The Easyspace Blog

Latest news and offers from Easyspace

Personal .ME Domain Names

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Easyspace

Numerous businesses use .ME domain names such as About.me and Formspring.me. Also, many businesses that use a .com extension have also registered a .ME domain – either to secure it for trademark reasons or to develop it e.g. Visa (https://www.v.me).

However, another group who registered .ME domains were people who wanted to use it for their personal websites.

.ME Advantages

A quick snapshot of some of the many advantages of .me domain names are:

1. Unique Personal Brand
Having a personal or family website with a blog or photo album, in combination with a .me domain extension will enable you to create a unique personal brand online. A .ME domain is personal – and provides and amazing personal tone when you use such a domain extension on your website. They are great for promoting your personal brand.

2. Catchy & easy to remember
When telling friends or people you’ve just met what your website is, you want to be able to give them a web address that is easy for them to remember – and a .ME is perfect for that. It’s easy for people to remember.

3. Lots of .ME domain extensions still available
One of the most popular domain extensions that people want are .com’s, and as a result the odds are www.YourName.com has already been registered by somebody else – unless you have an unusual name. However, you have a much better chance of securing your .ME domain extension than a .com. So, if you’re quick you may be lucky enough to register your personal .ME domain extension today. View our .ME domain page to check if it’s still available.

Personal .ME Success Stories

Successful .ME personal websites include leaders in the business world:

• http://zee.me (Zee M Kane, TheNextWeb CEO)
• http://mantia.me (Louie Mantia, web designer, worked for Apple)
• http://dannybrown.me (blogger and social media expert)
• http://andrewdumont.me (Head of Business Development at SEOMoz)
• http://bryn.me (entrepreneur)

.ME is a real phenomenon among domain names, with its unforgettable meaning and never-ending word combinations. .Me adds a truly personal tone to your domain names.

Have you registered yours yet? No? Get your .ME domain today and save 50%!

There are numerous ways in which a .ME domain can be used, why not consider some of the following:

www.FullName.me
Perfect solution for setting up your personal website / blog, online resume, bio and much more!

www.Surname.me
By registering full name domain name with .me extension, you could provide all family members with their own website [firstname.surname.me] and personalized email address [firstname@surname.me]

www.nickname.me
Ideal for setting up your photo album, private website, blog or social profile.
…and much more!

www.Fullname.me
www.Fullname-Surname.me
www.Surname-Fullname.me
www.Fullnameblog.me
www.Fullname-blog.me
www.Fullnamephotos.me
www.Fullname-photos.me
www.Fullnamecv.me
www.Fullname-cv.me

For Example: Job Hunters

Since .ME domain websites are great for advertising and promoting yourself, they are increasingly being used by people who are job hunting or seeking a career change.

While the economy is depressed, the job market is very competitive. Job hunters need to set themselves apart from the competition. Promoting yourself is more important than ever. Getting noticed by prospective employers, and showing them you are the right person for the job e.g. with your online CV on your personal .ME website will help you get attention from those hiring.

Sending out your CV on paper is increasingly outdated. Showing you’re up to date with the online world, will make you more visible to employers. An eye catching .ME personal website, will enable you to create a powerful online personal brand and thereby help promote you and your abilities. Many people are using a .ME domain to create a personal website to promote their resume – why don’t you?

.ME is all about YOU!

Possibilities are endless, so if you have a great original idea for a domain name, register your .Me before it’s taken and the Internet will simply be all about you!

Check now to see if your .ME domain name is still available

 

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Ugly Website winner gets a new website!

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Easyspace

The Easyspace website design team takes on the scouts website challenge.

You may remember last year we ran the 2011 Ugly Website competition aimed at customers who (in their own opinion) have websites that only a mother could love!

We announced the winner late last year – and the lucky organisation was a Scouting website! The site saw off 500 other ugly entries!

We felt the Scout site was a worthy winner, not only because the Scouts is a much loved national institution, but also because the site was in dire need of a makeover – one that could help thousands of children across the country.

