Web Hosting Fan

In Scottsdale, Arizona, one of the best places to work since 2004 and repeating for the sixth year in a row is GoDaddy.com.  Business Journal ranked the Internet’s largest combined domain registrar and web hosting provider among the “Valley’s Best Places to Work”.

GoDaddy.com

Proclaimed the world’s number one domain name registrar by Name Intelligence, GoDaddy.com provides services and products enabling businesses and individuals to create and maintain an online  presence.  The company provides domain name registration covering a large number of suffixes (.com, .net, .org and many others), web site design, web hosting and many other on-the-fly services.  Customers with GoDaddy.com may purchase SSL certificates, domains by proxy and privacy registration, e-commerce hosted web sites, fully designed and software installed blog web sites, and even podcasting and online photography web hosted accounts are made available.  With over 38 million domain names under its belt, GoDaddy.com estimates a domain is either newly established, renewed or transferred every second.

Rated

Quantum Market Research compiles data on companies being rated for the yearly “Valley’s Best Places to Work” honor.  The ranking is based on surveys completed by GoDaddy.com employees which measure retention rates, the effectiveness of the managerial team, efficiency of work teams, company and employee goal alignments, trust levels of employees in their co-workers and senior staff as well as other performance-based criteria.

Success

With over 2,400 employees, GoDaddy.com has its work cut out for them keeping everyone happy and enjoying their work with the company.  The company does this very adeptly with incentives and prizes being given to its top performers.  Mortgages paid for a year, new cars and motorcycles purchased, all expenses paid vacations, and chances to step inside the GoDaddy.com “cash-blowing machine” are just a few of the ways employees are rewarded.

It seems there is no stopping the success of the top domain name registrar either.  Even in the economic times being felt the world over, GoDaddy.com has seen increased growth and a 22% revenue gain over the course of the year.  The company has recently thrown a no-expenses spared holiday party in downtown Phoenix, Arizona to celebrate and further reward its employees.  As GoDaddy.com has offices not only in Arizona but Iowa, Colorado, Washington DC and the Netherlands, all out of the area employees were flown in and given hotel accommodations – again, all on the company’s dime.

Honors

GoDaddy.com’s CEO and Founder, Bob Parsons, has stated he learned quite some time ago that employees that are happy create customers that are happy.  Bob has always desired that the company be a fun, rewarding place and offers an employment package matched by very few other companies in the same class.  It is this attitude that has garnered GoDaddy.com many other honors including CNN Money’s list ranking for Best Perks, Arizona Business Leader of the Year and the Alfred P. Sloan award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility on three separate occasions.

Currently the company has more than one hundred jobs available for the taking.  With as much as GoDaddy.com gives to its employees, it is hard to imagine these jobs staying open for very long.

At first glance, Godaddy can seem like an overwhelming experience.  With so many products being offered, it is very easy to get lost in the sea of information.  Fortunately, Godaddy has a new online product advisor that can help you determine which solutions or products are the best choices for you and help you get your business online in and expedient fashion.

Step One

The first step of this process is to determine if you already have a domain name or if one is required.  If you already have a domain or do not need one at this time, the process bypasses domain registration and continues on.  However, if a domain name is needed, the next step asks about the nature of the business or site requiring the new domain name – business, personal, domain services or non-profit organization, to be exact.  For the purposes of this article, let’s assume you desire a domain name registration for a business.

Step Two

After selecting the nature of the site, the Godaddy advisor asks “Which of the following is most important to you?”.  You are given the options of personal privacy (name, email, etc. being excluded from the public WHOIS database), ensuring your business information is easily accessed within the WHOIS database, keeping your domain safe from expiration or erroneous transfer, a combination of all three choices together or simply none of these.  The reasoning behind this question is to determine what level of privacy is warranted for the account and whether or not to set up automatic renewals and locked domains.

Step Three

The next question asked is if you require a web site.  This is simple enough and only requires a yes or no answer.  If you select yes, you will be presented with list that helps to determine what type of site you need to have built.  Indicating that you already have a web site built will return more questions regarding your need to do more with your existing web site.  This includes whether you’d like for Godaddy to host your web site, if you’d like to create a blog, add a shopping cart and other special indicators that will help Godaddy assemble a product list for you and your business.  A simple no to this question moves along to asking what else you would like to do on the web.  We’ll assume you’d like to have a web site created along with your new domain and have it all hosted at Godaddy.

