What is a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN)? 

A Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) is a domain name consisting of three parts: the hostname, the domain name, and the top-level domain. The hostname is the specific computer or device on the network that you want to use the FQDN for. The domain name is the section of the FQDN that uniquely identifies your network. The top-level domain is the highest level of classification for domains and is assigned by ICANN. For example, when you type “www.google.com” into your web browser, “www” is the hostname, “google” is the domain name, and “.com” is the top-level domain. 

Different computer types use different terminology for FQDNs like network names or full computer names. 

Why should I use an FQDN? 

FQDNs indicate unique addresses on the internet. If you don’t have an FQDN, you don’t have an accessible website. They’re required for installing SSL certificates, imperative to the security of your website. 

Apart from having an accessible website, FQDNs are also useful to have a discoverable computer on an internet network, like when you need to access a computer remotely. This is common in an office to track a computer’s activity. 

Also, FQDNs help you access domain services like FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and email. For example, if you want to connect your domain name’s email to an email app on your phone like Gmail or Apple Mail, you need to know the FQDN for the mail server, which is typically something like “mail.yourdomainname.com.” 

Here is an example of an FQDN:

1. www.a2hosting.com
2. mail.a2hosting.com
3. ftp.a2hosting.com

How to find your FQDN

If you’re not sure how to find your FQDN, please review the following links: 

Find your FQDN for Windows OS (operating systems).

Find your FQDN for macOS.

When you generate a domain name, it should contain three parts. The first part is the hostname which identifies the specific computer or device on your network that will be using this FQDN. The second part of an FQDN is the domain name and it uniquely identifies your company’s network. Finally, there is the top-level domain (TLD) which classifies domains as either generic or country-code TLDs such as .com for commercial purposes. If you need help viewing any of these components within your own FQDN contact our support team today!  

Related Articles:

• How to manage cPanel Mail Exchanger (MX) records
• How to use the DNS Zone Editor in cPanel
• How to verify site ownership with Google
• How to determine your account’s server name

The post What Is a Fully Qualified Domain Name? appeared first on The A2 Posting.

Your domain name is really important to your business as it’s the address your potential clients will type to find your website. If it’s easy to remember, resonates with your audience, and enhances your brand, it instantly boosts your credibility. A quality domain name attracts clients, while a bad one can send them running.

If you’re in the process of picking a domain name, we recommend choosing a short, branded, easy-to-type one. You can even add a keyword if it’s possible. Feel free to use a domain name generator to come up with fresh ideas.

The good news is, when you find the perfect domain name, you can keep it forever by taking steps to renew and protect it.

Choosing the right domain name is just the beginning, though. It’s also critical to select the ideal host for your website. Your hosting provider affects your website’s load speed — a factor that influences search engine optimization (SEO), conversion, and bounce rates. If your page load time exceeds three seconds, you can say goodbye to 57% of your site visitors.

Don’t worry if you didn’t get these components right on your first try. If your current host isn’t working out, you can renew your domain name with a different hosting provider. This article will serve as your guide for how to renew your domain name and how to change hosting providers.

A Guide To Renewing Your Domain Name

Many of our clients wonder if they own a domain name when they purchase it. The answer is a resounding no!

When buying a domain name, consider it a lease that you have to renew before it lapses. If you don’t, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will suspend and eventually cancel it. If this agency scraps your site, you lose all the information on it and any associated email addresses.

Now, if you miss your renewal date, a third party can buy it. When this happens, you can’t renew your domain name anymore, and you might not even have the option to buy it back.

Naturally, it’s better to renew your domain name than face the consequences of such a scenario. It could lead to revenue losses, a drop in site traffic, and a damaged reputation.

So, When Should You Renew Your Domain Name?

There’s no universal period for domains, but they often last anywhere between one and ten years. If you’re ready to renew your domain name, you can choose a longer lease so you won’t have to go through the renewal process every year.

In some cases, registrars contact organizations before a domain name expires. They typically will help you update your information, transfer your domain name, or move to a different registrar if you want.

So, How Do I Renew My Domain Name?

Renewing your domain varies slightly with different hosts. However, you often have two choices: auto or manual renewal. Whichever you choose, we guarantee that renewing before your domain expires will minimize business interruptions.

With an auto-renew option, you can select your preferred number of registered years and set reminders for your renewal.

On the other hand, you can also opt to renew your domain manually. You should find details like status and remaining days until expiry on your hosting platform.

Can I Transfer My Domain Name to a New Host?

Yes, absolutely! To register a domain name, you need a registrar or a host that offers such services. However, if your current host charges too much, lacks support options, or often experiences technical difficulties, you can always move to another one.

You need two things to transfer your domain name: an active domain and an account with your new host. Follow the steps below to complete this process.

Step 1: Remove Your Domain Lock

Many registrars and web hosts use a domain lock feature to tie your domain to a service until you disable it. This attribute allows you to protect your site from any unauthorized transfer attempts.

Luckily, disabling it is a simple process. All you have to do is log in to where you registered your domain and look for the unlock option.

Step 2: Initiate a Transfer

Log into your new host or registrar and find the option to transfer your domain. Usually, you can find it in your dashboard.

Your host will then ask you to confirm your new destination with an authorization code. Afterward, your new platform will begin the process.

Step 3: Verify the Transfer

When you initiate a transfer, you will receive an email asking you to confirm it. The message should contain your new domain and registrar. Once you click the confirmation link and signify your agreement, the process is almost complete.

After you transfer your domain, you won’t be able to do it again for at least 60 days. The exception to this rule is if you go back to your old registrar.

Step 4: Pay Your New Host for the Transfer

Most platforms allow free domain transfers but will require renewal fees afterward.

After payment, all you have to do is wait. Some registrars take days to complete this process, while others can do it in less than a day. When the transfer is complete, you can view your domain in your new host’s management screen.

Can I Renew My Domain Name After It Expires?

Yes, you can renew your domain name after it expires.