The website, http://www.jamborette.org.uk/, which promotes a popular international Scout camp – the Blair Atholl International Jamborette – was judged to be “really quite ugly” by our esteemed panel of designers, support and marketing staff.

Our team of web designers got in contact with the happy winner and started capturing requirements and suggesting changes.

The main aim of the website was to provide a framework that the Scouts could update themselves. We produced a design early on – and added our content management system to the design, a system that allows end users to manage content on their websites, no computer science qualifications necessary!

Since then the Scouts have been busy adding content to the site and making it exactly how they want it.

Andrew Sharkey, who leads the Blair Atholl Jamborette, told us: “The new website works really smoothly and is just what we need to help publicise our event around the world and grab the attention of young people hoping to take part. With the Duchess of Cambridge recently joining The Scout Association as a volunteer, we are expecting even more web traffic and interest in Scouting events such as this.”

Andrew added: “We’ve been really impressed by the Easyspace input during the design process and are thrilled with the finished product. We hope that our participants and other stakeholders will enjoy using it.”

To find out more about our Design services please click here

To see our website design portfolio please click here

To contact our design team for a chat call: 0370 755 5088

Information on the Jamborette

The Jamborette is a global biennial event that draws together 1000 young Scouts from 20 countries to an international camp at Blair Atholl in the Scottish Highlands. The website for the event is run by scouting volunteers.

Information on our website design team

The Easyspace website design team creates new websites for hundreds of customers every year, from start-ups to established businesses whose online presence needs a facelift.

We offer many services from full websites to logos. All of our sites can be made using the same technology as the Scouts site – a content management system that allows end users to take control of the content of their website.

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Easyspace helps safeguard your .xxx domain privacy

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Easyspace

Easyspace is happy to announce launch of WHOIS Privacy service for .xxx domain registrations.

As of January 2012, customers purchasing .xxx domains with Easyspace will be able to protect their details by adding the WHOIS privacy service during the initial registration process.

Existing customers who would like to protect their details on current .xxx domain name registrations will be able to self-manage this service via Easyspace.com control panel.

Already available for major domain name extensions such as .com , .net, .org, .info, .biz, .tel, .me, .co etc, the WHOIS Privacy service offers the ability to safeguard personal contact details (full name, address, telephone number and email address) out of the publicly available Whois database. Easyspace simply replace your details with our own details – keeping your details safe from people who can abuse this information.

Sarah Haran, the MD of Easyspace commented: “We are pleased to introduce this service with .xxx domains. Private domain registration service has proven to be highly popular in recent years; and we strongly advise all our .xxx customers to grab this chance and protect their .xxx domain registrations.”

“Offering this security focussed product will allow .xxx domain owners to add extra protection and safeguard their online reputation in a safe and secure manner.” Sarah continued.

This cost effective service, only £5.00 per year, protects complete whois details and allow domain registrants to retain the ownership of the domain name!

Add WHOIS Privacy to your .xxx domains today!

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Happy New Year to you all!

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Easyspace

We’d like to take this chance to thank everyone that worked with us during 2011, customers, clients, partners and colleagues, and to wish a happy and prosperous 2012 to all of you.

We have some great projects, offers and new products lined up for 2012 and will share them all in the near future, so stay tune for our frequent updates.

Happy New Year from the Easyspace team.

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5 Reasons Why Your Business Should Use YouTube

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Easyspace

YouTube provides an excellent opportunity for a business to show off its expertise, market its products/services and connect with customers.

A picture paints a thousand words, but a video shows a lot more. Many people prefer to watch a video rather than have to read lots of text.

The internet is fast taking over from television as the entertainment device of choice. People are increasingly spending more of their time on the internet than they are watching TV.

While people are on the internet, thanks to technologies such as YouTube, they are watching videos online more than ever – and its popularity is growing massively. The internet is going to figure hugely in the future of what we are going to watch – so it’s important that your business is involved.

