How I Build This Site

Welcome to Milot Marketing and Design!

This is a place where you can learn how to start and run your own marketing agency.

We know that starting a business can seem overwhelming, but we want to help make it easier.

Because we have been there before and we understand the struggles of running a business.

We want to share our knowledge with you. (Expert’s Content)

You’ll learn about how to create and manage your own website, use social media marketing tactics, write effective copy, design great graphics, develop content marketing campaigns, and much more.

We want to make sure you get off to the right start and grow your business.

Our tips, insights, and strategies are designed to help you understand how to successfully launch and operate your own marketing agency.

For more information, do check out our about us page and blog.

Milot Marketing And Design

To be completely honest with you, we started on this journey in search of financial freedom.

We are sold on the dream of having a “LAPTOP LIFESTYLE” kinda business, where we can work from anywhere in the world.

While the journey has been hard, it’s also been worth it.

We’ve gained invaluable experience, built a brand, and made great memories along the way.

Just like FRODO with his ring, we are determined to make it all the way.

via GIPHY

Enough said, let’s get into it!

New Domain VS Expired Domain

As we are on the journey we stumble upon this cross path where we have to make the decision of whether to get a new domain name or an expired one.

A domain name is like the name of your shop. It’s the address to your website.

A new domain name simply means that the name of your shop is brand new on the web.

An expired domain name means that the domain was already used by someone else and is now available for re-registration.

You may think why would a domain go expired?

As of right now, when you register a domain name, you own it for a certain amount of time. After that time is up, the domain name becomes available for anyone to register again.

(If you decide to renew it, it will still belong to you. Otherwise, it becomes available to the public.)

But why would someone want to take up an expired domain?

You see, one of Google’s ranking factors is the age and popularity of the domain name.

Age in Google’s eye is a signal that this site is mature enough.

Popularity is how many links aka other sites point to your site.

(In layman’s terms, it’s like other sites are voting for you to be the popular kid).

In theory, the more links you have pointing toward your site, the more popular you are with Google.

Therefore, an expired domain name may be a great way to get some rank juice!

But that’s not always the case.

We have to also research and understand the history of the domain name, its backlinks, and other such information.

If it turns out that this expired domain is a good fit for your business – only then you should go ahead with it.

Otherwise, start fresh and register a new domain name.

Let’s look at the list of Domain Name Registrars you can use to register your domain name.

(Don’t worry, I will share with you how I check for expired domains later on).

Start your domain search here.

List Of Domain Name Registrars

I personally use NameCheap for all my domain name registrations.

The user interface is beginner-friendly, the customer service is top-notch, and their security measure is very good.

But these are just my opinions.

There are other domain name registrars out there that you may want to check out.

Here is a list of some of the more popular ones:

  • NameCheap (My Pick)
  • Domain.com
  • Google Domains
  • Dreamhost
  • Hover
  • GoDaddy
  • Bluehost
  • HostGator
  • Network Solutions
  • BuyDomains
  • NameSilo
  • Cloudflare
  • SiteGround

How To Check If A Domain is Available?

You can check with your preferred Domain Registrar if the domain name is available.

Most registrars have a “domain search” tool that you can use to check if a domain name is already taken.

If it’s not taken, then you are ready to register it!

Popular Domains for just 99 Cents at Namecheap!

Expired Domain Analysis

If you try searching for your domain name and it’s available, you are good to go!

But does that mean it is really “FRESH”?

If you want to make sure that the domain is not expired and was recently used, then you have to do a bit of research.

You need to find out its history and other such information.

For me, I would double-check with waybackmachine.

Waybackmachine is the archive of web pages from the past. It is a great tool to find out how a domain name is used in the past.

How to do it?

Simply head to Waybackmachine and type in the domain name you are interested in.

If there is any data pop out then you know that this domain was used in the past.

What to do if you find out that the domain name is expired?

There are a few considerations to take in order to make sure that you are making the right decision.

This is how I would approach it:

  1. Check the history of the domain name with waybackmachine.
  2. Look at what the site is about previously.
  3. Research further to understand if there are any negative factors associated with this domain, such as spammy links or a bad reputation.
  4. Research if there is any quality links attached to it.
  5. If everything looks good, then you can go ahead and register the domain.

Just remember that the decision of whether or not to get an expired domain name is yours.

Do your due diligence first before making any decisions!

List Of Expired Domain Name Finder

Now that you understand how to analyze an expired domain, let me share with you the sources I use to find them.

Here is a list of my favorite places to check for expired domains:

  • Spamzilla (My Pick)
  • DomCop
  • FreshDrop
  • PBN Lab
  • Domain Hunter Gatherer
  • Register Compass
  • ExpiredDomains.net

Spamzilla would be my recommendation as they provide detailed information on the expired domains including backlinks, Ahrefs Domain Rating and Traffic stats.

They also have a nifty feature called “Domain Alert” which will notify you when a domain you are looking for becomes available.

That’s it! Now you know (almost) everything about Domain Name registration and analysis.

Happy domain hunting! 😊

Ops.. we are not quite there yet to Mordor…

Next, we are going to look into hosting!

Web Hosting

Web hosting is like leasing your shop space on the internet.