We’ll let you in on a secret. Forgetting to renew domain names is not as uncommon as you think. It happens to the best of us.

So when you’re facing domain expiration, don’t panic. You have a few days to save it.

With ICANN using the Expired Registration Recovery Policy, here are a few pointers to follow:

• Renewal grace period: Your domain name will be on hold up to 30 days after expiration. During this time, potential clients cannot access your website. If you renew your domain name by this time, you will only have to pay the standard fees.
• Restoration grace period: From day 31 to 60, your website is close to the brink of deletion. You can still renew your domain name during this time, but you will incur additional charges.
• Day 61: If you still haven’t renewed your website two months after expiration, it will be available for others to buy. Don’t let your renewal reach this point.

If you’re too busy to manage such tasks, we recommend setting your account to auto-renew. Doing so will help save your site from potentially catastrophic consequences.

Benefits of Renewing Your Domain Name

If you’ve established a solid customer base, they associate your business with your domain name. It’s part of your online authority. Losing your domain name impacts your relationship with your clients negatively.

Below are some reasons why it’s best to renew your domain name instead of changing it.

Protect Your Brand

We recommend renewing your domain name to protect your brand.

If you don’t do so, it becomes available on the market. Anyone can claim it — including your fiercest competitors. You don’t want any of them controlling your previous domain name.

Also, organizations often link their domain names to their social media accounts. Losing your domain name will disrupt the flow of traffic to your website and create uncertainty for your followers and subscribers.

Guarantee Higher Uptime

In the web hosting world, uptime means the amount of time your website is operational. Failure to renew your domain suspends all services connected to your account, including email addresses.

The longer your downtime lasts, the more visitors you lose. This scenario will leave search engines and consumers alike doubting your website’s authenticity. Renewing your domain on time will help to prevent all these challenges.

Preserve SEO Efforts

A parking page takes your domain’s spot when it expires, impacting your search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. Your marketing team might need months to undo the damage that the expiration causes.

Search engines don’t check if your site is down, but they will crawl your site repeatedly. The longer the parking page stays, the more your search result rankings will drop.

Also, one of the risks associated with changing your domain name is your ranking. We recommend working with a professional if you don’t know how to change your domain name without damaging your ranking position.

Avoid Fraud

Domain name owners sometimes fall victim to scammers. When you become too busy to pay attention to your URLs, you may become vulnerable to con artists.

If you don’t renew your domain, you might find yourself dealing with official-looking notices sent via snail mail or email. The individuals behind the attacks will send fraudulent instructions and exorbitant renewal rates.

Sometimes, unsuspecting entrepreneurs pay the fines instead of dealing with an expired site. By the time they realize their mistake, the hustlers will be gone.

Elevate Your Site With a Trusted Web Hosting Company

Once you’ve renewed your domain name, it might be time to consider a new web hosting company for your site, like A2 Hosting! Doing so can help you stand out in a sea of competition.

What makes A2 Hosting so great? Check out some of the factors below.

Enhanced Security

We apply various best practices to ensure client safety.

• HackScan: 24/7/365 running on your account to block attacks BEFORE they can happen
• Reinforced DDos Protection: Our (distributed denial of service) DDoS defense solution provides high scale capacity, instant attack detection and mitigation. This improves the likelihood that your site will remain online during even the most sophisticated distributed denial of service attacks.
• Dual Hosting Firewall: Your A2 Hosting account includes an overall network firewall with an additional server firewall to block unauthorized users and secure vulnerabilities. Your server’s firewall deflects threats that manage to penetrate our network’s firewall.
• Server Hardening: A2 Hosting disables non-mission-critical server components to decrease potential server exploits. We further reduce potential exploits by maintaining the most current security patches and updates on your server.
• Plus much more that you can read about here!

Unmatched Support System

If your web host isn’t there for you 24/7/365, it’s time to reconsider your options. Recent statistics show that businesses lose an estimated $26.5 billion annually from IT downtime, making every minute online count. A2 Hosting has a team of web gurus that are around all the time by chat, ticket system, and phone!

World-Class Speed

You should choose the best hosting plan for your business, even if it’s not the free kind. The speed of the remote server your host uses will affect the load time of every visitor that tries to access your site. Our Turbo plans from A2 Hosting are built for speed. Limited occupancy, upgraded server hardware, advanced caching software, optimized configurations, and a variety of performance add-ons combine to give you one of the fastest web hosting experiences out there. A2 Turbo’s enhanced performance and speed improves your user experience and reduces page load times to help you increase your conversion rates.

• Up to 20x faster page loads
• Handle up to 9x more traffic
• 2x faster to first byte
• 3x faster read/write speeds

Renew Your Domain With A2 Hosting

Most of our clients have kept the same domain name for decades. Renewing your domain name can be the difference between impressive growth and massive losses  —  so don’t overlook this process.

At A2 Hosting, we have the security, support, and speed you need to dominate the digital world. We’ve been empowering businesses of all sizes and industries with practical hosting solutions for almost 20 years.

For as low as $2.99 per month, you can enjoy a 99.9% uptime commitment, a dedicated guru crew, and 20X faster load speeds. Renew your domain name with us now to propel your business toward growth.

The post Can I Renew My Domain With Another Provider? appeared first on The A2 Posting.

However, in practice, the price of a domain doesn’t change its quality. In fact, there are several situations in which it might make more sense for you to spend less on your website’s address.

In this post, we’ll give you an overview of domains in general and what types are available. Then we’ll share three reasons you may want to consider choosing a cheap option when registering yours. Let’s dive in!

An Introduction to the Types of Domains Available

In order to understand domain name pricing, you first need to understand the anatomy of a URL:

It’s made up of three main parts: the protocol, the domain name, and the Top-Level Domain (TLD). The third portion is what determines the price.

