WEB Myth #1 – Domain Name equals Web Site

If you compare building a house to building a web site the relationship would be similar to this:

• A Domain name is the “street address” of a plot of land (Cyber Space land), and you need to register with an authority to get it.
• A Web Site is the actual “house” that is built at that address.

When you register a Domain Name with a Registra, it’s similar to getting a building permit from the necessary government office to build a house.  It’s official, it’s recorded and you even pay a fee – but in and of itself it is only a registration.  It represents the “potential” to have Web Presence, but it is NOT Web presence by itself.  The search engines don’t know a thing about it.

It can even be a bit more confusing.  You can register and hold a domain name, and never build a web site – this is known as cyber squatting.  In the reverse you can have a Web site without having a private Domain Name.  This condition was far more common years ago when internet service providers promoted and pitched “Free Web Sites/Pages” if you signed up for their Internet connection.  It’s true you would have a web page (maybe even multiple pages making up a site) but they existed inside the domain of the service provider.  Sort of like building a shed in the yard of someone else that has large house property.  The site existed but you were NOT able to publish and brand your company in DNS (Domain Name Servers), where search engines go to find information. This greatly limited the potential value of such Web sites.

Unfortunately the Web is not a simple place of street addresses and houses. It is far more fluid and dynamic – unlike typical real estate the address and house are owned independently.  You can easily move your house (Web Site) from one address to another -or- simply change the address (Domain Name) for the house without moving it.  It is important to understand who is going to “own” the Domain name when you deal with a Web Site Developer.  Sometimes the Domain name can become as valuable as the Web Site and you want to know what you have control over.

GAFYD.net (Google Apps For Your Domain via Net) is our unique offering that provides all of what you need:

• a formally registered Domain Name (with Google search notification)
• Web Site hosting ability – for multiple sites
• full suite of Google Apps (messaging and collaboration software services) “branded” with your private company Domain Name.
• Branding includes your logo on email, calendar and document software, plus your Domain Name is credited with internet traffic counts as you go to your own web site to login for email etc.

A very powerful way to build Web Presence for your company without being required to invest large sums of money in complex web sites and extensive SEO (Search Engine Optimization).