In future, for websites to continue to attract people, many will have to offer video.

If your business and brand are looking to engage with existing or potential customers, YouTube provides you with an excellent marketing tool.

Here are 5 reasons why your business should use YouTube:

  1. It’s easy and relatively cheap

    2. In just a few clicks you can have your video ”embedded” in your blog or website, where people world-wide can watch the content you want to share with them. Best of all, it’s not just for big business. YouTube offers a perfect platform for small businesses too. There are no big budgets required – just a video camera and your creativity.

  2. Increase the number of visitors to your website

    3. The more you provide video on your website, the more visitors you will get, because you are engaging them in a way that they increasingly expect and demand, instead of only offering them text to read. Your site is more entertaining and interesting – so they have a reason to return and become a regular visitor to your site, rather than your competitors. In addition, they’re more likely to stay on your website for a much longer time – time that they’re more likely to place an order.

  3. Generate more sales

    4. Generally, the more people that visit your website, the more business you can generate. Video via your website is an excellent way for you to inform, educate and entertain existing & potential customers on your products or services. You can demonstrate your product, advice on a service you offer, notify of a special offer, etc. Eyeballs = Clicks = Sales!

  4. Improve your SEO / search engine rankings

    5. Just having a video for your business won’t in itself increase your search engine rankings. However, there are numerous indirect benefits to having videos on your business. The video content that you post can be shared, linked to, commented on and is a great opportunity to drive traffic to your website. The side effect of this is info on your business, is that in time your website will be much more easy to find on search engines.

  5. Build your brand and reputation

    6. A key part of business is relationships – creating, managing and strengthening. YouTube can help you engage an audience and form a relationship with your viewers. You’re not engaging in high-pressure sales, but instead you can build trust and a bond with your audience. Film is increasingly referred to as the leading art form of the 21st century – it is a powerful medium with which you can establish your business & brand, as a leader in your sector. This can apply to any business – large or small – from a local plumber, to a sculptor, a baker, builder, tax adviser, architect, etc.

Below are a couple of examples of YouTube business videos. The first is from The Showerguys who are specialist installers of steam showers & luxury bathrooms. In this video they’re not going for the hard sell. Instead they’re talking about why they use Twitter. Their humour and openness helps establish trust, while at the same time informing potential customers where they do business and what they do, plus the benefits of their service – all done in an entertaining way:


And not to be left out, below is a video (one of over fifty) that Easyspace has created, which explains to our customers how to use the easyspace FTP Client:

Lastly, Easyspace is pleased to let you know we were recently presented with the two awards below:
Top UK Linux Host
Best UK Hosting Provider
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Get ready for the final .xxx general availability phase

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Easyspace

.xxx general availability

From the 6th of December 2011 the .xxx domain name will be available for anyone to register on the Easyspace website.

During the final stage (general availability), both members and non-members of sponsored adult community will be eligible to apply for domain name with .xxx extension on a first come, first serve basis.

According to a recent press release from ICM registry, over 80,000 applications were received during the Sunrise period for .xxx web address. During the first launch phase, 78,938 applications for trademarked/pre-owned domains were received, while 1,524 other web addresses were allocated as part of The Founders Program.

Sarah Haran, managing director of Easyspace, said: “This is the last but probably the busiest phase of the .xxx launch where the remaining .xxx domain names can be purchased instantly, so I’d urge people to pre-register in the next seven days if they haven’t already done so. Once the registry confirms it, you will be the legal owner of the domain you’ve requested so if you don’t get in quick you could end up disappointed.”

Easyspace strongly advise all new and existing customers to use pre-registration facility for .xxx domains before domains goes on public on 6th December. The pre-registration fee for general availability is currently set at £79.99 per domain year (includes £20 processing fee).