There are many different types of TLDs available, including:

• Generic TLDs (gTLDs): The most common domain extensions, including .com, .org, and .net.
• Country Code TLDs (ccTLDs): Used primarily by sites based outside of the U.S., these extensions indicate the website’s country of origin such as .uk, .ca, or .jp.
• Sponsored TLDs (sTLDs): Reserved for use by specific entities, such as .gov for government websites and .edu for universities.
• Premium TLDs: Highly expensive domain extensions such as .inc that may provide member benefits for those who register one.

Generally speaking, you can expect most gTLDs and ccTLDs to cost between $10–$50 per year. However, there are some priced at over $100 per year. sTLDs require special approval and aren’t for sale on the regular market. Premium TLDs start at hundreds of dollars per year and may run over $1,000.

In short, choosing a domain – including your TLD – is no small task. It will play an important role in your website’s branding and identity, and even your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) process. Plus, it’s not easy to change it later.

Why You Should Consider a Cheap Domain Option (3 Key Reasons)

As we already stated, generic and country code domains tend to be the cheapest. They’re also some of the most popular and therefore the easiest to remember. Here are three other reasons why you may want to choose one for your platform.

1. You Want to Purchase Multiple Domains

If you’re going to purchase multiple domains, buying cheap ones will help you keep your expenses down. While it may seem like a strange practice, there are several situations in which you may want to do this, including:

• Defensive registration to prevent others from claiming variations of your domain with different TLDs.
• Registration of the same domain name with intentional spelling mistakes to prevent others from ‘typosquatting’.
• Purchasing a large volume of domain names to resell later.

Choosing a cheap domain can make it more affordable to protect your brand from those seeking to take advantage of users who mistype your web address. In turn, this may improve your overall security, credibility, and authority in your industry.

2. It’s for Use on a Personal Blog

Small, personal blogs can be of real value to the people who create and read them. However, very few are able to generate enough revenue to justify the expense of a premium TLD, or even a high-end gTLD.

If making money isn’t the primary goal of your site, funneling a lot of cash into it isn’t a wise investment. Even if you’re planning to monetize your blog with ads or affiliate links, it may be a while before you start to see any income from it.

gTLDs such as .com work just fine for small sites without burdening your bank account. If you want to stand out a bit more .blog or .me are also relatively affordable options.

3. They Can Still Provide the Same Features as Expensive Domains

Earlier in this post, we mentioned that premium TLDs sometimes provide membership benefits to those who register them. These may include advertising credits or other services to get your site off the ground.

However, for smaller or newer brands, these features usually aren’t worth the upfront cost of registering a domain for thousands of dollars. The features that matter are the same for cheap domains as they are for expensive ones.

For instance, at A2 Hosting, all our domains include:

• Custom nameservers
• DNS management
• Optional ID protection
• Domain theft protection
• 24/7/365 support

You can get your hands on a quality domain for $15 per year or less without worrying about it impacting the quality of your site. If you’re just launching your brand or blog, you can save yourself money and stress by sticking with a cheaper web address.

Conclusion

Knowing if a cheap domain will be appropriate for your website can be difficult due to the number of choices available when it comes to TLDs and price points. However, practically speaking, an inexpensive domain provides most of the same features as a premium one, making them suitable for most sites.

In this post, we explain three situations in which a cheap domain may be right for you:

1. You want to purchase multiple domains for defensive registration or reseller purposes.
2. The domain is for a personal blog that isn’t likely to generate enough revenue to cover the cost.
3. You’re not in need of any features that would justify the huge expense of a premium domain.

Featured Image Credit: Unsplash.

The post Why You Should Consider a Cheap Domain Option appeared first on The A2 Posting.

Fortunately, there are domain tools and other solutions to help you check domain availability. Even if your first choice is unavailable, you could try to buy it from its current owner, opt for a similar name, or even choose another domain extension.

In this article, we’ll take a look at how to find out what domains are available. Then we’ll explore some steps you can take if your preferred domain is already spoken for. Let’s get started!

How to Check Domain Availability

A domain is the address where users can find your website, as in yourwebsite.com. The last part, such as .com or .net, is called the Top-Level Domain (TLD). Right before that is the ‘second-level domain’, which is often the name of your website or business.

Of course, it’s a good idea to take some time when picking your domain, and to choose carefully. After all, the right domain can help shape your brand and improve first impressions. A quick way to experiment and brainstorm ideas is to use a domain checker.

Unfortunately, selecting a domain isn’t always straightforward. That’s why these checkers exist. They help by showing you what’s available, and offering potential alternatives if the domain you’re looking for is taken.

Our own domain checker is simple to use. To get started, type in your desired second-level domain and hit Search:

You’ll be taken right away to the results page. There, you’ll be able to see if the domain is available, and view what TLD options you have. If you’re having trouble finding the perfect domain, however, don’t worry – there are some additional steps you can take.

What to Do if Your Dream Domain Is Taken (4 Options)

Sometimes you may want a specific domain, but you find out that it’s currently in use by someone else. When that happens, there are a few routes you can take.

In some circumstances, you can still purchase the domain. If not, there are a variety of ways to get a domain that’s similar and just as appropriate for your site. Let’s look at four options that are available to you, so you can select the one that fits your situation.

1. Buy the Domain From Its Current Owner

Sometimes the domain you want isn’t available, but it isn’t in use either. That’s called a ‘parked domain’, and in that case the domain’s owner may be willing to sell it.

Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to find out who owns a specific domain. To do this, your best option is WHOis.net:

Enter in the domain you’re looking for, and in most cases the search engine will provide information on who owns it and how they can be contacted.

If you’re able to get contact information for the parked domain, you can start negotiations. It’s best to begin by sending a simple, friendly message letting the owner know you’re interested in the domain, and waiting for them to offer an initial price.

Once you’ve successfully come to an agreement, consider using an intermediary such as an escrow service to complete the transaction. That way, you can ensure that it goes safely and smoothly for both parties.

