Learning & Affiliate Programs

Domain Names

Why You Need A Domain Name

If you are going to go online with your business you need a domain name and web hosting. In addition choosing a domain name is very important. Your domain name identifies your brand online.

Before you go ahead and register a domain, do some brainstorming. Come up with a few domain names in case your first choices are not available. Furthermore there are a number of new extensions to choose from. A .com extension is the preferred but there are others you can choose.

In addition many web hosting companies such as NameCheap and Hostmetro offer hosting packages with a free domain name.

How To Get Web Hosting

Go to NameCheap or Hostmetro and register for web hosting. As mentioned above many plans have a free domain name option. In addition most hosting plans have a WordPress set up. You can install WordPress and change your theme later. A great WordPress theme is Kadence with tons of options for your website building.

Why Do You Have To Verify Your Domain With Google Console?

If you own a domain name then you will want to verify it with Google. In addition there are a few very good reasons you should verify your domain with Google Console.

First, if you do not have a Google account you will need a Gmail account. Once you have a Gmail account you can sign up for the lengthy list of services Google offers for free.

1. My number reason for verifying my domain, especially for a new site, is so that I can submit a sitemap to Google. Furthermore I want to get my site indexed as soon as possible.
2. Google wants to know that you are the owner of a particular domain. This is important for any communication needed between you and Google.
3. Verifying gives you access to use the G Suite of services. In addition there is quite a list of services for individual, educational services and for business.
4. Access to stats using your console dashboard.

Have A Google Account?

2 Ways To Verify Your Domain

There are two ways to verify your domain.

Verify Through Your Domain Name Registrar

No matter what registrar you are using they will have options for adding DNS records. in addition with some registrars, unless you are hosting your site with them, you will not have access to your DNS records. In that case you will have to add that TXT record through your hosting provider.

If you are using NameCheap for example…

• Log into your account
• Choose the domain you want to manage
• Find the “Manage DNS” link
• Add the text record there.

Verify Through Your Hosting Provider

This is the method I use. HostMetro is my hosting provider of choice and additionally I only pay $88 for three years of hosting. No complaints so far.

• Log into your Cpanel
• Click on DNS Management

At this point you want to check that you are managing the domain the TXT record is for. It should say which domain you are managing at the top right of the dashboard menu bar.

• Click on “Add Record”, in the new window click on TXT from the drop down window.
• In the “Value” field paste your verification code you got from the Google Search Console.
• Click “Add”. It can take up to 48 hours for the verification to take place.
• Once verified, you then access your Google Console dashboard to check stats and submit a sitemap.

You have a couple of options to verify your domain with Google Console. They are both fast and easy to accomplish and additionally gives you the ownership credentials that Google is looking for. Plus you have the added benefit of submitting a sitemap to Google to help index your site.

If you don’t have a domain name you can get them through NameCheap. As well if you don’t have web hosting try HostMetro for low cost but effective hosting.

Why Submit A Sitemap To Google?

To help Google index your site and rank your pages it is important to submit your sitemap. As an example sitemap tells Google which page and posts are published on your site, and in addition the content topic of pages and posts.

Using Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO provides an easy means of getting a sitemap. This SEO plugin for WordPress produces a sitemap. All you have to do it copy and paste it into your Google Console account.

Getting Your XML Sitemap

1. On your WordPress dashboard go to SEO and click “General”
2. Under “Features” scroll down to XML Sitemaps and click on the ? in the small blue circle.
3. Click on “See the XML sitemap”
4. Copy the URL of the resulting page. This is your sitemap and in addition the resulting page will show you a few sitemaps on the page. These will be submitted by submitting the main sitemap.

Submitting Your Sitemap To Google

1. Go to your Google Console.
2. At the top left choose the domain of the sitemap. In order to submit your sitemap your domain must be verified.
3. In your Console dashboard choose “Sitemaps”
4. Enter your site map under “Add A Sitemap”

It could take a few days for Google to read and index your pages and posts. Once your sitemap gets that “Success” message further more you will be able to see the following information about your sitemap.

• Sitemap: The URL of the sitemap you submitted.
• Type: The type of sitemap you submitted and should be “Sitemap Index”.
• Submitted: The date you submitted the sitemap.
• Last Read: The last date the sitemap was read by Google.
• Status: Should read as “Success”
• Discovered URLs: Will tell you how many pages, posts, categories etc in each.

This is great information and in addition you can see which pages have been read by Google.