General availability is the third phase that started with Sunrise period which was exclusively dedicated to trademark owners and other IP holders from outside the Sponsored Community (Sunrise B – Block), members of the Adult sponsored community who already own and operated an existing exact matching domain name in another TLD (Sunrise AD – Grandfathering phase), trademark owners and other IP holders from within the Adult Sponsored Community (Sunrise AT – Adult Trademarks) closely followed by Laudrush, a limited time opportunity for adult community members who wanted to secure a high value .xxx name, will be the final stage of the dot-xxx launch process.

The total number of domain registrations is expected to increase once all applications for Landrush period has been finalised.

For further info about .xxx General Availability launch on Easyspace.com site or call Easyspace sales team on 0370 755 5088.

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Easyspace’s Jungle City campaign comes to successful end

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Easyspace

We’re delighted to announce that Easyspace’s four month long project to promote art and conservation is now complete. The two sculptures of endangered animals that we sponsored for this summer’s Jungle City exhibition in Edinburgh are now safely in their new homes and the £800,000 raised by the campaign run by the Elephant Family is now being spent on setting aside natural reserves for elephants, tigers and other threatened species in India.

We really wanted Easyspace’s involvement with Jungle City to involve children and we’re delighted to have had the support of a group of children from Stirlingshire community art group FAB. Our beautiful hornbill was designed and painted by the children from FAB and we were delighted to present the sculpture to the children’s school, Balfron Primary School, last week (see the great photo) where it’s going to be used to teach the pupils about the importance of conservation. It already has pride of place in the school’s reception area.

We also donated our baby elephant sculpture to the Yorkhill Children’s Foundation which raises money to support Scotland’s main children’s hospital. The foundation auctioned it and raised £1200 towards a campaign to buy a world class microscope that will enable surgeons at Yorkhill to give children with neurological conditions the best chance of survival.

It’s been a great campaign so thank you for all your support.

balfron primary school

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Try the new Easyspace Website!

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Easyspace

easyspace

In the last couple of months we have been busy behind the scenes updating the Easyspace website. We are now happy to give you a preview (or beta version) for you to use – and give us your feedback on.

There are lots of new features like a domain history panel – and new shopping cart for you to explore.

We are continuously trying to improve the site throughout this beta phase and hope very much that you can assist us with this process.

Give us feedback and get 25% off hosting!

  1. Simply visit the site
  2. Add things to the shopping cart
  3. See what you think

Within the new beta site you’ll see links to our on-going feedback questionnaire.

If you could take the time to give us some feedback on the site we will give you a voucher code that gives you 25% off all hosting packages – you can find this voucher code at the end of the questionnaire!

The new site will be live very soon – so if you do spot something please make us aware of it – and we will fix it!

Thanks for your continued support – we hope you find the new site fresh, appealing and easy to use.

The link for the new site is www.easyspace.com/beta/

Kind Regards,
The Easyspace team

p.s. The old site is still there (for now) so should http://www.easyspace.com

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Save 70% on your new .eu domain and enter contest to win an iPad 2

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Easyspace

eu_home1

EURid, the official .eu registry, is offering the chance to win two iPad 2′s during this fantastic Christmas competition.

Until Xmas day 2011, both new and existing customers who register a new .eu domain name will be able to enter Christmas competition at http://www.winwith.eu.

EURid’s “Win With .eu” Christmas competition will be running from 24th November 2011 till 25th December 2011. During this time the .eu registry will choose two iPad 2 winners. Draws will take place over 4 dates : 2nd, 9th, 16th and the 27th December 2011.

All non-winning entries will be entered into a final grand draw, on the 27th January 2012. During which EURid will give away any prizes not collected by the winners of the previous draws as well as two extra iPad 2 devices!

This is a fantastic opportunity for all customers to tap into new markets by registering .eu domain names at 70% discounted price and take part in the .eu contest for a chance to win fantastic prizes!

By registering .eu domains you will give a trustworthy European online identity to your website!

This promotion is run by the EURid registry directly – terms & conditions apply.