It’s where you store your digital files and allow other people to access them, like images, HTML files, videos, etc.

There are four main types of hosting:

  • Shared hosting
  • Dedicated hosting
  • VPS hosting
  • Cloud hosting

I will briefly explain the difference. I will leave a link to more details if you want to learn more.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is like a mall. It houses multiple users, who all share the same resources.

It’s the most affordable option and suitable for beginners.

Some people say that if your website is hosted on the same server as a spammy website, it could affect your website’s reputation.

But that’s not always the case. As long as you choose a reliable hosting provider, you should be fine.

Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting is like having your own building.

You get more resources and control as you are the only one with access.

It’s more expensive than shared hosting but it can be necessary for a large website or online store.

If privacy and security are important, dedicated hosting is the way to go.

VPS Hosting

VPS stands for Virtual Private Server.

A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a virtual machine that resides on a physical server.

It can be used for a variety of purposes, such as hosting a website, running applications, or providing users with their own personal server.

This means you are still sharing the resources of the physical server with other users, but you get your own portion that is private from other VPSes.

Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting is a bit like having your own supercomputer in the sky.

You don’t need to manage any hardware or software, as everything runs on remote servers.

It’s fast, flexible, and reliable.

It can also scale up or down depending on your needs.

Next, let’s look at how to choose a hosting provider.

Choosing A Web Hosting Provider

There are plenty of web hosting providers out there and it can be overwhelming at first.

That’s why I recommend writing down a list of your requirements before you start looking for a host.

These could include things like:

  • Disk space
  • Bandwidth
  • Uptime
  • Support
  • Pricing

Once you have your list of requirements, compare different hosting providers to see which one matches the most.

It’s a good idea to read reviews of each provider as well so that you can get a better understanding of their service before making a decision.

I found this website that does all these complicated tests for you and provides an overview of the hosting provider.

You can read about independent test results.

Next, off we go into the list of Web Hosting Providers.

List Of Web Hosting Providers

I personally pick dedicated hosting with Cloudways.

I love the UX and dashboard and the customer service is really good.

With their pay-as-you-go system, you can start small and scale up as your website grows.

Here are some of the top web hosting providers:

That’s it for web hosting.

Now the fun begins!

Next let’s look at CMSs, which stands for Content Management Systems.

Content Management Systems(CMS)

CMS is like your renovation contractor, where he takes care of everything for you.

It’s basically a set of tools that help you manage your website content and design easily.

These systems also provide features such as user management, media galleries, plugins, and more.

For example, WordPress is a very popular CMS.

It’s used by millions of people around the world and it has an active community that provides helpful resources.

This website is built with WordPress.

Other popular CMSs include Joomla, Drupal, and Magento.

As I said, many people are familiar with WordPress.

So… in case I want to sell this website or have someone take care of it, it will be easier.

That’s why I recommend using WordPress.

But if you want something more specialized, then look into one of the other CMSs.

WordPress Theme

A WordPress theme is a design for your website. It can make your website look different and you can choose one that you like.

There are lots of different themes to choose from and many people use the WordPress theme because it is easy to use.

You can customize the look and feel of your website with a theme.

For example, you can change the colors, fonts, backgrounds, and layouts.

This makes it easy to make your website unique and stand out from other websites.

WordPress themes also come with useful features such as built-in SEO tools, contact forms, and more.

One thing you need to take into consideration thou is that some themes may slow your website down and make it harder to use.

Site speed is also a ranking factor for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) so you should make sure that the theme you choose is optimized for speed.

Thus, I use GeneratePress to do the tricks.

List of WordPress Theme

Like I said, I choose GeneratePress because of its speed and flexibility, but there are plenty of other options.

Here is a list of some of the best WordPress themes:

  • Astra
  • Avada
  • Divi Builder
  • Enfold
  • Genesis Framework
  • OceanWP
  • GeneratePress (My Pick)
  • Kadence

WordPress Plugin

WordPress plugins are tools that you can use to add extra features to your website.

This includes things like contact forms, security systems, and even eCommerce functionality.

Plugins make it easy to customize your website without having to write any code.

You can find a lot of WordPress plugins on the official WordPress Plugin Directory.

Here is a list of plugins that I use for this website:

  • Affiliate Linkr Pro: Affiliate links management plugin.
  • Catch Scroll Progress Bar: You see the bar on top? I think it’s kinda cool.
  • Easy Updates Manager: Automatically updates all plugins, themes, and core files.
  • Akismet: An anti-spam tool that prevents comment spam on your site.
  • Wordfence Security: A security plugin to protect your website from malicious attacks.
  • RankMath: An SEO plugin to help you optimize your website for search engines.
  • WPForms: A drag-and-drop form builder that makes it easy to create contact forms.
  • GenerateBlocks: Additional blocks that let you create a unique layout for your pages.
  • Header and Footer Scripts: Allows you to easily add custom scripts to your website’s header and footer.
  • YT Evo: Automatically pull YouTube content to your WordPress.

These are just a few of the Plugins that I use, but there are hundreds more available on the WordPress Plugin Directory.

Just play around with it and find what works best for you.

I hope this article helped you to understand the basics of WordPress and how to get started with it.

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below!

Good luck!

(Be sure to bookmark this page as I will update the list)

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