Why emails landing in spam (even valid ones) Have you ever had one of your outgoing emails marked as spam? According to statistics, 53% of all sent emails are spam. As a result, spam filters are becoming stricter, and even legitimate emails can end up in the spam folder. There are some steps you can take to ensure that all your emails are being delivered to the inbox on the recipient’s side. But firstly, let’s discuss what the spam filter is and how it works.
What is a spam filter?
It’s software that identifies and blocks potentially dangerous emails from entering your inbox by using a set of rules and algorithms.
How does the spam filter work?
What a typical spam filter checks for can be divided into three categories:
Where the message came from
Anti-spam organizations have created special network lists, which are called RBLs (Real-time black hole lists). A spam filter checks such lists for the IP address and the domain name that the message was sent from. If the IP address matches one on the list, the spam score of the message increases.
Who sent the message
Using email headers, spam filters check if the email was sent by a spam engine or by a real sender. Every email has a unique ID, but when the spammers send mass emails, they all have the same ID.
What the message looks like
Spam filter analyzes the body and the subject of the email. Strings, which can be identified as spam are ‘buy now’, ‘lowest prices’, ‘click here’, etc. Also, it looks for flashy HTML such as large fonts, blinking text, bright colors, and so on. A lot of spam filters compare the whole text to the number of suspicious words. So, for example, if your email is long, it will not be identified as spam because of a few suspicious words.
We created a list of spam trigger words that can cause your email to be marked as spam.
NOTE: This list is not final and is just an example of some spam patterns. They can constantly change due to the spammers adjusting to the new restrictions on the side of spam filters.
There are several things you can do to improve your email delivery:
Don’t use false or misleading header information (i.e. the sender, destination, timestamp, routing information, and more attached to an email)
The email should be identified as an ad if that is what you are sending
Include unsubscribe link
Do not use too many special symbols, especially at the beginning or at the end of the sentence
Check the formatting. If it is possible, avoid different colors of the fonts
Do not use shortened URLs. Those are often used by spammers to hide their real URLs
Add text version of an email. When you send HTML emails, include a text version of the email
Test email with online spam checkers where you will send your email to the specified address and then check your score
Check your IP and domain in blacklists. If your IP or domain is blacklisted you should whitelist it or contact your email service provider before sending emails.
Be careful with the images. It is recommended not to send emails with images only. Make sure you have no less than two strings of text to every image and your images are optimized
Avoid some types of attachments like .exe, .zip, .swf. It is okay to use .jpg, .gif, .png and .pdf
Check SPF and DKIM records. Sender Policy Framework (SPF) records allow domain owners to publish a list of IP addresses that are authorized to send emails on their behalf. The goal is to reduce the amount of spam and fraud by making it much harder for malicious senders to disguise their identity. Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM) helps you protect your company from email spamming and phishing attempts. It provides a method for validating a domain name identity that is associated with a message through cryptographic authentication.
Do not purchase email lists. It is common practice to purchase lists of potential clients. However, a lot of email addresses in such lists are not correct and your IP/domain can get blacklisted for mass mailing very fast. It is better to send individual emails to real people
Check how your emails are delivered. You can create different email accounts with popular email providers like Google, Yahoo and so on and send test emails to them
Send the emails to your clients on a regular basis and instruct your recipients on how to whitelist your email address.
The first step is to register a business trading name and secure a physical location, similar to the digital world.
Investing in a business website is a good idea to establish an online presence for any business. Business website acts as the face of your business on digital world. A good business website educates, markets and sell goods and services online.
To set up the business online, you will have a series of files, HTML codes, and images as part of the website. All these files require a place to live, thus the need for a web hosting service.
What Is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is simply renting some storage space on the internet for your business website. A web hosting provider offers space on web servers to store your files or website. This ensures that your website is available online whenever a browser is looking to visit. Web hosting allows you to publish website files on the internet.
Types of web hosting
Before you are out to find a reliable and reputable web hosting company, it is essential to understand various types of web hosting available. This helps you understand the best web hosting package for your website. They include:
· Shared Hosting
This is the most common type of web hosting with online business owners. This is a type of hosting where different customers share the storage space from one powerful server. This is the most affordable web hosting plan, and it is also easy to use.
· Dedicated hosting
In dedicated hosting, the website gets a server all by itself. They do not share the storage space with other internet users. This gives you full control over the servers. It is also possible to customize software and hardware depending on your needs.
· Virtual private server – VPS
Just like in the case of shared hosting, virtual private server (VPS) runs on shared physical server for different customers. However, each website has its own partition and you enjoy guaranteed dedicated resources. You will enjoy more storage, memory, and processing power than in the case of shared hosting, but at a price lower than a dedicated server.