Step Four

Answering the next question posed by the advisor takes a bit of thought – what type of web site do you want built?  You may need a site that requires little technological skills on your part, you may simply wish to use the site for information dissemination (blog, for instance) or you may need an ecommerce site.  It could be that you require a combination of different site types and in that case you can select more than one option.

Step Five

After answering the type of site question, you are finally brought to the section where you determine your new domain name.  Prior preparation is indicated here as selecting a domain name on the fly isn’t recommended.  Have a list of different names you would like to search based on your business or products.  Remember, what you choose will reflect on your business so choose wisely and carefully.

Final

Once you’ve picked the perfect domain name, you’re pretty much out of the advisor and now going into the actual purchasing area of Godaddy.  You’ll be presented with products and services that Godaddy has determined will best fit your personal or business needs.  Working with the product advisor is highly recommended for both the inexperienced web patron as well as the seasoned veteran.

Although millions of catchy, generic domain names have already been registered, there are still plenty of good ones available to individuals and businesses looking to establish themselves online.  At the same time, the importance of this web address can make choosing one overwhelmingly difficult.  The tips in this article will help your register a quality domain name on your first try.

Coming Up with a Name

Most of the clever, single-word domain names have been taken off the market but don’t worry, there are still many options available to you.  In fact, by using combinations or variations of words, you can relay the purpose of your website or business to your audience more effectively.  The key is to keep your domain name is simple as possible so it better resonates with potential visitors and customers.  Many experts will tell you that the simpler and shorter your domain, the more effective it is.  This simplicity is particularly essential to the spelling aspect.  If people cannot remember how to spell your domain name, it is very unlikely that they will ever end up on your site.  Picking the right domain name is very crucial because if you choose correctly, it could become a tool that helps to establish your brand and online presence.

Taking a Trip to the Registrar

Once you have decided on a fitting domain, it is time for you to make the registration official and put it to use.  To accomplish this you need the aid of a third-party company known as a registrar.  These companies maintain the websites used to provide services that allow you to register a domain name.  There are many of these companies on the web, with GoDaddy, Yahoo and Dotster being among the most popular.  Registration is relatively affordable these days and often comes free with the purchase of a web hosting service.  When registering the name, you typically get a variety of additional features such as URL and email forwarding, domain parking, customer support and a control panel interface for managing your products.

Register Wisely

While you don’t have to pay a lot to register a domain name, you do have to be cautious of the registrar you deal with.  The internet has been a haven for many fly-by-night jokers that offer domain names one day, and are nowhere to be found the next.  This problem is closely associated with the factor of a web-based world infested with scams and criminals.  Indeed, the domain name market has grown considerably over the years but it is strongly recommended that you only do business with reputable companies.  In short, do not allow an amazingly low price lead you into a costly trap.

Protect Your Investment

After registering a domain name, the next critical step is to protect your investment.  This involves keeping your records up to date and making sure your domain is re-registered before the expiration date.  Registrars can help out with the process with features such as auto-renewal and domain locking to keep your name protected from savvy thieves and shady companies.  In the end, the registrar goes a long way in making sure you have made the right selection.

The national unemployment rate may be through the roof, but the IT field is still showing signs of stability.  GoDaddy, leading domain registrar and web hosting provider, is currently hiring technically skilled employees proficient in Spanish to better service its global base of customers.  During a news conference held at one of the company’s facilities in Tempe, Arizona, Miguel Lopez, Vice President of Customer Care at GoDaddy, announced that there are 20 positions open in its Spanish language unit.  A native Spanish speaker himself, Lopez is in charge of all of GoDaddy’s Customer Care operations.  This newly formed team is responsible for servicing Spanish speaking customers who need help establishing their web presence with domain names, websites, blogs, photo galleries, e-commerce solutions or any of the 52 related products GoDaddy has to offer.

Lopez remarked that while the company is currently seeking Spanish speaking employees with general computer knowledge, full training will be provided so the new staff can know the products and services inside and out.  He added that the hiring was needed since GoDaddy has recently seen a significant increase in business from Mexico and Spain.  Because so few companies really deliver on their claims of quality, personalized customer service, Lopez stresses that there was an urgency to bring in more qualified staff to give the people access to friendly, knowledgeable support agents to help them get up and running online.

