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Creative Intelligence @ Your Service |
Site Map +1 214 234 9283 | Send Email |
Most commerce is now dependent on an Internet presence. Even the most basic business has customers that demand the ability to retrieve information, such as address and hours of operation, from the web. Further, many customers prefer to ask questions via email or a web form instead of via telephone. Consequently, building and maintaining some Internet presence, even if only a simple one, is now a business requirement.
A business's Internet presence is not just one item but actually several:
A business may simulate an Internet presence with a domain name and a DNS that supports forwarding of email and web addresses (this is how we are able to offer free Internet branding). In addition, a business obtains access to the Internet by subscribing to an Internet Service Provider.
The following paragraphs explain some of the above items.
A domain name is nothing more then the right to control the association of a name, for example leftbrainedgeeeks.com, with an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a group of numbers, for example 66.39.4.49. It is not Internet service itself, nor is it an email or web address. It is not even the actual association of the name with the address. Those services are separate from and paid for in addition to the domain name.
Anyone can register this right within the .com, .net, or .org Top Level Domains (TLDs). Other TLDs, such as .biz, .tv, and .us, have governing bylaws that control who may or may not register this right. This right is paid for on an annual basis, although some prefer to pay for several years in advance. The right can be purchased for as little as $9 to as much as $100 per year, depending on the desired TLD, the registrar used, and the additional services ordered.
All registrars are franchised by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This is a quasi-public organization with international jurisdiction. ICANN rules assign domain rights to the registrant, which is defined as the party that pays for registration. Be aware of several things:
Contact information for all registrants is required and available to anyone who knows the domain name. If the registrant supplies a home address at registration, that address will be published publicly and internationally.
If a business purchases a domain via a third party, perhaps a consultant, and that third party registers the domain using its own contact information, then the business has no control of the domain.
We said the domain name is the right to control a text string to IP address association, but not the association itself. The actual association is controlled by subscribing to the Domain Name Service (DNS). This is an Internet server that translates the domain's name to its IP address.
One way to think about this is the following analogy:
IP address : Domain Name : DNS :: Telephone number : Business name : Telephone directory
which is a fancy way of saying the correlation between an IP address, a Domain name, and the DNS is much like the correlation between a Telephone number, a Business name, and a Telephone directory.
Although DNS can be purchased separately from email or web hosting, it generally is not: usually the email or web provider supplies DNS, much like a telephone company supplies phone books.
An email hosting service stores messages sent to a domain for later retrieval. The analogy here is like a mail box: messages come in and are held until the addressee retrieves them.
There are two different types of email hosting. The most common is called Post Office Protocol (POP). Folders and messages are stored on the local computer. If one has a laptop and a desktop computer, for example, and creates email folders on one of those computers, those folders will not show up on the other computer when using POP.
Some email servers, however, offer Internet Mail Access Protocol (IMAP) as well. With IMAP, folders are kept on the server and copies are temporarily downloaded for reading. In this example, an email folder containing appointment information created on one computer would be available on the other computer when using IMAP.
IMAP is more suited for business use: folders are kept on a server in a computer room. The server is backed up regularly and stored in a controlled environment with proper air conditioning and power backup. However because the mail server is responsible for storing the messages it is a mildly more expensive service. Many mail servers do not offer IMAP, so shop accordingly.
A web hosting service stores documents that are distributed via the Hyper Text Transport Protocol (HTTP). These documents are written in the Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), which controls the formatting and organization. HTML documents are composed with specialty programs or plain text editors.
Web sites can have dynamic or static pages. A dynamic site changes based on user input, for example an ecommerce shopping cart grows as a customer adds items for purchase. A static page does not change until the author makes revisions.
Web hosting companies offer various grades of service at different prices. Static pages can be hosted rather inexpensively. Dynamic pages are more expensive to host because a computer (and often a database) is (or are) used to change content "on the fly."
Here is a "quick and dirty" method to simulate domain email while using standard Internet services. Note the limitations about POP still apply. And don't forget, we will help you perform these steps for free as part of our Internet branding service:
Create a domain name with a registrar that offers an email forwarding service. Some registrars offer this service for free with the base registration fee, but some charge an additional amount.
Set up a forwarding rule for one or more people in the business. Examples:
mary@marysworld.com to mary729@earthlink.net
jane@marysworld.com to jane357@swbell.net
In the mail reader, such as Outlook, Thunderbird, or Windows Live Mail, set the email address to that of the "branded" address. All other mail settings, including user name and password, should stay the same. Note that some ISPs, most notably AT&T, require a one-time verification along with this step.
Pass out the branded address on business cards and other stationary. As long as the annual registration fee is paid, customers can use the domain email address forever. If the actual email server changes, for example from AT&T to Comcast, all one does is update the forwarding rule!
Just contact us with any comments, concerns, or questions about items contained in this document. Or IT issues in general. Or call us at the telephone number below.
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