· Cloud hosting
Cloud hosting is the ability to make websites or application programs to be accessible on the internet using the cloud storage technology. Cloud hosting is the most common and affordable hosting plans in current times. In this case, you do not rely on the disk space of a single server. You enjoy power from several resources, and this ensures you do not experience downtime. You also have the chance to grow the cloud space depending on the needs of your website.
Cross-Site Scripting – An attack where the attacker injects malicious scripts into the code of your trusted websites and applications.
Denial of Service – Also known as DoS; A cyber-attack where the attacker makes a website or service unavailable by flooding the target with requests thus overwhelming its normal traffic. A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) is subset of DoS attacks where attack is a distributed network of machines rather than a single attacker.
Man-in-the-Middle – intercepts communication between two systems; attacker splits the connection into to then acts as a proxy and can modify the data
Cross-Site Request Forgery – An attack that forces an end-user to execute unwanted actions on a web application. By masking a malicious link via email or chat as legitimate, an attacker may trick users into executing actions of the attacker’s choosing such as an unwanted transaction or changing vital login credentials.
Injection – an attack that allows the attacker to insert code or inject into a program to execute remote actions that can read and modify sensitive data from a database or website
Overflow – Also known as a buffer overflow; An attack where the attacker overflows a buffer past its limit. As a result, the program overwrites memory locations in the buffer. This could affect the memory locations of executable code causing unexpected results such as memory access errors, or crashes.
This guide will provide you with a number of steps to be followed to keep your WordPress website safe:
NOTE: Before proceeding with any changes, make sure that you generate a full backup of your website. If you’ve created your site using Softaculous script installer, feel free to refer to this guide as well (step #5 – Backup software).
Nowadays we face a lot of security issues with different content management systems (CMS) and web applications. WordPress is not an exception as it’s one of the most popular and powerful blogging content management systems.
There are several reasons for it:
CMS uses typical files for passwords and settings located in the same directories for each account (wp-config.php, wp-admin/ directory, etc.) so they are very easy to locate and modify after gaining partial access.
The admin panel (wp-admin) runs under the same domain and uses the same codebase/permission as the rest of the application.
Admin users can install a plugin/theme, which can then modify any file or change anything in the database (this is related to corrupted, non-official, non-updated, self-modified or fraudulent themes or plugins).
This article provides you with a list of tips and instructions that can improve a security level of your WordPress installation.
Making regular backups of your WordPress site is the first and the most important step. Before you apply any changes, make sure you back up your entire WordPress installation or databases.
It is recommended to create regular backups for your entire cPanel account using Backups tool and creating a full cPanel Backup, you can refer to this guide for more details.
Also, you can back up your WordPress site using CodeGuard, we have a detailed guide here.
The latest version of WordPress is always available on official WordPress site. The official release is not available from other websites or resources, thus, NEVER update WordPress from third-party resources. Also, you can easily update WordPress from Admin Dashboard directly or via Softaculous using this guide. While maintaining a WordPress site is not rocket science, it’s still a task that requires focus and ongoing attention-something that many site owners do not have to spare. Consider a WordPress maintenance service to help you keep up with various scheduled and urgent tasks such as fixing DNS issues or sorting out plugin compatibility problems.
Make sure that your blog’s version is up-to-date. WordPress team works on creating patches for fixing security ‘holes’ and backdoors on a constant basis. That’s why it is very important to have the latest version of WordPress.
It is strongly recommended to update your plugins and themes to the latest versions too, as a bug in one of these can affect your whole installation. You can update both plugins and themes via Admin Dashboard > choose Plugins or Themes menu and click Update now next to the necessary plugin or theme:
NOTE: It is recommended to create backups of your WordPress files and database before applying any changes.
Many custom ‘free’ WordPress themes included base64 encoding, which is often used to hide malicious code. So, with such themes or plugins you can easily upload malware into your account. This is how most of the ‘hackers’ get access to your files and site.
We recommend using content only from the official resource like http://wordpress.org/ as it’s the safest place to get themes and plugins.
The default WordPress login is ‘admin’, and most hackers know that. It should be changed to a custom one with a strong password which includes upper/lower keys, numbers and symbols.
Assuming you use Softaculous, you specify the username on the install screen:
Also, it is not recommended to use passwords or email addresses similar to your accounts from other web resources.
You can change your Admin username or Password via the database, you can find the corresponding instructions here.
It is highly recommended to change the database prefix as the default table prefix for WordPress is wp_ . SQL Injection attacks are easier with the default table prefix because it is easier to guess. We recommend changing the database prefix to something more secure than wp_.
NOTE: Create a backup of your database before applying any changes.
If you install WordPress using Softaculous, you can set custom Table prefix and Database name during the installation process, in the expanded Advanced Options section:
If you have already installed WordPress, you can still change database prefix in two ways: either manually or using a special plugin.
