Whoa! This morning I got a frantic phone message from a customer who hosts with BeeLine. We also manage this customer’s domain name. (Their dot com.) We’d sent her a notification of domain name renewal and she’d misplaced it, so it didn’t get paid. She was terribly worried that her domain name would expire and her Web site would go away entirely.

No worries!
If BeeLine is managing your domain name — which we do for most of our customers — you never need to worry about the domain expiring. We take expirations very, very seriously. Because if your domain expires, your Web site goes away.

So, we have a system in place that’s nearly foolproof:

- When your domain comes up for renewal, we notify you well in advance of expiration dates…usually about two months in advance. Just in case you decide to take a trip to Tahiti for a month without your laptop and cellphone.

- Then, as an added safety net, we automatically renew the name for another year, no matter what.
Let me say that again: Your domain name is set to renew AUTOMATICALLY whether you’ve paid the fee or not. We know that your domain name is crucial to keeping your site online… and therefore to the process of running your business. So in essence, your domain name doesn’t expire unless we haven’t heard from you in over a year.

Why do we renew domain names at our own expense? Because we’re nice. And, because we know how hectic your life is. We know that running a business and taking care of employees and products and customers can be more than a full time job. We feel it’s our job to take all the worry out of your online life while you get on with your offline life.

Do we sometimes get stuck paying for a domain name we can’t use? Of course we do. But, we’d rather risk that expense than have our customers’ Web sites go offline. Every day that passes more people are looking online for products and services. This means that your Web site becomes more crucial to running your business successfully. . . and your success is ours, too.

So, we mean it when we say Don’t Worry. Bee happy.

Many businesses have received a coupon from Google in the mail (the postal mail, that is) worth $100. Most people don’t know what to do with the coupon, so lots of people  have been throwing them away.

If you do have one of those coupons and you haven’t thrown it away yet, give us a buzz. 262.767.8887. It really is worth a hundred bucks! And, it’s an excellent way to push your Web site to a better position in the search results. In other words, using your FREE $100 for some online advertising could ultimately result in more people visiting your Web site…. and finding out what you offer ….and then buying the things you offer…. which is how you make your money!

The Short Story: Google’s $100 coupon = money in your pocket.

Don’t throw it away. Give us a buzz: 262.767.8887 or email or comment on this posting!

PS: We never lie. There is never a guarantee that your site will be ranked higher in search results. And, if anyone says anything resembling the word “guarantee” when talking about Google rankings, they’re not telling the whole truth. Your rank depends on lots of things, including

• your competition
• how savvy they are about online marketing
• your location
• and most of all the quality of your site. It needs to have a great structure, lots of keywords, links and informative content (among other things)

What’s your time worth?

It’s been a long time since I’ve changed the oil in my car. A really long time. Mainly because by the time I slip out of my strappy sandals and crawl under my SUV on the cold garage concrete, the guy down the street can have the oil changed, fluids checked, tires aired and bug kamikazies scrubbed off the windshield. I’d still be looking for the wrench. It’s easy to figure out why he’s so fast. He does it every day. He’s got the right tools. His shop is set up for exactly that function. The most common filters are in stock. Each of these factors brings his oil-change time down. And, if that’s how he makes his living, then time is a really good thing to have on his side. When he’s looking for his wrench, he’s not making money.

And, while you’re on the phone with the Hosting Company from Planet Zune listening to them explain All About DNS Servers (but they were CHEAPER!) you are not making money at what you do best: running your business, selling your product, providing your service. Nor are you enjoying a round of golf, a beer with a buddy or coffee with your friend from college.

There’s a bright side: you’ll learn everything you need to know about hosting and domain names and DNS routing, so you don’t have to depend upon someone else to know all that for you. Just like if I changed my own oil, I’d certainly know the part number on my oil filter. But, if you’re like most people who have just one web site, you’re learning something that you’ll likely seldom use again. Or you hope so, because contacting your hosting company means there’s something wrong with your Web site. And, there aren’t too many people who enjoy Musak enough to spend an afternoon on hold with their Web hosting company while they escalate your issue to ever higher levels of tech support. Meanwhile, your Web site languishes in Web limbo displaying the 404 Not Found message. Hard to sell product with that message out there.

