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How to Choose a Domain Name

Chris — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:08:19 +0000

How to Choose a Domain Name is a post from Chris Pirillo

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The problem with registering domain names isn’t the registration process. They’re fairly inexpensive, and easy to register. The problem is that all the good names and addresses are already taken. Finding a decent one is sometimes a bit of a challenge. This is the reason I have created this new site – to help you find possible names for the perfect site for you!

This site is exceedingly easy to use. Give it a web address (news article, blog post, etc). The site will scan that web page, pull out two random words, and slap a .com on the end of the words. It will tell you whether or not the address is available. It will even ask you how many results you want!

If a site is already registered, there will be a large red X next to the result. If it’s not, there will be a link you can click to take you to a page that helps you buy it for yourself! All you have to do is plug in any address that exists on the web that deals with the topic matter you’re looking at creating a site for. How much easier can it get?

This is great to help you save time while trying to come up with the best possible name for your new venture. It will also save you the headache you’ll get from brainstorming for hours on end trying to think up something unique. Take a moment and check out our domain thinktank for yourself.

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How to Choose a Good Domain Name

Chris — Wed, 27 May 2009 09:02:00 +0000

How to Choose a Good Domain Name is a post from Chris Pirillo

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All the good domain names are taken already. Have you ever had a great domain name idea, and go to buy it – but it’s already taken? Someone is squatting on it, and wants a ton of money to get off! How creative are you? Do you know how to come up with a domain name that is NOT taken?

Create a new and unique domain name (and word!) by using Wordoid. Wordoids have to be random, and should look as natural as possible. You may want them to begin or end with a short fragment. The fragment should have the letters a-z, and can be only up to 10 letters long.

By choosing only one language, you will get a wordoid that is made according to the grammar rules of that language. But if you choose two or more languages (such as English and Spanish), your wordoids will be more sophisticated sounding, since they’ll be a blend of the two languages. Also, you need to choose how natural your wordoids should look, sound or feel. The higher level you choose, the more the wordoids will resemble the usual words of the language(s) you selected.

Use your wordoids to create a website or product name, or even just new words that you can amaze your friends with. The wordoid site will tell you whether or not your new name and .com is available to buy! You can click right on the domain reseller on the site, and be taken to places like GoDaddy in order to buy.

Remember, if you register with GoDaddy, you can save 10% at checkout by using the coupon code: Chris!

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How to Integrate Twitter with Your Web Site

Chris — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:06:30 +0000

How to Integrate Twitter with Your Web Site is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Just because I have a blog, doesn’t mean I’m not active on Twitter. As a matter of fact, when I post a blog post, it automatically is tweeted out over my Twitter account. What if I wanted to notify people on Twitter anytime an action happens on my site? Let’s say I want to share with the Twitter-verse anytime someone posts a comment on my blog, or anytime something changes on the main page. There hasn’t really been an easy way to do this. But if you are interested in tying together actions on a website with your Twitter account, you can now check out sitetweet.

sitetweet allows webmasters to post immediate messages on Twitter about specific behaviors and actions on their site. It’s very simple to use and implement. First you of course have to sign up for an account with sitetweet. Then, define your domain(s) and your Twitter credentials. Customize the tags you wish to use, and then add sitetweet to your website. There is even a new WordPress plugin you can use, as well!

sitetweet is very interesting, and very cool. It’s easy to set up a website. You can make one for anything, really. You’re in for some interesting times using a service like sitetweet. Twitter is hard to explain. It’s more than just status updates. It’s serendipity. It’s where everyone is! If you’re not already there, what the heck are you waiting for?

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Are You Looking for a New MySpace Profile Design for Free?

Chris — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:22:12 +0000

Are You Looking for a New MySpace Profile Design for Free? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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I’ve been building web pages for many years. Heck, I built sites back in the day of no graphical browsers. It was all done by hand. Thankfully, it’s much easier now. If you’ve got free web hosting and you’re looking for a good, solid design, I’ve found a resource that you should check out.

Wix has everything you need to build great looking websites in minutes. You can import pictures and movies from places like Flickr and YouTube. Then, just click, drag and drop your way to getting your site online. There’s several ideas already there to get you started, including ones to build your own MySpace backgrounds.

Wix is an online application that allows users to create and publish stunning Flash-based web content. Wix is not template based, meaning you get to create an unrestrained design. With Wix, you don’t have to be a designer or programmer to create gorgeous, professional-looking websites. You can easily add audio, video, images, text, animation, decoration and so much more. Oh yeah… Wix can be published anywhere on the web, including social networking sites, blogs and personal spaces.