For a manual database prefix change, go to cPanel > phpMyAdmin menu > choose the necessary database from the left side > click on SQL option above:
Here you need to run RENAME SQL queries on tables in your WordPress database:
RENAME table `wp_commentmeta` TO `newprefix_commentmeta`; RENAME table `wp_comments` TO `newprefix_comments`; RENAME table `wp_links` TO `newprefix_links`; RENAME table `wp_options` TO `newprefix_options`; RENAME table `wp_postmeta` TO `newprefix_postmeta`; RENAME table `wp_posts` TO `newprefix_posts`; RENAME table `wp_terms` TO `newprefix_terms`; RENAME table `wp_term_relationships` TO `newprefix_term_relationships`; RENAME table `wp_term_taxonomy` TO `newprefix_term_taxonomy`; RENAME table `wp_usermeta` TO `newprefix_usermeta`; RENAME table `wp_users` TO `newprefix_users`;
NOTE: newprefix_ should be replaced with the new database prefix you wish to have instead of wp_.
Hit Go to proceed with the changes:
Once done, you will see the new database prefix has been applied to your WordPress database:
After that you will need to search the options table for any other fields that are using wp_ as a prefix in order to replace them. It is necessary to run the following query in the same way:
SELECT * FROM `newprefix_options` WHERE `option_name` LIKE ‘%wp_%’
Then click Go and you will get the result as in the screenshot below:
Here you will need to go one by one to change these lines and replace the old database prefix with the new one. Once done, we need to search for usermeta for all fields that are using wp_ as a prefix with the help of this SQL query:
SELECT * FROM `newprefix_usermeta` WHERE `meta_key` LIKE ‘%wp_%’
After that click Go and the following results will appear:
The number of entries may vary depending on how many plugins you are using and such. Here you need to change everything with wp_ to the new prefix as well.
Once done, make sure that you update your wp-config.php file with the new database prefix:
In order to change the database username or password, log into cPanel and navigate to MySQL Databases menu in Databases section:
In Current users, you will see all created database users in your account. Here you can Change password or Rename the necessary database user by choosing the corresponding option:
For changing the password, click on Change password. In the new window, insert your new password twice and click Change password:
To change the database username, click Rename. In the new window you need to specify the new username you wish to have (this will be the part after cPanelusername_ ) and click Proceed in order to save changes:
Once the database username or password are changed, you need to update your wp-config.php file with the corresponding details:
When hardening WordPress to prevent your site from being hacked, we recommend setting the password protection for system files.
To create the password protection, follow these steps:
Go to cPanel > Files section > Directory Privacy to access a list of your site’s folders:
Choose the directory you wish to protect. Click on the Edit button near the folder you wish to protect in the Actions section and you’ll navigate to the Security Settings section:
Put a checkmark on Password protect this directory and name your protected directory:
Then Create a User that is authorized to access the directory and save the changes:
You can follow our specially created guide on how to set up password protection in order to get more details. In addition, you can set up internal protection rules in .htaccess to protect your files and folders as shown here.
NOTE: It is very important to protect the wp-config.php file and wp-admin folder since they are more susceptible to a hacker attack.
Uploading files via FTP is a quick way to make a new site up and running or add new files to your account. However, SFTP is more secure, and your passwords are encrypted to help prevent hackers from learning it. You can find a more detailed guide on how to upload your files via FTP or SFTP here.
SCP and SSH are another secure methods of adding or transferring your site’s files.
If you do want to use FTP (or use cPanel details for FTP connection), it’s a good idea to delete any FTP accounts that you’re not using to prevent them from being accessed without your consent. This is a great way to help keep your site and information more secure.
Another good idea is to remove the generator meta for WordPress. This meta shows the version of your WordPress site. You may open your website and check your source code by pressing CTRL + U on Windows or Option+Command+U on Mac. If the WordPress version is visible for hackers, it’s more easy for them to target the vulnerabilities of the specific version to hack into your website.
In order to hide your WordPress version, navigate your current theme at /wp-content/themes/yourtheme/ and insert the code below into the function.php file:
/* Hide WP version strings from scripts and styles * @return {string} $src * @filter script_loader_src * @filter style_loader_src */ function fjarrett_remove_wp_version_strings( $src ) { global $wp_version; parse_str(parse_url($src, PHP_URL_QUERY), $query); if ( !empty($query[‘ver’]) && $query[‘ver’] === $wp_version ) { $src = remove_query_arg(‘ver’, $src); } return $src; } add_filter( ‘script_loader_src’, ‘fjarrett_remove_wp_version_strings’ ); add_filter( ‘style_loader_src’, ‘fjarrett_remove_wp_version_strings’ );
/* Hide WP version strings from generator meta tag */ function wpmudev_remove_version() { return ”; } add_filter(‘the_generator’, ‘wpmudev_remove_version’);
It is recommended to limit the number of login attempts to your WordPress Dashboard with the help of Login LockDown plugin. It records the IP addresses of every failed login within a certain time period of time. If more than a certain number of attempts is detected within a short period of time from the same IP range, then the login function is disabled for all requests from that range. This allows preventing brute force password discovery.