2. Choose a Different Domain Name

If you can’t find out who owns the domain you want, or they aren’t willing to sell, you may simply have to choose another name. Fortunately, you won’t necessarily have to start from scratch.

Instead, you could look at the list of alternatives provided to you by any domain checker tool, and use those ideas to find a suitable replacement. This can save you valuable time and effort, and you’ll often be able to grab a name that’s almost identical to the one you wanted:

Of course, there are other methods for finding an alternative domain name. You can try using a keyword tool to discover promising options. This can help you find terms to incorporate that are relevant to your audience, and have strong search volumes.

As an example, if you’re opening an organic cafe, you might find that people often search for “organic cafe” in combination with the name of their city. In your domain, you could try combining your city’s name with the term “organic cafe” in order to attract traffic.

3. Use an Alternative Domain Extension

If your preferred domain is taken and you don’t want to opt for an alternative, you can also try using a different TLD. Most site owners purchase domains that end in .com, but that isn’t your only option.

Of course, you do want to be careful when choosing your TLD. Often, people will instinctively include .com when trying to visit a website directly, and this is especially true for older demographics. If that’s your target audience, or if there’s already a popular website at yourwebsite.com that your site might be confused with, it might be better to try an alternative second-level domain.

However, sometimes it does make sense to choose another TLD for your domain. In such cases, keep in mind that certain TLDs apply to specific types of sites and may even be restricted, such as .edu, .gov, and certain location-based domains.

When looking through the available TLDs, consider what might work best for your particular business. For example, if you run a jewelry business and you want an e-commerce website to go with it, you might choose to opt for .jewelry. Of course, there are a lot of fun ways to get creative with your TLD as well.

4. Wait for the Domain Name to Expire

If you’re in no hurry to have the domain you want today, another option is to wait for it to expire. When it does, it may become a ‘dropped domain‘. This means that the owners haven’t paid to renew it, so it will go up for auction.

Waiting for a domain to expire may seem passive, but you need to be prepared for when it does. To get an estimate for when you might be able to make a bid, you can visit WHOis.net to see if the domain has changed hands recently.

One unfortunate side effect of waiting for a domain is that if you need to get your site online now, you may need to work on re-branding after you change the name. Doing so can be a time-consuming process, and one that might impact your search rankings.

However, there are ways to alleviate those problems, such as by setting up a (301) redirect to your site’s new address. Plus, if you don’t actually need the domain right away, there’s no harm in waiting to see if it becomes available. Keep in mind that most domains renew on a yearly basis, although some site owners may pay for multiple years in advance.

Check Domain Availability Conclusion

Choosing a domain is an important decision, and one that can be fraught with difficulties. Even if you don’t get the exact domain you want, however, there are plenty of ways to find a suitable alternative.

Let’s recap the steps you can take when you find that your desired domain name isn’t available:

1. Purchase the domain from its current owner.
2. Consider a similar domain name.
3. Try using another TLD.
4. Wait for the domain to expire.

Image credit: geralt.

The post How to Check Domain Availability (& What to Do If It’s Taken) appeared first on The A2 Posting.

If your domain name is going to be perfect, it needs to be fun, informative, and encapsulate the spirit of your project. If you can get the name right, it will set the tone for the rest of your website, and make it that much more memorable to your audience.

In this article, we’ll walk you through four creative ways you can come up with fun domain names. By the time we’re done, you’ll have plenty domain ideas to pick from, so let’s jump right in!

Why Your Website’s Domain Name Matters

Your site’s domain name is its primary URLs, which visitors will use to reach it. Chances are you type in multiple domain names each day, most of the time on autopilot.

Domain names become associated with the sites they belong to, and can shape the way users think about them. So it’s important that you choose the right name for your own website.

Some sites can get away with names that make no sense (we’re looking at you, Google), but in most cases you’ll want to choose a domain that:

• Gives visitors an idea about your site’s purpose
• Is easy to remember and to type
• Isn’t too long

The process of registering a domain name is simple, and in most cases cheap. However, coming up with the perfect name that’s also available is another matter entirely.

4 Creative Hacks You Can Use to Come Up With Fun Domain Names

Usually, people will tell you to stick with a classic .com domain. Those domains are almost always a safe bet, but that advice doesn’t leave a lot of room for creativity. These days, you have a plenty of options when it comes to domain names, so let’s have a little fun. Here are four ways to construct a more creative and memorable domain.

1. Incorporate Top-Level Domains (TLDs) into Your Name

Top-Level Domains (TLDs) are the suffixes at the end of every domain name. Some of the most common examples include .com, .org, .net, and so on. When most people think about TLDs, their mind goes directly to .com.

As you may know, however, there are literally hundreds of TLD options to pick from. A lot of them are much more unique than you might expect, such as .ninja, .beer, .guru, and even .fun.

Some people shy away from these types of TLDs for fear that they may look unprofessional. However, websites that take a chance and use creative TLDs as part of their names can resonate strongly, especially with younger audiences.

For example, you could use the TLDs mentioned above in combinations such as:

• financial.ninja
• marketplace.beer
• blogging.guru
• arewehaving.fun

They might not look like it, but all of these are valid URLs. All it takes is finding the perfect TLD and looking for fun name combinations you can use alongside it. The best part is that a lot of creative TLDs tend to be a lot cheaper to register, since they’re in less demand.

2. Use Country-Specific TLDs

While we’re on the subject of TLDs, we’d be remiss not to mention another category: country-specific options. Each country has its own TLD. Some examples include:

• .au (Australia)
• .us (United States)
• .uk (United Kingdom)

If you count every country in the world, you have a lot of options to choose from. Some country-specific TLDs require you to be a citizen in order to register the relevant domain name. Others, however, will let anyone register using their country codes without any additional fuss.

Using a country-code TLD lets your audience know where your website is based. It also can help you appear professional, and is a great alternative to classic .com domains.

