Question 1

What is a sub-domain? (subdomain)

Accepted Answer

A subdomain is a subset, or a smaller part of a larger domain. For example, my main domain is EranBucai.com.

This domain and website is with WordPress.

I have the following sub-domains...

Store.EranBucai.com, which is my courses and membership website. This link is hosted by Podia.

Go.EranBucai.com, which is my sales funnels sub-domain. This link is hosted by EranFunnels.com (my funnel builder).

For all my affiliate links, I have another sub-domain which is Link.EranBucai.Com which is hosted by another software that let's you create branded links. For example, here is a link for someone to make a payment to me through PayPal: https://link.eranbucai.com/PayPalMe or here is an affiliate link to buy the book Traffic Secrets https://link.eranbucai.com/TrafficSecretsBook

I also have a sub-domain for some of my free PDFs, which is under PDF.EranBucai.Com, this is hosted by a software that lets me design professional lead magnets to give away as freebies and build my email link. Here is a link example: https://pdf.eranbucai.com/starting-an-online-business-cheatsheet-pricing-products

There are examples of my own business.

Additionally, there is an excellent explainer video from GoDaddy which I wanted to share.

I strongly recommend, if you have not done so already, checked out the FAQ on how the internet works.

To complete the FAQ, here is a full transcript of the video:

Hi there. In this video, you’ll learn what a subdomain is and how they’re used.

A subdomain is a subset, or a smaller part of a larger domain.

To better understand the concept of subdomains, let’s dissect a domain name from the top down.

A complete domain name includes a Top-level Domain or TLD, and a Second-level Domain, or SLD.

The TLD is the part that occurs right after the last dot in the domain name; this is why TLDs are sometimes called domain extensions. In this example .com is the TLD. While there are several types of TLDs, the most common are .com, .org, and net.

The SLD, or second level domain, is the part that occurs immediately in front of the last dot in the domain name. In this example, it’s the name of the business. The SLD is what makes a domain name unique.

Now this part… right here… that displays before first dot in the domain name – it’s the subdomain. That’s right… fun fact: WWW is actually a subdomain.

The good news is you don’t have to use WWW for your subdomain; instead, you can replace it with almost any word to create a subdomain with a unique web address, without having to purchase a new domain name.

Subdomains function as an extension of a registered domain name, allowing you to send visitors to a different web address, or allowing you to point to specific IP addresses or directories in your hosting account.The most common use for a subdomain is organizing or dividing website content into distinct sections.

If your website has a substantial amount of content on a given topic, or there’s content on your website that you want to draw attention to, say for marketing purposes, you can create a subdomain for it. A subdomain sets this content apart from the main site and gives it a unique web address, without having to register a new domain name.

Consider the dog-friendly winery, Molly’s Bark and Wine.

During her first year of business, the owner has amassed a large online photo collection of dogs who’ve visited the winery.

To highlight the business’ unique dog-friendly atmosphere and provide a dedicated space for her expanding photo gallery, she creates the subdomain, ‘dogs’, under her registered domain name, mollysbarkandwine.com.

The WWW in her domain name is replaced with the word ‘dogs’ and the new web address for the dedicated photo gallery is dogs.mollysbarkandwine.com.

As an added bonus, this subdomain is treated as a unique website address and in turn, may drive new customers to her website.

Subdomains also offer a great way to create language-specific versions of websites or to accommodate information that may not be critical to the primary website, such as an events page, blog or store.

To recap, a subdomain is a subset of a registered domain name. Subdomains are most commonly used to divide websites into distinct sections that have unique web addresses.

Question 2

What is DNS? How does DNS work?

Accepted Answer

DNS stands for Domain Name System. To answer this question, here is a short video that explains.

To complete this FAQ, here is the transcript of the video:

Hi there. In this video, you’ll learn about a crucial part of the Internet – the Domain Name System or DNS.

So what is DNS? Well, it’s a translation system that allows us humans to search the Internet using language we’re comfortable with. Without DNS, the Internet as we know it would not exist.

For example, you couldn’t do your shopping online; you’d have to drive to an actual store to buy your things. There would be no way to stream music or videos to your smartphone, and no way to video chat with a friend across the ocean, or even across the street. But what does DNS have to do with this?

The Internet is made up of computers that are set up in large networks around the world. These networks are connected by a web of underground and, in some cases, undersea wires.

Computers on the Internet communicate with each other using strings of numbers called Internet Protocol or IP addresses.

Now it’s one thing for computers to communicate using strings of numbers, but imagine if we humans had to memorize these seemingly random strings of numbers for every single website we wanted to find – not very realistic, huh? Well because of DNS, we don’t have to.