Wordfence Security is a free WordPress security plugin that allows scanning your website looking for malicious code, backdoors or shells that hackers have installed, showing website analytics and traffic in real time, setting up automatic scanning and much more. You can find the description of each option here.
All In One WordPress Security plugin:
All In One WordPress Security plugin is a user-friendly plugin that will bring security of your WordPress site on a new level. It provides with user accounts and login security, database and file system security, brute force login attack prevention, website scanning and much more.
12. Account and external security
Here are the tips and general recommendations that will help you to increase account and external security:
Keep your local environment updated and clean from viruses.
Protect your hosting (cPanel account). Here you can find the general tips on how to prevent a hacking attack.
Use secure passwords and SFTP connection + type for FTP/files upload.
Change your cPanel password regularly. Try to use strong passwords (with high and low register Aa-Zz and special symbols) and we recommend you to change the passwords for all your email accounts as well.
Do not store passwords in places where they can be obtained easily (e.g., a passwords.txt file on the desktop is not very secure).
Update all third-party scripts to their latest versions.
Always have a backup copy of your entire website and its databases.
The tips provided above do not guarantee 100% security of your WordPress website, however, they drastically decrease chances of getting hacked. We sincerely hope this article helped you enough in securing your online business and becoming a trouble-free and happy customer.
Two Factor-Authentication adds an extra layer of security to your cPanel account in addition to your username and password by requiring access to the phone number associated with your account. Without your smartphone, you cannot log in. When Two-Factor Authentication is enabled, your account cannot be accessed by anyone unauthorized by you, even if they have stolen your password.
The consumer purchasing power in Kenya has significantly changed over the years. People today prefer to purchase and do research on products and services online, making it crucial for all businesses to have a website and a strong online presence. The journey of bring your business online does not have to be hard. This blog discusses all you need to know about starting a website.
Steps to Start a Website
Register a Preferred Domain Name
The first step to start a website is by registering the domain name. Users use your domain name to access your website. Therefore, it is important for you to choose a domain name that matches your business. Research has shown that the right domain name can set your business up for success. Host Masters is one of the best domain registrars in Kenya. We help you pick the right domain name for your business.
Host your Domain
After domain registration you will require to host that domain with a hosting company. Hosting involves reserving a space online to store your website applications and emails. Hosting is what makes your website or domain visible to users. Domain registration and hosting go hand in hand and cannot function without each other.
Website Design and Development
After completing the first two steps, domain registration and hosting, the real work of designing the website begins. As much as there are ways one can develop a simple website themselves, hiring a qualified developer to develop a business website is essential to get a responsive website that ranks high on Google search engine. They use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques to ensure they rank high and your website is the first thing users see whey Google your business.
SSL Certificate Installation
SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. Having an SSL certificate for your website is not a must, but it is crucial. An SSL certificate protects your customers’ personal data and transactions from scammers and hackers. With the increased cybersecurity threats in Kenya and worldwide, it is advisable that you don’t skip this step.
Promote your Website
Once the website is visible to the users, it is now time to promote the website to attract potential customers. You can do so through social media marketing and other online marketing tactics.
Benefits of Having a Website
Having an online presence, especially a website, is crucial in this day and age where almost everyone depends on the internet. Some benefits of having a website include:
Improves Customer Experience
With a website, you can showcase your products or services, which allows your customers to get first-hand information without having to call or visit your physical location. Calling to get every little information is inconvenient to the customer, which may leave them extremely disappointed. Additionally, visiting the physical location just to inquire is tedious. This convenience of getting information increases the chances of those customers purchasing your products or services.
Increases Customer Reach
Having a website increases the number of people who can access or view your products or services. This concept is good for business because there are high chances of increased sales if more people can access information on products or services offered.
Improves Credibility
The current trend of scamming has made people fear conducting business with just any company. Having a website proves your credibility to potential customers, which increases the chances of them choosing to purchase products or services from you.
Attract Organic Traffic
A well-developed website with search engine optimization (SEO) techniques will rank high on Google search results, which will increase the chances of people looking for similar products or services viewing your website. Host Master is the best company to develop a website for you because it develops SEO customized websites that rank well on Google search results.
Saves Cost
A website removes the cost that the business would have used to do marketing and advertise because people can easily access the needed information on the website.
Features of a Great Website
Responsive Design
A website should function properly on all devices, be it computers or mobile phones. These types of websites improve user experience because the user is able to use the website properly using any device. Most poorly done website are hard to use when one is using their mobile phone.