Here’s  a thought: If you’re in business, you probably have a phone. It would be kind of odd to be phoneless, I guess. What do you pay for the phone service? If it’s reliable and has voice mail, in case you’re busy and caller id in case you’re trying to avoid someone, then you can justify paying a reasonable fee. After all, without a phone, it would be really difficult to run your business at all. Thank goodness you don’t have to learn all about how each phone call is routed to your business! What a waste of time that would be. Let the phone company take care of the technicalities of fiber optics and routing calls to the right place. You simply buy a phone, plug in the cord and start taking orders.

Here’s another thought: What do you pay for your phone book ad? Or should we say ads, because in this area, there are multiple phone books and guessing which one your potential customer chooses is just that: guessing. Where are those copious phone books anyway? Most people haven’t seen their phone book since it landed on the front steps in the rain last summer. And they’re probably not missing it a whole lot, because it’s a LOT easier to look you up online.  No problem finding Google.. . and from Google you can get just about anywhere, including to your Web site’s front door…if it’s online and functioning correctly.

And another: Have you had a brochure printed lately? Did you do it yourself, spending hours learning Microsoft Publisher and buying perfect paper and matching envelopes? Once again, you’ve learned a new software program, discovered a lot about brochure layout. But, it’s not something that you’ll use again until it’s time for a new brochure. And, while you were in the back room cutting and pasting, who was minding your business and dealing with your customers? So, you’re probably better off to have your brochure printed by a professional printing company.

While Bob the Cheap Hosting Guy is in the back room kissing Martina, here at the BeeLine Hive we’re busy learning Google’s methods, discovering better domain names and targeting your site’s content to the right customers (the ones who BUY!). No gimmicks. Just doing our best at what we do best: making your web site work for your business. Cheap Bob doesn’t really care whether you’re successful. He just wants to be sure he gets thousands of customers like you, so HE can spend some time on the golf course while you talk to tech support to get your site working right.

So, let us take the headache out of hosting.  And stay with what you’re really good at: serving YOUR customers.

PS  I really did change my own oil when I was a teen. In fact, I even changed out the fuel pump in my first car, a Ford Falcon.

Some good reasons for using multiple names for your Web site

Now that you have your domain name printed on everything including your vehicle, you certainly don’t want to change it. But, did you know that you can have more than one domain name pointing to your Web site? It’s exactly like having two phone numbers ring to your building. Registering an additional name is an affordable way to help customers find you! Here are several good reasons to register another name and have it point to your Web site.

Search rank
Although it’s not the MOST important thing, it does help your search rank if your product or service is IN your domain name. Now, this isn’t a reason to jump online and start registering every name you can that has to do with the widgets you sell. Widgets.com, widgets.org, widgets.biz, etc. etc. Enough already. But, a name like WidgetInstallers.com definitely gets Google to see your Web site as very relevant in a search for “How do I install a widget?”.  

Stickiness WeBuyUglyHouses.com is one domain you don’t easily forget. . . it sticks in your mind. So, Anderson Bauman Chiropractic took that idea and ran with it. Their alternate domain name NotJustBackPain.com not only lets customers know what they do, but mentions that there are many reasons to make an appointment with your chiropractor. Be creative. Think of short sentences or phrases that people can easily remember. And, get that name registered today…before someone else gets it.

MisspellingsAnother great reason to have multiple names is to account for misspellings. Franks County Market found that lots of people mistakenly call the store Frank’s Country Market (with the R). So, he registered that name, too. For only $25 a year, ($20 this month!) he’s sure that he’s not missing all the folks who think Frank’s is a COUNTRY store, not a COUNTY store.

Ditch the dash
You could also remove the dash. When the Garden of Eder first registered their name, they didn’t think about saying it out loud. Saying “Garden dash of dash Eder dot com” is a bit awkward. So, Garden-of-Eder.com was complemented by another intuitive domain: GardenofEder.com.

Do you have questions about using multiple domain names for customers to find your Web site? Leave a comment!

Domain names on sale through August 31!
Register during August and receive $5 off!

You have a great idea for a domain name? Then now is the time to register that clever name you thought up while you couldn’t sleep last night. . . or the night before!

You don’t need to limit yourself to dot com. There are lots of other domain extensions that have some very clever uses: .net, .biz and .info are only a few. Check all of them here.

Why register through BeeLine? Simple. Because we’re right here to answer your questions and suggest ways to make your business thrive. Our goal is to make you successful — both online and offline.