All you do is register for free, point and click… and you’re done. There are tons of customizations to make your website everything you need or want it to be.

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Are Personal Home Pages and Blogs Dying?

Chris — Wed, 21 May 2008 03:10:28 +0000

Are Personal Home Pages and Blogs Dying? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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My first home page on the web was through my college. There wasn’t much you could do with a home page back then. In order to digitize photos, you had to actually scan them. No one I knew had a digital camera back then. But, I’ve been building Web pages since the mid-1990s. Even though I’m not Expert at building them, I do have a good idea of what works, and of upcoming trends.

I was reading my feeds the other night, and saw an article written by an old friend of mine, Jeffrey Zeldman. If you’re into any kind of Web design, then you know who he is. His article on April 27th, called The Vanishing Personal Site. I want to share the beginning of this article with you:

Our personal sites, once our primary points of online presence, are becoming sock drawers for displaced first-person content. We are witnessing the disappearance of the all-in-one, carefully designed personal site containing professional information, links, and brief bursts of frequently updated content to which others respond via comments. Did I say we are witnessing the traditional personal site’s disappearance? That is inaccurate. We are the ones making our own sites disappear.

This is a change that I’ve been recognizing and have talked about in the past. When I mention that “brand is becoming increasingly decentralized”, this is what I mean. In my new blog theme, I have a Social Me area, where I link off to other places where you can find me on the Web. That is more important to me, than to you… the people who follow me. I want to archive what I’m doing, what people are saying, and what’s going on in the world around me. This is a great way to archive all of my user-generated content.

As you begin to create more videos, more audio and more text… if you’re not keeping track of your own content somehow, you are not doing yourself any favors. It’s great to have accounts on many different places. But if you cannot at least direct people back to you somehow, by having your own personal space to keep track of it all… you’re potentially losing yourself and your identity.

Registering and hosting a Website these days is easy, and inexpensive. Heck, you can register a site using GoDaddy, and use coupon code Chris1 to save 10%. I use WebAir for my hosting. You can get some good pricing by using my name, as well.

I think that yes, the personal site is vanishing. It doesn’t have to, though. If you’re using a theme or structure that allows you to aggregate all of your social places. This is why I did this for myself… and all of you. Now people will be able to easily find you, and everything will be aggregated into one point.

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How to Keep your Website Fresh and Up to Date

Chris — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:21:04 +0000

How to Keep your Website Fresh and Up to Date is a post from Chris Pirillo

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With all the design software and tools out there, anyone can make a website. Keeping it maintained and ‘fresh’ is another matter entirely. Seanzo is a Web Designer, and sent these tips in to help you keep your website current.

Always have an attractive title You want your websites’ title to represent what your site is all about, but you don’t want to go in to too much detail. Say you make a website about your new super amazing speakers that everyone will want to buy. Don’t title the website “superamazingspeakersthateveryonewillwanttobuy(dot)com”. No one will remember that, and it will not attract too many customers. Keep it short, simple and to the point, such as Smoothespeakers(dot)com. That sounds very catchy, it has flow, and people will know what your website is all about.
Make your website user-friendly So people have made it to your website. You don’t want them to leave. Never make things too complicated. When they enter the website, things should be easy to get around to. If your website is -yet again- about speakers, make the speakers easy to find. When they enter the site, they shouldn’t have to click 48 links and open 25 new windows to get to the speakers. Also, make sure it’s easy to get to these links. Don’t put the links in the tiniest font possible and give them blue font in front of a dark blue background. That would be a hassle to find every time you enter that website.
A little Advertisement goes a long way There’s money in the brand. Let everyone know you’re there. Before they can get to your website, they have to find it. And honestly, not many people look up random topics to find a place to hang out or make a purchase. People usually find out about a website through the grapevine. Put your website links in your profiles in all the places you hang out around the ‘Net. People will see that you use it, and if you’re a close friend, they’d probably choose to do business with you. And make sure you tell your real life friends you have a website. When they check it out and they like it, they’ll most likely tell friends. Word travels fast across the Internet.
Everyone needs help sometimes Running a website won’t always be easy. Sometimes, you need a little help. It’s ok to hire a staff of friends, family, or even strangers who apply for the job. If they do their job right, they’ll be great help and you won’t constantly have to check up on your website. Obviously you want the viewers and/or customers to be attended to. A staff can help you do that. Unless you want to stay awake for 24 hours a day, running the website, then I suggest finding an employee or two… volunteers recommended.
Update, Update, Update Things are being done in this world fast. Technology runs faster than we can. Sometimes it may seem hard to stay with it, but it’s the best way to keep a website active. Make sure you always update your website’s info. Whether you’re updating because of world news, or you’re updating because of personal issues, keeping the viewer/customer notified is always important. You don’t want people to think the website is closing because you haven’t been there in a while. Make sure you let the public in on what’s going on. And with new technology coming out, it’s hard to stay ahead of the crowd. Make sure [if you're selling something] you always have the latest merchandise. No one wants to find a pair of speakers from 1987 to buy in the year 2015.