Easy to Use
A website should be easy to navigate for all users. Therefore, it is important to keep your website design as simple as possible and ensure all navigation work properly.
Optimized for Search Engines
A well-designed website should rank high on search engines. Developers use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques, which ensures this happens. This is one of the most important feature because most of the time consumers don’t go past the first page of a search engine while looking for products or services. Therefore, you might lose business just because potential customers are not viewing your website.
Social Media Integration
Integrating your social media pages into your websites improves interactivity with users. Potential customers are able to follow updates and inquire about your products and services on social media.
How to Promote your Website
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Using SEO techniques while developing the website is actually a way to promote it because it will rank high on search engines and potential customers can be able to view it.
Email Marketing
You can also promote your website including its link while sending bulk emails to potential clients.
Social Media Marketing
One can use social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn to promote their website. They will link their website to their everyday post and potential customers are able to visit the website to get more information.
Conclusion
Having a website has become a necessity for all businesses due to the rapid change of the consumer purchasing behavior. A website has numerous benefits to the business including improved credibility, reduced marketing cost, increased customer reach and improved customer experience. Getting a well-designed website will help grow your business.
How to choose a domain name: recommendations & tips
If you want to get your business on the web, or crave a little space online to call your own, you’ll need to choose a domain name.
But picking a name can be overwhelming:
– Will people like it?
– Is it future-proof?
– Is it easy to remember?
While that might sound like a lot of questions to answer, don’t worry.
All you need to do is quickly learn the best practices for choosing a domain name, any rules that could apply to you, and some quick tips to speed up the process.
In this blog post, you’ll find everything you need to know about the domain naming process. From best practice and things to consider, to helpful advice for creating your dream domain name, we’ll help you find the best domain names for your purpose.
Remember, it’s much easier to choose the right name in the first place, rather than change domain names in the future. With that in mind, let’s get stuck in!
What’s the difference between a domain and a URL?
Before we go any further, some of you may be wondering what a domain is.
Cast your eye up to your browser bar and you’ll see a bunch of text that begins with http://.
The whole line of text is the Uniform Resource Locator, known as a URL for short. You may also know it as a web address.
The domain is the second part of the URL, for us, it’s namecheap.com. The second-level domain (SLD) is namecheap and the top-level domain (TLD) is .com.
You can find more about this in our handy article on the definition of a domain.
Why choosing the right domain name is important
The importance of choosing a strong domain name is pretty obvious. If you manage to secure a memorable name, it will be easier for your visitors to remember you and to find you.
A long name that’s hard to spell or difficult to read may mean that potential customers never even make it to your site.
A good domain name makes your online life just that bit easier. If you’re creative and smart, it will instantly communicate to visitors what your website is all about.
For example, you might consider a location-based domain name. Imagine you own a pizzeria in New York, a .nyc domain can tell the user where you’re based, even before your website loads.
Many benefits come with choosing the right domain name, and while Namecheap will always help, it’s down to you to take your time and think about yours.
But don’t worry if this feels confusing, that’s exactly why you are here — first tip? Break it down into parts.
How to find a TLD that’s suitable for your needs
As mentioned earlier, TLD stands for top-level domain. There are over a thousand to choose from. From .shop to .art, each can have a range of benefits when it comes to solidifying your online brand.
So, how do you pick the best TLD for you? Here are some tips that should help you out.
You can’t go wrong with a .COM
The .com is known throughout the world and is part of the original line-up of six TLDs. Each had a different purpose — .com stood for commercial, .org for an organization, .edu for education, and so on.
Partly because of its age, and the fact that domain usage isn’t so strict anymore, .com was used for all kinds of purposes, and so it became the most popular TLD.
How about a GeoTLD?
One of the easiest ways to tell users (and search engines) that your website is aimed at them, is to choose a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) or a geographic top-level domain (GeoTLD).
While ccTLDs represent a country such as the US TLD, GeoTLDs refer to specific geographical locations. Let’s imagine you own several travel agencies all over the Philippines.
Next, imagine that you were so successful (pat on the back!) that your company grew, and now you own travel agencies across the whole of the continent of Asia.
Finally, imagine you’re currently in the US looking for a travel agency to plan your trip to Canada.
Ultimately search engines look to provide relevant information to users, so that .uk, for example, doesn’t show in your results, and you’re given localized websites instead.
How to pick the right domain name for your business or personal site
So you know a little about TLDs and you’ve learned some basics when it comes to second-level domains too. Now it’s time to get creative.
The best way to start naming your domain is to grab a pen and some paper and start jotting down any words that come to mind as you read on. We’ll get into specific processes a bit later but for now, note words that spring to mind.
Naturally, your ideas should relate to the product or service you provide. For example, a consulting firm might list words like results, help, assist, and trust.