3. Add Verbs or Adjectives to Your Company Name

One of the biggest challenges when looking for the perfect domain name is that a lot of the best ones are already taken. That’s particularly true for single-word domains. If your preferred domain is a common word, you can be sure that someone’s already sitting on it.

A simple hack to get around that problem is to use word combinations. One effective approach is to add verbs or adjectives to your website’s name, such as:

• getpocket.com
• steampowered.com

The more words you add to your domain name, the better the odds are that it’s not taken. Even so, we recommend that you stick with adding a single word at most, so your domain stays concise and memorable. Moreover, whatever verb or adjective you choose should reflect your site’s content and style, so it lets potential visitors know what to expect.

4. Try Using a Domain Name Generator

If you’ve never used a domain name generator before, you’re missing out. These are simple tools that take keywords and return long lists of word combinations that can be turned into unique domains.

Usually, domain name generators won’t simply hand you the perfect option. After all, they’re simple word combination tools. However, they are fantastic if you need a few ideas to get your creativity going.

For example, if you don’t have any domain name ideas yet, you can start with words that are related to your website’s goal or niche. Type those words into a generator such as Nameboy or Name Mesh:

Then take some time to go over the recommendations. Usually, a single try will yield a couple of promising combinations:

Our recommendation is to try a few different word combinations, keep track of names that sound interesting, and build a list with the best options. Once you have a few starter ideas, coming up with the perfect domain name becomes much more straightforward.

Domain Hack Conclusion

Domain names are more important than you might at first think. If you’re running a business, you wouldn’t just pick the first name that came to mind, and a website is in many ways another type of business. The right name can make it appear more professional and help it stay in people’s minds, so they keep coming back.

Coming up with memorable domain names can be hard, however, which is why we recommend that you use these tips to help you find the perfect one:

1. Incorporate TLDs into your name.
2. Use country-specific TLDs.
3. Add verbs or adjectives to your company name.
4. Try using a domain name generator.

Image credit: Pixabay.

The post Creative Domain Hacks For Registering Fun Domain Names (4) appeared first on The A2 Posting.

There are a lot of reasons for parking domains. You might want to ensure that no one steals a name from you while you develop a project, or use one as an ‘alias’ for an existing site. Whatever your reasons are, parking a domain is pretty simple to do.

In this article, we’ll go over how parked domains work. Then we’ll teach you how to set one up. And remember, A2 Hosting offers a lot of great products for domain management should you need them. Let’s get to work!

What Is A Parked Domain (And When to Use One)

Traditionally, most websites have a single domain name or URL that leads to them. If you type google.com into your navigation bar, you’ll see the familiar search bar appear.

However, a lot of websites also have what are called parked domains or ‘aliases’. Those are additional URLs leading towards the same page.

There are a lot of ways you can use parked domains to your advantage, including:

• Securing common misspellings of your primary domain name
• Registering your primary domain using other Top-Level Domains (TLDs)
• Saving names you can later sell
• Creating additional email accounts using your alias, which forward messages to your primary domain

Parked domains can also refer to URLs that you register and don’t point towards any website in particular (hence the term ‘parked’). Whatever you decide to do with your parked domain or alias, however, setting it up is downright simple.

How to Set Up a Parked Domain (In 2 Steps)

If your web host provides you with access to cPanel or another control panel, setting up an alias is pretty straightforward. For that alias to work, however, you’ll need to register the domain name beforehand.

Step 1: Register a Domain

The process of securing a domain works much the same regardless of which host or registrar you use. All you have to do is select an available domain name and TLD, and pay for the registration:

Once the domain is ready, you can head to your cPanel and look for the Domains section. There, you’ll find options to set up add-on domains, subdomains, redirects, and aliases.

Step 2: Create a New Alias

After you’ve registered your domain, you’ll be ready to park it. To do that, go ahead and click on the Aliases button:

On the next page, you can create a new alias by entering the URL for the domain you registered earlier:

As the note in the above image indicates, your alias won’t work unless you point its DNS servers towards the web host you’re using. If you registered that domain using the same web host, you should be good to go. On the other hand, if you used a third-party domain registrar, go ahead and update the DNS records for your alias now.

At this stage, your alias should appear on a list within the Aliases tab:

If you visit the URL, you’ll see what’s called a ‘parked page’. This page tell you that the domain you’re visiting is registered to someone, but it doesn’t have a website yet.

Step 3: Redirect Your Domain Parking (Optional)

Some people choose to set up ‘Coming Soon’ pages on parked domains, to let visitors know about upcoming projects. You can do that, leave the domain as-is, or redirect it to an existing website instead.

To add a redirect, return to the Aliases tab and select the Manage Redirection option. On the next page, you can enter the URL you want that alias to redirect users towards:

If you set up everything correctly, here’s what you’ll see:

Keep in mind – you can remove aliases and update your redirects any time you want. There are no rules for what you can do with a parked domain, so use it as you see fit.

Parked Domain Conclusion

Parked domains can come in handy in a lot of scenarios. For example, you can register multiple similar domains and point them all towards the same website, or save them for later use. It’s also a great approach if you want to register the same domain with multiple TLDs.

If your web host uses cPanel, you can easily add aliases by navigating to the Domains > Aliases section. Once there, you can add any domain you own as an alias to your account.  This is a quick and simple way of setting up parked domains for whatever purpose you might require.

Need Domain Management?

A2 Hosting offers a full array of domain management options, from registering a domain to helping you manage multiple domains for your business or clients. Click Here to learn more.

Image credit: Pixabay.

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For the sake of discussion, we’re going to assume a very common setup: A standard domain such as “a2hosting.com” with a Linux/cPanel based web hosting account such as our own Swift plan. Let’s get started!

First Step: DNS Lookup

When you direct your browser to a2hosting.com, the first thing that happens is that your computer does what’s called a DNS lookup. DNS is what translates a friendly name like “a2hosting.com” into something the computer can use: an IP address.