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How to Start a Website

Chris — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:48:49 +0000

How to Start a Website is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Have you ever wanted to have your own Website? Do you know how to go about getting started? Here are some tips sent in by Lewis that may shed some light on these questions… and more.

Don’t go for the cheapest hosting. These may look great at first, but from what I have found out, they are not. The support is often bad, the servers are often cheap and slow and you do not get what you pay for. Try to look for a respectable one with many reviews. We recommend GoDaddy. Use coupon code Chris1 to save 10% off your order!
Learn how to code and design. The worst way to start a website is with no coding experience or design experience. This is often the thoughts of many new website owners and it puts users off. You need to take time out of your life to code and design properly, you will get much more out of the site this way.
Don’t swarm your site with adverts. Often, too many ads put off users and they will not come back. If you must, put at the most 3 adverts on a page, that is the maximum. I’m pretty sure you hate websites with loads of adverts, think of your users.
Get a proper domain name. Often free domains names like (.tk, .us.tt ect) are bad, full of frames with adverts in them and are often having problems. I recommend getting one from a respectable seller, e.g.: Godaddy. There are many coupons around for godaddy, Chris has a few, type !coupon into his chat.
And finally, give your users a way to contact you. This could be a contact form, an email link (make sure to obscure it in an image or flash file to keep bots off your site and selling your address) or anything else. Your users might need your help and without a good clear link to contact, they will not email you and you will lose their business. Many users are not going to bother looking through Whois databases for an address.

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Monitor Your Web Site’s Uptime for Free

Chris — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:46:49 +0000

Monitor Your Web Site’s Uptime for Free is a post from Chris Pirillo

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I’ve been dealing with Web servers for more than 10 years now. I own my own dedicated servers at this point, and host through WebAir. I may be able to work out a deal for you, if you’re needing new service. Let’s look at how you can monitor your uptime. There are two websites dedicated to helping you monitor your website(s)… abosolutey for free!

On Mon.itor.us, you can register for free. Provide your email address(es) and website(s). They will send you an email anytime something goes down. You can also request “internal monitoring” to Inspect resource utilization and internal web services. Lastly, they also offer free visitor tracking, to help you understand your web users and business potential, marketing effectiveness and website load capacity.

Over at Montastic, you will Know when your site is down before the customer (or your boss) tells you! Here are a few of the free features you can expect:

Get an email when your site goes down.
Get an email when it goes back up.
Read statuses via RSS or Yahoo widget.
Fun, easy and elegant user interface.
No unreasonable limit on the number of websites monitored.

I recently had an incident where all of the sites running off of Pirillo.com had gone down completely. Apparently, one of the hard drives decided to become 100% filled up! My Server Admin, Allan was able to diagnose the problem and fix it for me thankfully. It was great to have these services email to tell me everything was borked, so I was able to get it taken care of immediately.

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Do People Still Use Web Guestbooks?

Chris — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 05:57:37 +0000

Do People Still Use Web Guestbooks? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – Several years ago, almost all personal websites (and many business ones) had guest books on them that visitors could sign. These days, you just don’t find them anymore.

An email from William726:

I have a basic question, I would like to know your thoughts on guestbook’s for a website. Do you think that having a guestbook on a website is a thing of the past or do you think that it can be a cool feature to add? I remember years ago when browsing the web and visiting personal websites that guestbook’s were fairly common,
nowadays they seem to be fading and you don’t see that many around anymore. Maybe this is due to people being spammed but there are great guestbook’s out there that can virtually stop spam all together.

Well William, the fact of the matter is that guest books are pretty well outdated, antiquated and just old. There is much more functionality with blog software, and that’s what most people tend to use now.
As Allan says, with a blog people can make comments on specific posts and ideas. With a guest book, they have to leave a comment or a hello in a general area. That doesn’t invite much discussion.
If you don’t want to actually “blog”, why not install the software, make one introductory post, and then allow comments? The software will be more up-to-date and secure than any guest book you will likely find.
What do you all think? Do you use a guest book, or did you in the past? Do you feel they should be brought back, or left in the dust of yesteryear?

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Do I Really Own my Own Domain Name?