This is brainstorming, so don’t be shy about including words that might not be a good fit. You never know when one word will trigger a different idea. You can always cross them off the list later.
Consider a name that’s brandable, not generic
In reality, a business domain name isn’t so different from a non-business name. It should be interesting, short, and memorable — if your name just uses keywords rather than showing some personality, you’re not going to stand out from the competition.
The domain name pizzarestaurantnyc.com is fine, but frankspizzaslice.nyc is much more exciting.
If you are a business, remember to pick a professional domain name. You don’t want something that will offend people and make them distrust your company.
Why not give it a go and see what you can come up with?
Keep it short and easy to type
Remember reading that it’s best to avoid long and hard-to-remember domain names? Here’s a real-world example for you — it’s easy to remember a name like Anna Lee, rather than a name like Anna Lee-Chastain-Tanner-Riley-Ross.
Make your domain name easy to pronounce and spell
Let’s imagine you want to create an advert for a slot during the big game. If it’s difficult for an actor to say your name in that advert, how do you expect other people to be able to understand?
The same goes for spelling. How do you expect people to find you easily on the web if they can’t even spell your domain name?
Keep it clear and unambiguous
Think about the people you want to reach. If you’re trying to grow your audience, it may be sensible to use familiar words, rather than industry-specific terminology that only a handful of people would understand.
Don’t use characters in your domain name
Although you can use hyphens, it’s not a good idea. You already know that keeping it short and snappy is preferable, so popping in unnecessary hyphens will elongate your name with no particular value.
In some cases, you may consider using numbers in your domain name. Websites like formula1.com and coffee2go.ie are good examples of numbers that work well.
Use keywords related to your niche
Whatever you specialize in, let people instantly know what you offer by using keywords in your domain name.
Let’s imagine you own a pizzeria.
You might consider pizzaplanet.co.uk.
Try to keep a healthy balance between keywords and uniqueness, or you could end up with a generic domain that’s easily forgotten.
Choose a mobile-friendly domain name
Mobile phones have small screens, another reason why it’s great to have a short, easy-to-type domain name that everyone will remember. You don’t want to be typing on your mobile so try to think of something small and mobile-friendly, such as uber.com or google.com.
Share your geographical location
You could also choose a generic top-level domain and use a geographical location in your second-level domain, like miamibasketball.com or londonrugbyschool.com.
There are many different ways to communicate your location, so have a look and see what makes sense for the area you want to target.
Think to the future
If you’re planning to expand your product range or offer more services, it’s worth taking some more time to reflect. To choose the best website name ask yourself, will this name serve me in the future?
You don’t want to register bathroomsbysam.com if you plan to sell kitchens down the line.
One way to diversify your website and help with future-proofing is to create subdomains. Take Twitter for example. Twitter uses the subdomain analytics.twitter.com to display useful data on followers and engagement levels.
Make sure it’s not trademarked or already in use
It’s obviously important to find out if your name has already been trademarked or currently in use.
A similar-sounding or identical name might confuse visitors, and even worse, have legal complications, such as establishing intellectual property rights.
Trademark conflict might mean that you have to change your domain (and maybe even company name) later, resulting in significant costs and potential loss of business. You could consider hiring an attorney for a more thorough review.
Search the trademark database to see if your name has already been registered.
Check social channels and register yours
If you’re keen on getting your website noticed by others, it’s sensible to check that you can get your hands on social handles.
You might have a great domain name but can’t get the matching Twitter handle or Facebook page, for example. Check this before you register.
If a name isn’t available, it’s not a deal-breaker, as your domain name and social media handles don’t have to be an exact match. But for branding purposes, you should think about how social handles might affect business.
As soon as you’ve locked down your domain name, get on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social channels to claim your accounts.
Can you name your website whatever you want?
Yes, you can choose any domain name, however, you can’t choose one that’s already being used by someone else, unless it’s up for sale on a marketplace. Here at Host Masters, we have our very own Marketplace, so why not check it out today?
Your domain name must also be between three and sixty-three characters, and made up of only letters, hyphens, and numbers.
Pick your own name for a domain name
So, is using your name for a domain a good idea? It depends. If you’re looking to grow a brand based on you as an individual, it is.
Why would Ariana Grande use anything but arianagrande.com?
A personal domain is a good way to make your mark on the web and show customers that you mean business. So let’s find out how to show them, now.
Creating your very own domain name
Now you know what to look for, let’s go about creating your domain name. The domain naming process will be vital to your future brand’s success, so make sure to assess these ideas in detail.
You’ll need the list you’ve been working on, a set of people to ask questions to, and an open mind for different methods of testing domain name ideas.
Examples of the best website names
But first, let’s look at a few examples to help frame your creation process. The web is full of silly and fun website names. As a treat for getting this far in the blog, here is a selection of some good domain name examples to make you smile.