Due to the current economic struggles, GoDaddy is actually one of the only 500/5000 companies extending its employee base at the time.  As of now, the company has more than 2,170 employees, which gives them the power to effectively service well over 7 million customers around the world.  In addition to the open Spanish speaking positions, GoDaddy also has about 100 more jobs available right now.

Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, GoDaddy should have no trouble finding new employees as the web giant has been ranked as one of the “Valley’s Best Places to Work” for five consecutive years.  Some of its other prestigious honors and awards over the years have included “Business Leader of the year” “Best Registrar”, “Most Innovative Company”, “Best Employee Perks” and “Best Manufacturing and Technology Company in the Valley”.  Potential employees will also be happy to know that GoDaddy offers competitive salaries, excellent health benefits, generous vacation time, educational assistance and numerous opportunities to advance within the company.

About GoDaddy

GoDaddy is a leading domain name registrar and premiere provider of web services that help individuals and businesses establish, maintain and grow their presence online.  Its portfolio includes a broad range of domain name registration, web hosting and website design packages, as well as a diverse selection of on-demand services such as SSL certificates, domains by proxy private registration, blog applications and templates, podcast packages and online image hosting.   According to Name Intelligence, Inc. GoDaddy is the top domain name registrar in the world, responsible for registering one-third of all new domain names in 2008 for the six most popular top level domains:.com, .org, .net, .info., .biz and .mobi.

Throughout the world, web hosting providers understand that nothing is quite more satisfying for an online business owner than profiting with their website.  This is why GoDaddy has decided to launch two new affordable solutions that will aid entrepreneurs in the process of enhancing their online storefront.

For those who prefer the DIY approach, GoDaddy has made notable enhancements to its extremely popular Quick Shopping Cart application.  Not to be left out are entrepreneurs who feel more comfortable having their work done by the experts.  To cater to these needs, GoDaddy has a launched a service called Web Store Design, which will be maintained by its highly touted Dream Design Team.

According to a survey conducted earlier this year by Practical eCommerce, the Quick Shopping Cart product was rated as the most popular e-commere shopping cart.  GoDaddy has now greatly improved the service by implementing a number of strategic upgrades and broadening its product displays to provide customers with more options for enhancing the presentation of their storefront sites.  Online merchants can take advantage of GoDaddy’s new page layouts, product animations, fly-out navigation and product thumbnails to highlight products and services for their customers.  The domain name giant has made all this available with the options of no set up charges and a small percentage of the transaction fee.  Either way, you don’t have to worry about paying any costly upfront monthly fees for a merchant account.

Robyn Harrison, a GoDaddy Quick Shopping cart customer and owner of CurtainTrax.com, is totally sold on the new do-it-yourself concept.  Harrison says that the product has allowed them to enter the web-based retailing market, providing a way to quickly and effectively leverage the features needed to launch a fully functioning online storefront in just a matter of days.

For those who are not interested in the DIY method, GoDaddy’s Web Store Design service   makes the perfect alternative as its Dream Team has the ability to build virtually any web-based storefront.  This solution is a unique combination of GoDaddy’s Quick Shopping Cart and Website Tonight Products melded with the expertise of the Dream Design Team.  Together, these elements provide for a turnkey solution that delivers benefits to GoDaddy customers looking to showcase and sell their own products and services online.

Solutions like the enhanced Quick Shopping Cart and Web Store Design prove that GoDaddy is not only the king of domain names, but also a company well capable of providing various solutions to help customers start and grow their web presence.  It appears as if these products are right on time because aexperts are predicting that by 2010, online sales will top $144 billion in the United States alone.

About GoDaddy

GoDaddy is a leading provider of domain names, web hosting services, and many other products and solutions designed to help individuals and businesses establish themselves online.  Aside from .com, .net, .biz, and .mobile TLDs, the company also offers SSL certificates, podcasts packages and online image hosting.  According to Name Intelligence, Inc., Go Daddy is the largest domain name registrar in the world with more than 35 domains currently under management.

In order to procure a website, you need a web hosting service and preferably a domain name to go along with it.  These days, many web hosts offer a free domain name when signing up for one of their hosting packages.  While such a deal is often hard to resist, this may not be the best move.  This article will give you some important factors to consider and point you in the direction of a reliable domain name registrar.

What’s Wrong with a Free Domain?