Chris — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:31:06 +0000

Do I Really Own my Own Domain Name? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – GoDaddy is one sponsor for the live and recorded videos I do. By entering coupon code ‘Chris1′ at checkout, you can save 10%. Yes, I bring this up for a reason. Jeremy wrote in and wondered if when you buy a domain name, is it really yours? Do you really own it, and what can you do with it?

Yes. When you buy your domain name through GoDaddy or any other site, you in effect own that name. Unless you do something illegal with the domain or are infringing on a Copyright, the domain is yours to do with as you wish.

You can use whatever name you wish to put on the registration info that will be made public. However, make sure that you put a few layers of security between yourself and the outside world. Not long ago, I recorded a video about domain name privacy to help you establish this security.

There’s also an interview I did awhile back about selling a domain. I don’t recommend selling it on your own. Use a Domain Broker in order to protect yourself, and make sure that all your ducks are in a row.

Last piece of advice: always register and re-register (renew) your domain names using the same site/service when possible. You may actually receive junk snail mail at the address you used to register the domain(s) with. You’ll get offers galore, and many of them are not legit. Be careful, and always do your research.

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To Link or not to Link

Chris — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:56:53 +0000

To Link or not to Link is a post from Chris Pirillo

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – A community member at large wrote in to ask why some Websites in this day and age do not use any type of Hyperlinking, to link to outside articles, products and Websites. I understand the reasoning behind some sites, but fully believe you HAVE to have links to the outside world in order to drive traffic back to yourself.

Many news sites may not use any type of Hyperlink on their site. Much of what they put on their site is bascially copied and pasted to be used to read live, or else to put into actual print. You can’t exactly click a link in print, or while the newscaster is talking!

Nothing gives you more traffice on your site, though, than when you link to outside sources and receive Trackbacks. You shouldn’t have too many links within any given post, but you do have to have SOME. How else are people going to find you?

Any time I talk about a specific product, service, or Website in a video, I link back to it in the blog write-up. Well, I should say we link back to it. Kat is the person who helps me out with the video converting, editing, embedding and write ups. She makes sure to do the research on what I record, get the proper links, and add them to the write-up. This allows you to get more information as you read or watch my videos, and also allows others on those sites to find us. Well… hopefully anyway. Knock on… particle board!

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The Difference Between The Internet And The World Wide Web

Chris — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:45:56 +0000

The Difference Between The Internet And The World Wide Web is a post from Chris Pirillo

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – Think of the Internet as an umbrella. Underneath that umbrella, you will find online gaming, email, IMs, FTPs to share files, and P2P programs that share even more files and Web sites. The World Wide Web is everything that you can see or access from within a Web browser. Therefore, while the Internet is not the same as the World Wide Web, the WWW is definitely a part of the Internet.

Waaayyy back in 1992 when I first got online, things were much different than they are today. The first browser I ever used was Lynx. That allowed me to browse the Internet in text. The first graphical Web experience I had was either using O/S 2 from IBM or Mosaic, which later became Netscape. That first experience was full of stolen .GIFs, and a lot of centered, blue, underlined text. Those underlined text words were, of course, hyperlinks. The pretty blue color turned purple after you had clicked it at least once.

The World Wide Web is a series of hyperlinks. For instance, chris.pirillo.com is one of my Web sites. On there, I may have a link to you. And on your page, you may have links to others. They have links to even more people and places! Soon, we have this giant mish mash of connecting links. Welcome to the World Wide Web!

A Web site is comprised of Web pages, and a Web site resides on the World Wide Web. The Internet, then, is not the same as the WWW, but the WWW is definitely a part of the Internet.

In a poll of our current chatters at live.pirillo.com, 58% listed Web browsing as their favorite Internet activity. 18% chose IMing, 14% chose online gaming, and only 11% listed email as their favorite thing to do online. What is your favorite? What do you think will be the next generation of the Internet? We’re always interested in your feedback and comments.

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How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. SolarWinds ipMonitor: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. Download your free trial today. Or, try their totally free tools! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase ipMonitor 9.0.

Get Your Own Web Site

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

Starting at just $3.99/month, web hosting from GoDaddy includes 99.9% uptime, 24/7 support and free access to GoDaddy Hosting Connection, THE place to install over 30 FREE applications sure to help you get the most from your hosting plan and Web site. Enter code CP2 at checkout, and save an additional 10% on any order.

Plus, as a friend of Chris Pirillo, enter code CHRIS7, that's C-H-R-I-S and the number 7, when you check out, and save an additional 10% on any order. Get your piece of the internet at GoDaddy.com.

VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

This feed is fueled by Lockergnome Online Shopping and Coupon Codes

Before you shop next time, see if we have a coupon first.