And hopefully, give you a little inspiration.
Cute and funny names
If you’re looking for cute and funny domain names, consider short options and for good luck, throw an animal in! Here are three memorable domain names:
– oh.no
– boredpanda.com
– tinybuddha.com
Catchy names
Want to know how to pick a catchy domain name? Think simple and to the point. Here are three memorable domain names:
– reddit.com
– fourhourworkweek.com
– hired.com
Come up with unique domain name ideas
It can be tough thinking of a catchy and unique name for your website. Start thinking outside the box, and try adding words related to the weather, animals, or maybe even something completely unrelated.
There are many TLDs around and some lend themselves to wordplay. Join the second-level domain to the top-level domain to make a word, like pistach.io, calyp.so, and bons.ai.
Expand the list
You could visit a good online thesaurus to find synonyms for the words on your list.
A great option for finding new words is WordHippo. Type in the terms you came up with in the first step and find related words to add to your list. This will really help to ground you in whatever world you’re wanting to reflect, and may just give you the right words in a few clicks.
Don’t be afraid about making the list longer at this stage.
Don’t commit yet
You probably have a good few names that you really like. But don’t cross any names off just because they aren’t your favorites. You might need to come back to them later, take another look and reassess what you really want/what could work.
In other words, you have a few steps to go before you should commit.
Phone a friend
Now it’s time to share your list with close friends. Ask them what comes to mind when they see each domain option.
You might be surprised that they find something glaringly obvious with a name you like.
“Oh look, when you put the first and second words together, it spells something naughty!”
At that moment you’ll be glad you got this feedback before you moved forward.
The radio test
Let’s say you’ve already asked your friends for feedback. Now you need to call (don’t email!) a different set of friends and ask them if they can spell the names you’ve come up with.
This is the ‘radio test’.
If someone heard your name over the radio or at a bar, could they actually spell it when they go looking for your site? You might be surprised at how many domains fail this test.
In essence, if they can’t spell it, you should probably cross it off your list and find a better option.
Alternative suggestions for domain name choosing
If you’re seeking additional methods then here are a few unusual ways to choose your domain name instead.
– Open a book and choose a word at random. Repeat.
– Switch the television on and write down the first word you hear. Change channels and do the same again.
– Run a domain naming contest with your friends.
– Try abbreviating words related to your industry.
Let us know if you used any of these suggestions in the comments below!
Use our handy tools
We have plenty of tools for you to use when picking a domain name. Try our domain generator to uncover thousands of great options and filter them down to the one you want.
Alternatively, if you already know the domain name you want, use our domain name finder.
Worried that your name has already been taken? Use our Whois domain tool to see who owns it. Make an offer and start negotiating with the person that registered it.
Extra considerations of domain naming practices
So, you should have plenty of different ways to create the best domain name for you. You should also have even more potential domain names on that list. But that doesn’t mean you’ve found your potential domain name just yet.
If you don’t have a list at all then don’t worry, this blog serves as a way to remind you what can be done. We’ve noted even more suggestions below.
Let’s look through some wider considerations and other thoughts you may have now.
Can any domains be acquired?
If some of your top choices were already taken, you might dig deeper to find out if any of the already-registered domains could still be purchased.
– Who owns the domain? (you can check on who.is)
– Is there a website on the domain now, or is it “parked”?
– How much money does the owner want for it?
If the purchase price is way outside your budget, you can cross it off your list. Also, if it turns out a big company is already using the name, you may face a few hurdles. In short, they’re unlikely to be selling — that doesn’t mean you should cross it off your list, though.
Can you choose a domain name after building a website?
Theoretically, yes, you can. However, it’s strongly advisable to secure your domain name first. This way you won’t be disappointed when the domain you had your eye on is unavailable.
Protect your brand name
If you’re worried about competitors registering similar domain names to yours, make sure you’ve snapped them up first. Choose your main website, then point your other domain names to it with URL redirects, and be sure that customers aren’t led elsewhere when looking for your products or services.
Act fast
Once you’ve chosen a domain name, there’s no point sitting around and twiddling your thumbs. Get that domain name registered before someone else beats you to it.
Get a domain registration with web hosting
Everything is easier when it’s in one place! We offer domain and hosting in one handy package deal here at Namecheap.
It’s your opportunity to save on popular domains and get money off our Shared Hosting packages, perfect for any budget.
If you’re not sure that you need a hosting package, but you’re curious about the cost, you can find out the domain name price per year on our pricing page.
Try the marketplace if your domain has already been taken
If there’s a domain you’ve got your eye on but it’s already been registered, you may be able to snag it from the Marketplace.
Why not come and discover website domains for sale in our very own Marketplace today?
