Planning Ahead & Getting Started domain registry, plan comparisons, etc.

[Fractured.Logic 0]

To introduce my situation:

 

Despite a wealth of self-taught experience with computers, most of my life spent obsessively cultivating talents in art and writing, and many years of dabbling, I am faced with the real potential to start my own business. My first inclination is to be incredibly nervous, but I am holding tight on my figurative reigns and attempting to plan as carefully as possible.

 

Questions:

 

1. I have never had a domain before, because I have (previously) never been able to consider anything requiring an online purchase. Now that I have discovered a place that offers the ability to earn the equivalent of real money, suddenly I have so much more at my disposal. I do not wish to take any of that for granted, or tread forth carelessly and end up sabotaging myself (and my hopes). If I understand correctly, one is able to purchase an entirely-unique domain on Xisto (no subdomain). Would it be a good idea, for someone just getting started with their first real business venture, to register a domain on Xisto, prior to the purchase of their plan? How does that affect the plan & vice versa?

 

2. I am having a fair amount of difficulty deciding which plan I want to save up for. I have narrowed my choices down to between the Logic & Logic PRO (anything more seems like way too much for me to know what to do with). But my dilemma pervades because even the basic Logic plan is far more than I've ever had at my disposal before. What are the pros and cons of the Logic and Logic PRO plans? Would it be better to start with the basic and later upgrade, or would it be better to start from the middle and have more room to "play"?

 

3. I've been participating for two weeks now, and I've earned $6. This question is for the experienced, long-term members, if you would please honor me with some of your time and assistance. Based on the rate I appear to be earning funds: Is it better to pay month-by-month and get started with my website sooner, or is it better to save up for a 3-, 6-, 9-, or year plan first?

 

4. Any other advice &/or input? All constructive criticism is welcome!

[TheDisturbedOne 1]

1. I would suggest buying the domain second, just so that you can get the design down first, then you can move everything to a new domain. You will have to post a bit more to get a domain, since they are $10 right now.2. It is much better (in my opinion) to start with the basic plan first. Unless you get 500+ uniques a day, or want to store massive amounts of files, 1GB of space, and 10GB of bandwidth should be fine. Last month I had about 125,000 hits on my site and only went through 6GB of bandwidth. A few days ago, when my other site (on the same plan) got a massive amount of traffic (nearly 700 uniques) I only went through 200MB of bandwidth. So unless you run a graphics heavy site, 10GB bandwidth is fine (and if you need to upgrade you can get 50GB bandwidth for only $1 a month more).3. I would say start out paying month by month, then if your site is doing well, post a lot and save up for a year plan. I am trying to save up for a year plan, to bring the cost down a little, but I recently bought a domain. I should have done the opposite and bought a year plan, then get the domain, but they way things are right now, it actually worked out better. Even if each month you earn $5, within a few months, you will have enough for a year plan.

[jlhaslip 4]

TheDistubedOne has some really good points there. Their advise is pretty solid, however, something to consider would be that most 'Commercial' sites, (which yours would be), should have its own domain name. It looks far more professional instead of running off of a sub-domain of the Xisto.

Having said that, I would consider applying for a Xisto sub-domain to start off with to get the design work done and the bugs worked out. The Logic Plan has loads of space and bandwidth for a beginning site, with a couple of Databases included (if I recall) and upgrades are 1) cheap 2) easily arranged 3) handled quickly by placing a Support Ticket at Xisto - Support.

Once you have the design working and have enough credits to purchase the Domain, go for it and ideally this would be available before the launch of the site to the Public. Don't forget that Google uses a 'sandbox' for new Domains, so the sooner you get it up and running, the better off for the Search engines.

In reality, you are getting close to the point where you should be able to score both a Hosting plan and a Domain at the same time.

And, as always, good luck with that...

[Fractured.Logic 0]

Thank you, both, for your input!This helps me out more than I can truly convey.Jim - can you explain more about the "sandbox" issue? I must profess that I am a newbie when it comes to going public with an online professional venture. I wish it were otherwise, but I can only be immensely grateful that I found the Trap before I sought to attempt this!

[jlhaslip 4]

Google Sandbox is how they handle new Domains and such. There is a period where they will index the site, but not necessarily include it in the Search Results for the pages onto the Google Searchs. They wait to see how the content behaves. Is there new stuff added regularly? Is the content valid? or a duplicate from elsewhere? How committed are the site owners to providing updates, etc?After a couple of months, when the content is built up and good enough, with no 'SEO infractions', they will start to include the site in their results. Kinda like an apprenticeship program. you need to show that you are serious about the site. And, by the way, there are methods to speed up the 'sandbox' process, but those lessons can come later. Get the site built and then we will expound on the SEO side of things.

[Fractured.Logic 0]

So what about a site existing mainly as an online portfolio (I'm also thinking of creating a virtual resume and putting it together with div tags, or something of that nature)... how would that be affected by this Sandbox technique? Is it reasonable to proceed with just a portfolio and build a business website around that as I progress with the acquisition of clientele?What are other ways to show I am serious other than having frequent updates? I mean, what would I be updating (in the beginning, at any rate), except when I might create new art and/or writing examples... either on my own or by request?Mind you, the Sandbox actually sounds like a reasonable idea... and, from a browsing perspective, I highly respect the effort to filter out the unrelated and/or misleading websites. But from the "newbie" business venture perspective...So much to think about.Oh yea, in case I didn't mention it earlier: You're the best :XD: I love how helpful everyone I've met thusfar has been. I keep thinking "this is too good to be true," but every day keeps rolling out more progress... and building up my excitement and enthusiasm! Whee!