DNS lookups aren’t simple, but the process itself is. The browser first asks your computer for the information. The computer in turn asks your internet service provider (ISP), who in turn asks the Root DNS servers for the whole world. The Root DNS servers refer the lookup to the registry for .com (since we’re asking for a2hosting.com), who in turn refers the lookup to the place where the domain was purchased: The registrar.

We told the registrar to look at A2’s DNS servers for the info, and now the chain is complete: The browser asks A2’s DNS servers “Hey, what’s the IP for a2hosting.com?” The DNS server answers, and the next steps happen. 

 For the sake of the discussion, we’ll use the IP 10.20.30.40. 

Second Step: TCP/IP & Apache

The browser then opens a connection to 10.20.30.40 and sends a request for the website via the Transmission Control Protocol. Together, these make up TCP/IP. 

On the server side, there is software that serves websites, and it’s always listening for requests. A common piece of software is called “Apache”. Apache is configured to listen for connections on a given IP address on port 80. Just as a building with a single street address can have dozens of doors, an IP can have thousands of ports. There one specific “door” that’s labeled “Websites: Enter Here”, and that’s port 80. 

Apache hears the browser’s call: “Hey are you, listening at 10.20.30.40 on port 80? Give me a2hosting.com!”

Third Step: Your Website is Served, Sir!

The problem that could come up is that there might be hundreds of websites that use 10.20.30.40. How does Apache know which one to give to the browser? The answer lays in the request itself. 

The web browser has supplied three things: 

• IP (10.20.30.40)
• Port (80)
• Domain Name (a2hosting.com)

Apache has a configuration file that contains all of this information. This file essentially says “If a2hosting.com on 10.20.30.40 port 80 is requested, send these files.” This type of configuration is called a “Virtual Host” . A Virtual Host is defined by a bit of text inside Apache’s main configuration file. It contains those three pieces of information (domain, IP, port), and also the location of the website files called the DocumentRoot. A Virtual Host in Apache’s  configuration file will look similar to the following:

<VirtualHost 10.20.30.40:80>

ServerName a2hosting.com

DocumentRoot /home/a2hosting/public_html

</VirtualHost>

From there, the web server says to the browser “Okay browser, here’s the information you asked for!” and the website loads up on your computer. 

Is That it?

There are deeper levels of knowledge and understanding to be had, but this covers the basics. It’s easy to see that if any information between the request and the configuration don’t match, a website won’t work as expected.  There are a lot of steps in making a website request happen. It’s not extremely complicated; there are just a lot of steps. 

We hope this has lifted the veil from the process and some of the technology under the hood here at A2 Hosting. Thanks for reading!

The post What Happens When You Request A Website In Your Browser? appeared first on The A2 Posting.

The .io TLD is not only recognized and embraced by the tech community, but also offers new companies increased availability when it comes to choosing a domain name. Many tech companies are turning to this TLD as a way to appeal to the web-savvy community. Plus, you can pick one up for a very small investment.

In this article, we’ll talk a little more about TLDs in general, introduce the .io domain, and then discuss how it can represent a visual authority marker for your tech business. Let’s get to it!

Why Choosing the Right TLD Is Important

There’s a lot more to consider when choosing your TLD than you might first assume. Many people pick .com simply because it’s the most popular option, and there is some logic to that decision. After all, when most people are looking for a website or trying to remember a domain name, .com is still what comes to mind.

However, that doesn’t mean this particular TLD is always the best choice. For one, its popularity means that many of the best domain names have already been taken. This limits your options when you’re starting a new website. What’s more, the .com TLD is also rather generic.

Choosing a more unusual TLD can make your site’s URL stand out. It can also tell your visitors something about its content, and helps to shape their expectations. For example, .org is strongly associated with nonprofit websites, while .biz indicates a business site. Both of these TLDs are widely available for anyone to purchase, but they are most often used by certain kinds of companies, and have come to be associated with those niches.

Another reason it’s important to choose the right TLD is to help your customers remember your website. Simple and unique URLs are more memorable. When people can remember your website’s URL, it makes it easier for them to find your site in the future, encouraging repeat visits.

An Introduction to .io Domains

The .io TLD actually originated as the country code for the British Indian Ocean Territory. Soon, however, tech enthusiasts soon began to joke that what .io does mean is “input/output”. This led to the TLD’s association with tech companies:

The .io domain is considered a Generic Country Code Top Level Domain (GccTLD) by Google. This may sound confusing, but it simply means that even though the .io domain represents the British Indian Ocean Territory, it will not specifically target that geographic region in search results.

This makes it an ideal choice for international companies all across the world. Today, the .io domain is recognized by many in the tech community. It is used by app businesses, software developers, tech blogs, and more. If you’re in a similar niche, it may even be the right choice for your own website.

Why a .io Domain Can Be a Visual Authority Marker for Your Tech Business

As we’ve mentioned, many tech companies are turning to .io domains for their websites. In fact, there’s an emerging trend that says all new tech companies should have a .io domain. While that’s not necessarily a hard-and-fast rule, there are plenty of reasons to consider a .io domain for your tech business.

For instance, the .io domain is a shorter TLD than many of the other extensions that are available. That means it’s easier to type into web browsers. Having a short URL also makes your site’s address easier to remember. Combine this with the wider span of available names that .io offers, and you have a much greater chance to register a domain that’s short and unique.

What’s more, this particular extension provides the perfect opportunity for a ‘domain hack’. This is when you use your TLD to turn your domain into a word or phrase, and is a fun way to make your site memorable and interesting:

For example, National Public Radio (NPR) uses the TLD meant for Puerto Rico to shorten one version of its URL to n.pr. You can also do this with the .io domain, such as in the above example (scenar.io).

Finally, perhaps the most important reason to consider a .io domain for your tech business is because it’s a highly-recognizable TLD within the industry. Using it for your tech business shows that you are a part of the web-savvy community, and demonstrates that you aren’t afraid to take risks. In other words, having a website with an .io domain can be a great way to appeal to those who are a part of the tech scene.

