Thinking of starting a business now or later?

Of course you will want a catchy, meaningful and easy to remember business name.

After you have chosen a business name, you should reserve a “.com”, domain name.

I have done this on numerous occasions.

First, give some thought to your business name and try not to limit the scope of your potential business activities if applicable.

Next do a search on the internet to see who, if anyone is using your name and what your competition is.

Next, check with your Secretary of State’s office, or other state agency, to see if the name is being used.

Concurrently have some idea of what type of business organization you will use. Corporation, LLC, etc. You may need to consult a tax/business expert for advice.

As soon as you have a handle on your business name, reserve one or more domain names. If you are reserving a .com you may want to also reserve a .net and other
suffixes to keep a potential competitor from usurping your internet name.

If you have chosen a web hosting provider, you can search for a domain name and purchase it there, although it is often provided with the initial cost of hosting,

If you have not chosen a hosting provider or early on you just want to search for a domain name, here are some suggestions:

InstantDomainSearch.com

“See Domain Name Search Results As You Type

Just start typing! If the domain name you are looking for is taken, you can click WHOIS to find out who registered it or the URL to visit the website.

We apply a $0.99 coupon for .com domain names when you buy at Go Daddy. The offer is valid for only one .com purchase, and does not include the ICANN fee of $0.18 per
domain name per year. That’s a sweet deal!

Love the site? Spread the word on Twitter and Facebook!

All domain searches are encrypted over https, and searches do not leave our servers. Your search results are not recorded. Pressing Enter or Return will take you
directly to Go Daddy or the registrar you’ve chosen where you can buy your domain name. Good luck!”

Search

DomainsBot.com

“The domain name search engine!

Available domain suggestions + expired, expiring and for sale domain name search + whois lookup. Domain + Twitter + Facebook identity suggesitons.”

Search

PCnames.com

“Check Domains, Instantly!

Based on your query, PCNames.com instantly checks whether .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .us, .mobi and .name domain names are available. The domain search results
will appear with 2-second delay for your convenience.

Your domain search results are not shared with 3-rd parties. However, we keep history of your recent domain searches and favorite domain picks so you can easily follow
up on all the important search results.”

Search

From Entrepreneur.

“Do’s and Don’ts of Securing a Domain Name

Consider these six tips from small-business owners and experts before deciding on a website name.”
Read more

I have been using WordPress for blogging and website creation for many years.

I am sold on it.

I highly recommend it for small businesses, but what is surprising is the number of Fortune 500 companies using it.

Why?

It is flexible, cost effective and facilitates getting great SEO, Search Engine Optimization, ranking.

It is far more than a blogging platform.

I was preparing this article and as I normally do, did a search to see what the competition is on the subject.

I found an article ironically written by someone with the same last name. William H. Wells III, as the saying goes, took the words right out of my mouth.

From William H. Wells III, Internet marketing strategist, consultant and public speaker.

“As a web developer for twenty years now, I’ve been privileged to be part of the continuous evolution of Internet technology, website development and SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  Small businesses and non-profit organizations have been forced to balance affordability with having a professional looking website which would also obtain high search engine rankings.  They needed what they couldn’t afford… and what they COULD afford wasn’t what they needed.

Some made the mistake of letting family members, rookies, and novices do it for them to “save” money.  The result was generally amateur looking websites with no search engine optimization at all.  These novices eventually disappeared… sites quickly became outdated and business owners found themselves back at square one… starting over while losing valuable months and perhaps years in the process.  The “you get what you pay for” idea was never more true.  Read some fun articles I wrote on this topic back in the “old days”.”

“WordPress is now considered the “industry standard” website platform and has leveled the playing field when it comes to websites and search engine visibility.  You can now use the exact same platform that many Fortune 500 companies and major brands have chosen to use!  Who’s using WordPress?”

“5 Reasons to Switch Your Website to WordPress

1. Cost Effective
   As with any website, you’ll have your annual domain name renewal and website hosting fees.  The platform software is free and can be found at wordpress.org.  Most add-on modules (plugins) are free.  I’d strongly suggest you seek the help of a professional to assist with the original installation and software set-up.  This should be a one-time fee with minimal or no monthly maintenance fees.
2. 100% Total Control
   You have 100% control over every aspect of your website.  Appearance, layout, categorized links and content, add-on modules (plugins), SEO, photos, videos, calendars, contact forms, PayPal integration, and so much more.
3. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
   Search engines love WordPress… especially Google.  Easily include Google Analytics.  Virtually every aspect of WordPress offers the ability to include meta tags, descriptions, keywords and phrases.  From individual pages and posts to images, videos, links, categories, and more.  Each of these plays a crucial role in helping with search engine visibility.
4. Social Media Friendly
   WordPress provides users with the ability to easily include icons, links, and streams for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and others.  It’s, by far, one of the easiest platforms for connecting your website with your social networking tools!
5. Communication, Interaction, and Lead Generation
   WordPress comes complete with powerful communication and consumer interaction tools.   Built right in is the ability for visitors to post comments on articles you’ve written, pages you’ve created, and content you’ve provided.  You can easily add a “Log In” area for users and provide them with “Member Only” content.  Want people to sign up for your newsletter?  Most newsletter services such as “Constant Contact” or “MailChimp” provide you with the code you need.  Insert it anywhere in your website.  The opportunities are endless.”

