Standard – starts at $4.40/month, and
  • Business – starts at $6.20/month

The cost decreases when you sign up for a longer contract period.

Full Web Hosting pricing details and plan options can be found at Website Hosting Plans.

Yes we can.

We create a new WordPress website and add the pages required, and then we simply copy and paste the content from the old pages to the new WordPress pages along with the relevant images.

It’s true that hackers will always be trying to compromise websites, however it is not true that there is nothing you can do about it.

In my experience, the main reasons a WordPress based website gets hacked is due to the following:

1. Weak admin password like “password”. Always use a strong password that uses upper and lower case and numbers with at least 8 characters.

2. WordPress and Plug-in’s are not up to date.

3. WordPress weaknesses and security holes are being exploited. The solution is to install a Security Plug-in. I recommend iThemes Security.

Here at Spotty Dog Computer Services we charge a Monthly Maintenance fee to our Website customers which covers all updates and a full backup of the entire website every month.

This minimises the risk of being hacked and if something does go wrong, there is a complete backup to restore the website.

Yes, absolutely.

WordPress by default allows for this, but the best way is to create a YouTube Channel, upload your video there, and copy/paste the link where you want it on the page. And hey presto, your video is on your website.

Using CAPTCHA on comment forms reduces Comment SPAM.

But a better way is to use a paid service like CleanTalk Anti-spam.

It filters out SPAM very effectively and creates a SPAM Firewall for your website.

You can visit their website at https://cleantalk.org/

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Need Support?

You can call during normal Business Hours on

(07) 5428-7905, or email us at info@spottydog.com.au