DNS translates the human-friendly domain names that we’re comfortable using, into the IP addresses that computers need to communicate with one another. The process starts with you and your web browser.

When you type a domain name into your web browser, your browser and computer determine if one of them already has the domain’s related IP address in their memory.

If it’s a domain you’ve visited recently – like the newspaper website you visit every morning, your browser may have stored the domain name and its IP address in memory, and can display the website in a split second.

If the domain isn’t hanging around in local memory, your computer takes the search out to the Internet, where it asks, or queries, a series of DNS servers, if they have the domain name in their memory or database.

The first DNS server that receives the query, checks its memory for the domain name. If it doesn’t find the domain name in its memory, it sends the query on to the next DNS server to see if it can help.

As soon as the domain name is found on a DNS server, that server returns the domain name and its associated IP address to the requesting DNS server, and on down the line until it arrives back at your computer.

Each time a requesting DNS server receives a domain name and IP address, the server stores the information in its memory, so any future requests for the domain name can be answered more quickly.

Once your computer has the IP address for the domain name, your browser knows where to find it on the Internet.

Your browser uses your computer to communicate with the server where the domain name is hosted and requests any associated files.The host server returns the files which then display your web browser.

Our ability to use domain names to quickly and easily retrieve websites and files from the Internet is entirely dependent on this tightly integrated and tiered line of communication.

So the next time you buy a pair of shoes online, listen to some music on your smartphone or video chat with a friend on another continent… remember, it’s not magic that lets you do things on the web – it’s DNS.

Question 3

What is web hosting? (website hosting)

Accepted Answer

Website hosting is simply where your website is housed. Just like a home is housed on a piece of land, a website is hosted (or housed) on computer servers of website hosting companies.

Example of these companies are GoDaddy, SiteGround, Namecheap, HostGator, Domain, and many more.

To make your website visible on the Web, your website’s files and data must be physically stored on a computer that is connected to the Internet. These large, high-powered computers are called web servers.

Website hosts are companies that physically house several web servers in one location, or what is sometimes referred to as a data center.

These companies host websites for us individuals and businesses.

Some companies are so big, like Facebook, Google and Amazon that have their own hosting because they are so large.

Here are a couple of videos from GoDaddy that provide a great explanation on what is Website hosting:

Important note: While I greatly appreciate the wonderful video explainer from GoDaddy, they are not my recommend website hosting company. I recommend you buy your hosting from SiteGround.

Here is a transcript of the first video:

*Website hosting. If you’re not sure what it is, this short video may help.

To make your website visible on the Web, your site’s files and data must be physically stored on a computer that is connected to the Internet.

These large, high-powered computers are called web servers.

It is typical for website hosts to physically house multiple web servers in one secure location, that is commonly referred to as a data center.

In addition to housing the web servers, website hosts provide the software, security, support, and bandwidth that connects your website to the Internet.

To accommodate a wide variety of websites and customer needs, there are a variety of hosting solutions.

Hosting solutions are broadly categorized based on the amount of server space you need for your website files, and the amount of bandwidth your site consumes.

Bandwidth refers to the amount of data being transferred or the amount of resource usage your website requires.

Beyond server space and bandwidth, there are other things to consider when selecting a hosting solution.

Your budget, ease of use, product support, software requirements; the level of flexibility or customization the solution allows; as well as the availability of features such as privacy, security, marketing solutions, and more. *

Here is a transcript of the second video:

*Hi there! In this video, you’ll learn what hosting is and we’ll identify the four types of hosting available at GoDaddy.

To make your website visible on the Web, your website’s files and data must be physically stored on a computer that is connected to the Internet. These large, high-powered computers are called web servers.

Website hosts are companies that physically house several web servers in one location, or what is sometimes referred to as a data center. In addition to housing the web servers, website hosts provide the software, security, support, and bandwidth that connects your website to the Internet.

Think of a website hosting company like a shopping center that contains several individual stores.

If you want to open a store at the shopping center, you can lease space in it and set up shop.

Just like a shopping center, website hosting companies enable you to lease space on their web servers where you can store your website files and make them available for visitors to view on the Internet.

To accommodate a wide variety of websites and customer needs, there are a variety of hosting solutions.

Hosting solutions are broadly categorized based on the amount of server space you need for your website files, and the monthly amount of bandwidth your site consumes. Bandwidth refers to the amount of data being transferred or the amount of resource usage your website requires.

Instead, you could lease a small kiosk in the shopping center that gives you just enough space for your goods and costs far less money.

Between you and your mobile payment device, you have plenty of “bandwidth” to take care of your customers and don’t buy extra technology or hire more employees. Make sense?