Fortunately, picking up an .io domain for your website isn’t hard. It’ll cost a little more than your standard .com domain, but is still surprisingly affordable (and a smart investment). Here at A2 Hosting, for example, you can grab an .io domain for $49.95.

.io Domain Conclusion

The .io domain is an interesting option for tech companies to consider when setting up a website. It may be perfect for your tech company if you are looking for a shorter and more creative URL, and if you want to increase your odds for recognition within the web-savvy community.

Three reasons an .io domain can represent a visual authority marker for your tech business are:

1. A two-character domain means a shorter (and more memorable) URL.
2. It’s a great opportunity for a domain hack.
3. This TLD is highly recognizable in the tech industry.

Image credit: geralt.

The post .io Domain: An Introduction & Why It’s a Tech Business’ Dream appeared first on The A2 Posting.

SEO plays a major role in the success of your website, particularly when it comes to visibility and traffic. Fortunately, there are ways to switch your domain name without any lasting effects. This means you can make the change, and still continue to rank highly in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

In this post, we’ll briefly discuss the importance of SEO, and then explain how to switch your domain without damaging your site’s rankings. Let’s get started!

Why Strong SEO Is Important

Whenever you use a search engine, it will quickly rank the available content based on how relevant each page is to your query. Although the position a website ranks at is ultimately in the hands of Google, there are ways to increase your chances of a high placement. This process is known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

SEO can take many forms, although it usually centers around the use of relevant keywords. You can also include backlinks to your other content within your blog posts and social media profiles. Regardless of the particular methods you use, it’s important to have a strong SEO strategy in place.

This is because SEO helps to determine your site’s visibility. Without it, your pages are less likely to be displayed to relevant searchers. This means your content simply won’t be seen as often – which in turn can lead to low rates of conversions and site traffic.

On the other hand, high rankings can help to drive potential customers towards your site. In short, doing SEO the right way can be a cost-effective method of promoting your content – a particularly beneficial factor for small businesses and first-time website owners.

Of course, it’s important to remember that a high ranking is never guaranteed. You should also bear in mind that certain actions can negatively impact your rankings if you aren’t careful.

How a Domain Change Can Affect SEO

Your search result placements can be adversely affected by a number of factors – website downtime, for example. Right now, however, we want to focus on the potential negative consequences of changing your site’s domain name.

Although it may not be a regular occurrence, there are certain times when you might consider switching your domain name. This could be because a more user friendly or relevant domain has become available, you want to combine two existing sites, your business’ name has changed, or your site’s focus has shifted.

Regardless of the reason, it’s important to understand that even the smallest of changes can affect your rankings. One of the main reasons for this is that any links on your site to content under the previous domain will no longer work. Search engines are unable to categorize ‘dead’ links, meaning that the content cannot be ranked.

As we mentioned earlier, low page rankings can have a negative impact on your conversion rates and site traffic. Fortunately, there are ways of getting around this problem.

How to Switch Your Domain Name Without Damaging Your Site’s SEO (In 3 Steps)

Although changing your domain will usually result in a temporary drop in your search rankings, following a few simple steps can help you avoid long-term damage. Let’s walk through how that process works.

Step 1: Back Up Your Site

The first thing you’ll want to do is create a full backup of your website. There are many tools available for doing this, but using one that enables both backups and migrations will greatly simplify the process.

For this reason, we recommend the Duplicator plugin. After installing and activating this tool, open the Duplicator menu in your WordPress dashboard. From there, select Create New to initiate a new backup:

The plugin will launch the duplicator wizard – running some general performance tests along the way. If everything is okay, you can then click on the Build button:

Duplicator will then create a ‘package’ containing a backup of your WordPress site. Once that’s finished, you’ll see a few download options. Select One-Click Download to save the backup on your computer:

The archive file is a full copy of your website – what you’ll need to move it to another domain name. The installer script will automate and run the migration process, using the archive file.

Step 2: Transfer Your Site to Its New Domain

Before you can make the switch, you’ll need to create a database for your new domain name. If you already have one, you’re good to go. If you don’t, you can follow our complete guide to setting up a new database.

Then, you’ll need to upload the Duplicator files you downloaded earlier to your new domain name. To do that, you’ll first need to connect to the domain using an FTP client. Make sure the root folder is empty, and then upload the archive and installer files into it.

Once both files have finished uploading, you’re ready to start unpacking WordPress. Open up a new browser tab, and enter the following URL (you’ll need to replace “yoursite.com” with your new domain name):

http://yoursite.com/installer.php

This will launch the Duplicator migration wizard. The installer will locate the archive file, and ask you to enter some information about your existing WordPress database. You’ll also need to provide the details for your new domain’s database.

The Duplicator plugin will then move your WordPress database backup from the existing archive onto the new domain. After it’s finished, you’ll be asked to update the site’s URL or ‘path’. The plugin should automatically detect this information, but if it doesn’t you can enter it manually.

After that, Duplicator will complete the migration process for you. To verify that it has worked correctly, you can visit your site by entering the new URL into your browser. You should be taken straight to your website.

Now that your new domain is advice, you’ll want to set up some permanent 301 redirects. This will enable you to automatically send search engines to your new domain name, making sure they’re still able to index all of its content. To do that, check out our guide to setting up redirects in cPanel.

Step 3: Inform Google About the Change

Now that you’ve moved your site to its new domain, you’ll need to notify Google of the change. This will help Google find your site’s new location quickly, and continue to display it within search results.

You can begin this process by adding your new domain name to Google Search Console:

After that, access your old domain name in Google Search Console (or add it if necessary), and select the gear icon at the top of the screen. This will launch the change of address tool.

Google Search Console will then walk you through the process of submitting a request for your new domain. It will run some tests to make sure everything is in order. After that, you’ve done everything you need to switch your domain name while protecting your search rankings.

