Does your Toronto small business need a great domain name or discounted website hosting? Walden can help! Here are some common questions we hear:

Domain Names

• "How important is the name?"
  If the name reflects your generic service and location (e.g. TorontoPlumber.com), it can help your placement in a Google search. It's only a minor advantage though, and unless the name is your primary domain, there's no benefit at all to registering it. (We often hear of customers purchasing multiple domain names, incorrectly thinking it will increase their chances of being found online.)
  
  The biggest advantage comes from a domain name that's easy for customers to remember and refer to. So, keep it as simple, relevant and memorable as possible.
  
  
• ".com or .ca?"
  A .com name is best, unless being quickly identified as Canadian is beneficial. Standard .com names are also cheaper and easier to remember.
  
  The big advantage of .ca is that many more domains are available. A word of caution though: find out who owns the .com version before settling on a .ca domain – if there's a reasonable chance of clients confusing your services, choose something else. The jackpot is finding a great name that's available as both .com and .ca.
  
  
• "What's available?"
  We've a lot of experience brainstorming possible domain names and can do this research for you. If you prefer to check yourself, DomainsAtCost.ca is useful, since it lists both .com and .ca availability.
  
  
• "I've chosen. Now what?"
  You need to register the name:
  
  We recommend DomainsAtCost.ca for .ca names ($12.95 CDN + CIRA fee and taxes).
  
  
  We suggest 1and1.com to register .com names (only $5.99 US).
  
  If you prefer, we're happy to register domains for you. We don't put a surcharge on registrations – you only pay for our labor.
  
  Once your domain is registered, you'll need to set the Domain Name Server (DNS) addresses to match your website host. That way, when someone types in your domain name, it will direct them to the correct server. If we'll be hosting, contact us for this information.
  
  

Website Hosting

• "What should I look for in a host?"
  There are lots of web hosts available. Start with the best price, then look to see if it includes all the services and support you'll require.
  
  
• "What's your hosting rate?"
  Our discounted hosting rate is just $90 (CDN) per year. Hosting with us includes unlimited sub-domains, unlimited bandwidth (no ceiling on the amount of traffic your site can receive), up to 100 email addresses (each with 50 MB of storage, forwarding and automated response capability), tons of web space, full traffic statistics, and many other features – all with 99.9% uptime guaranteed. Plus, we allow you access to a special FTP site for the transfer of files too large to email. NOTE: THIS DEAL IS ONLY AVAILABLE TO CLIENTS PURCHASING OUR OTHER SERVICES.

Still have questions, or want to get started? Contact us!