Beyond server space and bandwidth, there are other things to consider when selecting a hosting solution. Your budget, ease of use or complexity of solution; the level of flexibility or customization the solution allows; as well as privacy and security features.*

Question 4

What is a Data Center? (Data Centre)

Accepted Answer

Data Centre is a giant complex of computer servers that host the internet. Think of your computer, it's small because there is a small amount of information stored.

But what about websites like Facebook? Amazon? Google?

These have a massive amount of data. The computers for these websites are many, and they are stored in what is known as Data Centers.

Here is a great video showing Google Data Center:

Here is a great video showing the Facebook Data Center:

Question 5

What is an SSL certificate?

Accepted Answer

Have you ever noticed that some web addresses begin with “http” and others start with “https?” The difference is that “https” means the site has SSL security.

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. It’s technology that keeps sensitive information, like credit cards, social security numbers, user names and passwords out of the hands of cyber crooks.

Here is a short video from GoDaddy explaining what SSL means in greater detail.

Important note: While I greatly appreciate GoDaddy's wonderful explainer video, I do not recommend buying services from GoDaddy. Instead, I recommend SiteGround.

Here is a transcript of the video:

*Security is a big deal to everyone doing business on the web. Learn how to keep your customers and your business safe with an SSL certificate.

Have you ever noticed that some web addresses begin with “http” and others start with “https?” The difference is that “https” means the site has SSL security.

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. It’s technology that keeps sensitive information, like credit cards, social security numbers, user names and passwords out of the hands of cyber crooks.

How? By encrypting - or scrambling - data while it passes between websites and web servers, keeping it from being intercepted. Once it reaches the intended recipient it is un-encrypted.

Thinking you don’t need SSL because you don’t sell stuff online? Think again. Your SSL certificate tells visitors you are the legitimate and verified owner of your site. Showing that you’re serious about security is a great way to earn trust.

To add SSL to your website, you simply install an SSL certificate. When your site has SSL from GoDaddy, a padlock icon as well as “https” appears in your customers’ browser bar to show that information they send to, or receive from, your site is safe from hackers.

You can also add an SSL site seal to your pages, to make it even more obvious to visitors that you’ve got their back.

And, bonus! An SSL certificate can boost your rankings in search results. Google and other search engines reward secure websites to encourage all website owners to get on board.

No business is too small or too new to protect its online customers and business reputation with an SSL certificate.

Question 6

How do you use a domain name?

Accepted Answer

There are 3 things you can use a domain name: (a) create a professional email; (b) create a website; (c) forward to another page, like a social media account. Watch this video to learn more (and transcription provided below too).

While I greatly appreciate the wonderful explainer video created by GoDaddy, I do not recommend them as a company to buy products from. The company I presently recommend to buy domain names and hosting from is called SiteGround.

Transcript from the video (italicized):

*We’re gonna show you three ways that you can use your new domain name.

Did you go with the classic .com, or claim a sly new extension like .guru, either way, your domain name is a powerful little piece of text.

You’ve purchased the perfect domain name ready to put it to work for you. The first way you can use your domain name is to create an email account. Already have an email account?

Most people do. Chances are sometime in past you signed up for a free email account - it was enough for keeping in touch with friends and creating your online dating profile.

But now you’re a grown-up; and you do grown-up stuff, like running your small business. Isn’t time to up your email game? You can use your domain name for a custom email address.

Think about it; if you want your business to stand out from the crowd, which email address is going to get it noticed: the free one you’ve had since college, or the customized one that uses the name of your business.

Using your domain name for your email address not only looks more professional, it’s a great way to promote your business!

Customized email is great, but like most people, you probably got your domain name to create a website for it, which is the second thing you can do with your domain name.

Using your domain name for a website gives you a dedicated, branded space to introduce your business to anyone, anywhere, who can connect to the Internet.

Even better, your website will give your business almost boundless marketing reach. People from Arizona to Zimbabwe will be able to can find you online with just a click of the mouse.

But what happens if you’re so busy running your business that you just can’t find the time to build your website, or even find someone to do it for you.

You might consider forwarding your domain name to somewhere else on the Web, until you get site up and running. This is the third thing you can do with your domain name. Confused? Let me explain.

It’s not uncommon for small businesses just starting out to create a Facebook business page.

If you have a Facebook business page or another social media account on the Internet, you can use your domain name to forward visitors to that page, until your website is up and running.

With forwarding in place, anyone who navigates to your domain name in their browser, will be automatically forwarded to a web page you currently have – like a Facebook business page.

Clever, right?

And there you have it.

With all the power and potential your domain name has, why would you ever let it just sit there and collect dust.

Use it for your email address, a new website, or to forward visitors to an existing website, but put it to work for you now!*