Take care when you buy existing domain names
If you are considering buying an existing domain name, make sure you know what you’re doing. Much like a second-hand car, you may never get the full background story, and if it was involved in any dodgy dealings, such as spam content, it may look bad in the eyes of Google.
Check the domain history using the Wayback Machine
If you’re willing to do some research, the Way back Machine is a useful tool to look at the saved history of websites. Plus, it’s always fun to look at how website design has changed over the years!
Check the domain history using the Whois database
Another way to find out a little bit more about an existing domain is to use our Whois Lookup Tool. You’ll learn about the owner, the date it expires, if it’s available, and other useful information you may find interesting.
Feeling inspired?
You’ve made it this far, congrats! It’s time to register the domain name and create your website.
If you know anyone that needs recommendations on how to make a website name, please feel free to share this post with them.
I hope our selection guidelines have given you some things to think about. You now have keys to coming up with a good domain name, so off you go!
Web hosting is an online service that makes your website’s content accessible on the internet. When you purchase a hosting plan, you are renting space on a physical server to store all the website’s files and data.
The main types of hosting are
Shared, dedicated, VPS and reseller. They are differentiated by the kind of technology used for the server, the level of management provided and the additional services on offer.
In a simpler language, Web hosting is the process of renting or buying space to house a website on the World Wide Web. This allows individuals and organizations to publish their websites online and make them available to visitors around the world. Website content such as images, HTML and CSS has to be housed on a server to be viewable online.
The main types of hosting are shared, dedicated, VPS and reseller. They are differentiated by the kind of technology used for the server, the level of management provided and the additional services on offer.
The Setup Python App feature allows you to deploy Python applications on your cPanel while running the Apache web server.
You can check the functionality by visiting the cPanel >> Setup Python App.
For cPanel Basic Theme:
For cPanel Retro Theme:
On the next page, you will be able to Create Application and check existing Web applications.
After clicking Create Application you will be presented with the app creation menu:
If you wish to create a new Python application, you must specify the Python version, fill in the Application root, and the Application URL. Then click Create.
Optionally, you can also set up Application startup file, Application Entry point and Passenger log file.
As soon as the environment is set, you can upload your application files to the application root directory.
When the application is created, you will be able to see the next page:
At the very start, you have the command necessary to enter your virtual environment. This is useful when you need to manually execute some commands either via SSH or with the terminal menu in cPanel. NOTE: To be able to do this, you need to enable Shell access as in this guide.
You can change options like Python version, Application root, Application URL, Application startup file, Application Entry point and Passenger log file here. After changing such options, please make sure to click the Save button on the upper right.
The Python versions available are 2.7 and 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8 and 3.9.
PLEASE NOTE: Python version switch can take up to 5 minutes.
The Application startup file is to specify the Python WSGI application entry point. It must be specified as a filename. Application Entry point is there to set up a WSGI callable object for the previously specified startup file.
With the help of the Configuration files field you can install various modules through Pip. Under the Add another file… field you can enter the name of the given module and click Add.
If you click Delete, the corresponding module entry will disappear. If you click Edit, you can change the module in question.
Once you have added the module, you can click Run Pip Install and install the module in question from the drop-down.
NOTE: You can also execute pip install commands directly under the virtual environment via SSH.
Also, you can execute python script commands from the web interface (e.g. you can install packages from specific repositories or control web applications by means of django-admin).
You can additionally set up Environment variables:
Click Add Variable and you will be able to set up Name and Value of the variable in question. After you have entered the correct data, click Done to create the variable.
NOTE: Changes will not be applied to the application environment until the Update button is clicked. All changes can be reverted by clicking the Reset button.
You also have the options to Stop App and Restart the application. To delete the application, click Destroy. The application folder itself will remain unmoved.
Dealing with WSGI application issues
In some cases, apps may not run properly when the main application variable is called app. This is because WSGI software that we use to run Python on our servers requires the main application variable to be called application.
We will use the Flask application as an example here to make the application work:
1. Install Flask and all the other modules required for the app. It can be done in many ways:
Install modules manually one by one over SSH
This can be done using the standard Run Pip Install button described in this guide, or via SSH using pip install module command.
Install all the modules at a time with a requirements.txt file.
It can be done with the following type of command via SSH:
pip install -r requirements.txt
Install all the modules with a setup.py file via SSH, if it is created for the application,. The usage of this option depends on the app in question.
2. Remove the default passenger_wsgi.py file under the application root folder. 3. Find the main script of the application in the application root folder. Search for the following line to find it: from app import app (it can be from src import app or from app import application, however from app import app is the most common way to write it). The main script is usually called app.py, main.py, index.py, or init.py. 4. Rename this script to passenger_wsgi.py or set it in the Application startup file field within the Python App interface in cPanel. 5. Right below the import line (from app import app), insert this line: application = app
The described actions should help fix an application that was not written with WSGI software in mind.