Conclusion

A change in domain name is sometimes essential. However, it’s important to keep the possible complications in mind – especially when it comes to your site’s SEO. Search engines are vital to the ongoing success of any website, and you don’t want to make it hard for them to locate and understand your content.

To switch your domain name with minimal damage to your search rankings, you’ll want to:

1. Back up your site using the Duplicator plugin.
2. Transfer your site to its new domain.
3. Let Google know about the switch.

Related Resources

Why You Should Consider a Cheap Domain Option

How to Check Domain Availability (& What to Do If It’s Taken)

.io Domain: An Introduction & Why It’s a Tech Business’ Dream

Using the Domain Features in cPanel

Image credit: Flickr.

The post How to Switch Your Domain Name Without Damaging Your Site’s SEO appeared first on The A2 Posting.

Ensuring that your domains stay active and valid at all times is important. This is especially pertinent when your domain hosts your business’ website, or key services such as email. Fortunately, renewing your domain is pretty simple – if you know how to go about it.

In this post, we’ll explain why renewing your domain is important. We’ll also offer some advice on how to do so as an A2 Hosting customer. Let’s get to it!

Why Your Website’s Domain Matters

Every website is identified by its IP address. This series of numbers helps your computer connect to your website’s server, just like a domain. In other words, it’s the literal address of your website.

However, remembering IP addresses would be incredibly complex, so we use domains/URLs to identify our sites instead.

Like an IP address, a domain is completely unique to each website. Purchasing and registering a domain is actually one of the very first things you’ll do when creating a website.

Choosing the right domain name can be tough, though registration is easy when using the right registrar. While you may be tempted to rush through this step, your choice here is incredibly important.

Ultimately, your domain forms the basis of your entire brand’s identity – essentially giving your site a ‘name’. Your customers will use it to refer to your site, and it will quickly become synonymous with practically everything you do.

This is because your domain will likely be used everywhere, such as your social media platforms and company branding. Displaying a high-value domain enables you to establish authority, credibility, and professionalism.

In turn, this tells your customers you are established and legitimate – and they may trust you more easily as a result. This is huge for securing conversions, so your domain could actually become a major contributor to your site’s success.

3 Reasons to Renew Your Domains Before They Expire

A lot of thought goes into crafting an effective domain, so the last thing you want to do is lose it. Failing to regularly renew your domain could mean just that – as well as some other major issues. Let’s look at three reasons to keep your domains up to date.

1. You Can Keep Your Existing Domain

Perhaps the most obvious and damaging consequence of not renewing your domain is losing it all together. As soon as it completely expires, your domain is essentially free for anyone to take.

After a domain expires, it will enter a ‘Redemption Grace Period’. This gives you 30 days to reacquire your domain name. Most domain registrars will charge a redemption fee for this service, although the cost varies.

What’s more, changing your site’s domain will also have a knock-on effect with regard to your business cards, social media accounts, and other branding elements. As we said, your domain is a key branding element. As such, you’ll want to keep it the same if possible.

However, losing your domain doesn’t just mean an impact to your branding – other areas of your business are at stake. For example, many third-party services (such as Google AdSense) will be linked to your domain. As such, you’ll have to adjust them all if you’re forced to switch.

2. You’ll Ensure That Your Website Is Always Up

Despite the presence of a grace period, an expired domain’s nameservers are changed to ‘parking pages’ in many cases. All services connected to that domain will then stop working –  including your email.

Even the most temporary spell of downtime could seriously damage your site, particularly when considering User Experience (UX). For example, letting a visitor see a parking page could make them question your site’s legitimacy.

This is also true for any potential clients who attempt to visit your site – for example, consider a potential client being met with a parking page. This isn’t a positive presentation of your business. As such, failing to renew your domain could lead to many lost opportunities.

3. Your Search Engine Rankings Will Be Protected

Parking pages can also have a hugely negative impact on your search engine rankings. Of course, crafting an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy can be incredibly time-consuming. Losing your ranking is a huge backwards step, and it could take a while before you’re able to undo the damage.

The web crawler Google uses has no way to establish whether a site is dead, or simply experiencing some downtime. It will instead try to re-crawl your site to see if it’s live again. While this is happening, your website will most likely experience a drop in its current ranking.

While this doesn’t mean your site is permanently dropped from the Google index, it’s estimated that search result rankings will drop an average of 30% after just six hours of downtime. This means you’ll have to put in some serious SEO overtime to get back to your original position.

How to Renew Your Domain

Fortunately, renewing your domain is a pretty simple process. There are two ways to do it – manual and automatic.  Let’s start by exploring how to manually renew a domain purchased here at A2 Hosting.

Start off by logging into the A2 Hosting Customer Portal. From the menu bar, select Domains, then Renew Domains:

From the resulting list of domains, select the domain you wish to renew. You can then choose your preferred renewal length period from the drop-down list, accompanied by the cost.

When you’re ready, simply click Add to Cart to complete the renewal process:

If you feel you’re likely to forget to do this manually, you can also set up automatic renewals. Again, after logging into the Customer Portal, navigate to Domains from the menu bar and select My Domains from the drop-down list:

Here, find the domain you want to set up automatic renewals for, and click the associated ‘down’ Arrow icon. Next, select Auto Renewal Status:

To enable automatic renewals, click Enable Auto Renew:

If you ever need to disable the auto renewal status, you can also do this here too. At this point, the renewal of your domain is complete!

Conclusion

Renewing your domain before it expires is a simple task, but is also easily forgotten. Failing to do so in time could have a negative impact on both your website and your business. Fortunately, by renewing it early or setting up auto renewals, you can avoid any complications.

In this post, we’ve identified three reasons you should always renew your domain before it expires. Let’s recap them:

1. You will avoid losing your existing domain, and the brand identity that comes with it.
2. Your site will remain up at all times, avoiding any potential downtime.
3. You’ll avoid damaging your hard-earned spot in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

Image Credit: JE-SHOOTS-com.

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