Getting a free domain registration from a web host is great, provided the company registers it in your name.  Unfortunately, several hosting companies elect to place the registration in their name.  This basically means that they own your domain name and can actually protest your decision to move it to another hosting company or registrar.  You can guess what a bad situation this could be turn out to be.  When it comes it to the internet, this is essentially like someone owning the name of your business.  Therefore, you should strongly consider only obtaining a free domain from a web host that will not try to claim ownership of the name.  If not, you could find yourself in a grueling, losing battle.

Avoid the Traps

These days, domain registrars offer an assortment of extra features.  This ranges from additional products for protecting your domain name to web hosting services.  Most of these offerings will sound tempting but it is wise to only select the services you require.  Therefore, if you simply need a domain name, don’t let a company persuade you into buying an overpriced hosting package as well.  If a particular registrar makes the process too confusing or tries to pressure you into purchasing these  additional services, you should probably consider moving along to the next company.

Choose a Reliable Registrar

There are several domain registrars out there however only a few have a reputation that demands consideration.  Two of the most trusted and widely used are GoDaddy and Yahoo.

GoDaddy is often a first choice due to its reliable service and super-low prices.  You can get a .com, .net, .biz and many other domain names for $10 or less per year.  If you are paying significantly more than this, GoDaddy will allow you to transfer for a discounted price and renew your name for an additional year.

Yahoo makes another good choice simply for the reliable brand name.  Domain names here are also about $10 a year but limited to .com, .net, .biz, .org, .info and .us extensions.  The Yahoo domain name service is popular among small businesses because they are confident that the company will be around for the long haul.

Stay on Your P’s and Q’s

Before deciding on a domain name, it is important to know what to look for in a registrar.  The two most essential aspects are reliability and status.  The same company that exists today could be gone tomorrow.  Although service providers are supposed to employ safeguards that prevent registrants from losing their domain, this is not the type of system you want to put to the test.  In simple terms, choosing a reliable domain name registrar is a must.  Just as when comparing web hosting services, you need to perform the same due diligence when hunting for a domain name holder.

Domain names play a major role in the internet world and every website has one. A domain acts as an alias for an IP address, which is naturally expressed in numeric codes that read something like “00.111.222.33.”  Instead of trying to remember a lengthy and easily forgotten code, we enter domains that access the sites we want to visit.  This would be a website address or URL like “yoursite.com”.  Everything from Google to small personal sites have a domain name that represents a specific IP address.

The Importance of Domains

Domain names are highly sought after because they help establish credibility on the web.  This holds true whether you use it for a website or email address. Thus, rather than being attached with a third-party company domain like AOL.com or Yahoo.com, you can have one that reflects the name you personally selected.  mailto:mymail@aol.com When it comes to establishing yourself online, the domain name can make all the difference.

Picking Out a Name

After getting a basic familiarity with domain names, it’s time to learn a little more about the registration process.  Choosing a name often appears to be easy but that isn’t always the case.  You need to be very selective and choose one that is easy for potential visitors to remember.  There are also certain factors that need to be considered when your business is involved, especially if you want to increase visibility and marketing value.  One of the most important things you should know is that the domain name you want might not be available.  This is why you may want to come up with a few choices and narrow down the list based on relevance and availability.

Leading Registrars

You have plenty of options for registering a domain.  For example, you can choose to register with the company hosting your website or a standalone service.  Companies who specialize primarily in domain registration are called registrars.  GoDaddy and Yahoo are among the most popular in this category.  Here are a few more details on some of the leading registrars on the market.

GoDaddy - The most widely recognized of all registrars, GoDaddy is a major domain provider and one of the first places you should consider.  The average price for a single domain registration is around $10 a year but the company runs many discount offerings as well.  You can get a great deal from GoDaddy when bundling your original order with additional items.

Yahoo - The Yahoo domain registration service is somewhat similar to GoDaddy.  The price is about $10 a year but you don’t get as many add-on options.  While they specialize in domain names, Yahoo and GoDaddy both offer web hosting among other complimentary services.

Domains at Retail – Though not as well known as the companies above, Domains at Retail is another option that provides great service on domain names.  You can always find a deal on this site and may be able to get a name for under $5 a year.  Domains at Retail also has other offerings that include web hosting, SSL certificates and marketing services.

Choosing a domain name could end up being a lengthy process, but the time invested is certainly worth it.  This is often protocol for making the best selection posssible.   Good luck.