Read more:

http://www.williamhwells.com/2012/04/21/website-woes/

From the WordPress Dashboard.

Click on Plugins link.

Click on Add New link.

In the search box, enter “Sucuri Security – SiteCheck Malware Scanner” then click Search.

Sucuri Security – SiteCheck Malware Scanner will appear.

Click on Install Now link.

Message appears.

“Are you sure you want to install this plugin?”

Click on OK button.

“Installing Plugin” message appears.

Click on Activate Plugin link.

Sucuri Security – SiteCheck Malware Scanner now installed.

*** Please note ***

Sucuri Security – SiteCheck Malware Scanner is only available via a paid subscription.

For more information on pricing:

https://sucuri.net/website-firewall/signup

These instructions are believed to be correct as of today.

For more information visit WordPress help or

https://sucuri.net/

From ars technica December 15, 2014.

“More Than 100,000 WordPress Websites Reportedly Infected by Russian Malware”

“Over 100,000 WordPress sites have been infected by a Russian virus called SoakSoak, which loads an attack code onto webpages created through the uber-popular blogging platform, according to a report by Ars Technica.

Google has already flagged roughly 11,000 malicious domains — though it is likely that many more than that have been compromised.

According to Gizmodo, more than 70 million total sites use WordPress as a content-management system — from personal blogs to Time.com. However, only self-hosted sites that use WordPress have been affected by the malware — meaning personal blogs are okay.

The aim of the hackers and the consequences of the virus — whether to steal data or otherwise — remain unclear.

Related: 5 Lessons Leaders Can Learn From the Sony Hacking Scandal

The malware infiltrated WordPress through a vulnerability in a slideshow plug-in called Slider Revolution. While Slider Revolution has since fixed the bug with updates — it knew about the vulnerability earlier this fall, according to Gizmodo — the older version of the plug-in is still bundled with many WordPress themes.

“The biggest issue is that the RevSlider plugin is a premium plugin,” wrote Sucuri, an online security firm that was first to identify the infection. “It’s not something everyone can easily upgrade and that in itself becomes a disaster for website owners.””

Read more:

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/12/some-100000-or-more-wordpress-sites-infected-by-mysterious-malware/

Sucuri free website scanner:

http://sitecheck.sucuri.net/

“Technical support is like insurance. You should rarely need it but when you do, you really need it.”…L Wells

I have used Hostmonster for web hosting for years and other services prior to that.

Three of my Hostmonster accounts were to be consolidated into one or two accounts and some of the numerous domains were to
be discontinued.

Recently I attempted to contact tech support at Hostmonster. I have rarely had to do so. What had been a great experience
a few years ago turned into a nightmare.

I tried both calling and chatting. Both wait times were extremely lengthy.

When I finally engaged a chat, the person was not listening to what I wanted, made assumptions and eventually gave me
incorrect information.

I spoke to someone in sales (the only responsive dept.) who did listen and was apologetic.

Without boring you with details I spent some more money and followed the chatter’s advice.

This turned out to be a bad decision.

Further attempts to get tech support were futile.

I did the usual internet search to find out the experience of others.

I found the following.

“As time went on performance for my websites became worse and worse. It turns out the *actual* culprit of all this was
drastically oversold (overloaded) servers.”

“After receiving several complaints from family who gave up on trying to view some photos in my photo gallery and numerous
complaints from customers (for the software I sell here) I tried contacting HostMonster support again. The chat log from
this contact can be viewed below.”

“Since HostMonster clearly did not value me as a customer and offered nothing to resolve the situation I decided to change
web hosting companies. I am now a proud customer of WebHostingHub.com. The performance on all of my websites has
dramatically improved. They’re snappy even! Hopefully I haven’t lost all of my friends & family as readers. If you stopped
checking in because my sites were slow, you have my apologies. I’m welcoming you back with open arms — better performance
and all. If you stumbled across this post because you’re having similar issues with HostMonster’s performance–what are you
waiting for? Cancel your account with HostMonster for a pro-rated refund and make the switch to WebHostingHub.com. Life
here is grand”

Read more:

http://www.schiffner.com/11-excruciating-months-with-hostmonster-have-come-to-an-end/

One of my favorite expressions is “talk is cheap unless you are talking to an attorney.”

Therefore, I tried a test with Webhostinghub tech support chat and someone responded well and within 30 seconds.

And this was as a non customer.

I then signed up for a two year service of hosting with them. The introductory price was $ 89.64 for two years.

Since signing up, I have received the best support ever with each call or chat responded to with 30 seconds.

This article will be updated with more information as time progresses.
In fairness to Hostmonster and ironically, I got my best response when I cancelled all three accounts.

Too little too late.