Register your .eu domain now for only £3.75 (offer is valid until 31st December 2011)

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Beginners Guide to Affiliate Marketing (Part 1)

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Easyspace

Would you like to make money working from home? Of course you would – that way you would not only avoid a stressful commute to work via car/train/bus, etc, but you would be able to choose the hours you worked and have greater freedom – including financially. The fact is, if you have a computer which is connected to the internet, then you can work from anywhere in the world – your home or even a tropical beach. “But how can I actually earn money” you ask……..

What’s stopping you?

Possibly you have been put off setting up a website in an attempt to make money because of the following reasons:

•    You don’t know how to get started
•    You are not a computer programmer
•    You don’t have the money/expertise to set up an online shop
•    You don’t want to invest lots of money in stock to sell via website
•    You don’t want the hassle of dealing with customer support issues
•    Etc, etc, etc……..

The fact is you can make money online without being an expert in web design or programming. You don’t even need any stock. You don’t need to deal with customers. But how will you make money? The answer is Affiliate Marketing – you advertise other companies products/services and earn a % of any sales you refer. Hundreds of thousands of people world-wide earn money this way – and you can join them.

No doubt you’ve heard of price comparison sites such as GoCompare with their Meerkats, etc. When you select your car insurance you leave their website and go to a car insurance provider website, where you can then make a purchase.

So have you ever wondered how sites such as the Meerkats price comparison site make money? They make money by being affiliate marketing websites – they earn a % of every sale they refer. They don’t hold any stock. They don’t communicate with customers, they don’t arrange insurance, etc. They just refer a sale. Thankfully, you can also copy their business model. You can easily set up an affiliate marketing website.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

An affiliate marketing program is a revenue sharing program where an affiliate (you) earn commissions by referring customers to a Merchants website (e.g. www.easyspace.com) .

For example, if you joined the Easyspace affiliate program ( you can sign up as an Easyspace affiliate here), you can access lots of professionally designed  banners and text links – which are unique to you. You can place an Easyspace affiliate banner or text link on your website, blog, etc, so that your site visitors know about our products.

If somebody clicks on your link, goes through to Easyspace.com website and purchases something from us e.g. a domain name or web hosting, etc, then you will earn a commission payment for this.

How to get started:

The first thing you need to do is decide what your affiliate marketing website is going to be about. What sector will you target? I would advise you choose a sector that you are really interested in – that way you will have sufficient knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject. E.g. if you are passionate about Formula 1, then you could make a website about that. Or if you’re interested in handbags then you could create a website all about your favourite hand bags e.g. styles, designers, hand bag shops, history, etc, etc.


Register a domain name

Once you have decided what sector you are going to target e.g. fashion, travel, gadgets, sports, bingo, food, toys, etc the next step you need to take is to register a domain name for your website. If you are a beginner to affiliate marketing then you may want to consider registering a ‘Keyword Rich Domain’ i.e. a name that describes exactly what the website is about. If the name you want is not available, then you can choose a name which has hyphens between the keywords.

For example, if you are passionate about baking chocolate cakes then you may decide to create a website with the domain name www.chocolate-cake-recipes.co.uk (still available to register at time of writing this blog post). Try to choose a name that is memorable, describes your sector and has only 1-3 keywords (e.g. chocolate, cake, recipes). If you can’t get a .com or .co.uk, then don’t worry – there are lots of alternatives such as .org.uk, .info, .co, .uk.com, .me, .eu, etc, etc.

Get web hosting

Once you have decided on which domain name you want,  checked it’s still available and registered it, the next step is to purchase web hosting.

Web hosting is where your web page files are stored on the internet. A Web hosting provider such as Easyspace allows other people to see your website on the World Wide Web.

Easyspace offers a number of different web hosting packages that you can choose from. For more info visit the web hosting section of the Easyspace website.

It is important that you use a trusted, reliable and professional web hosting company, such as Easyspace.com to host your website.

easyspace-hosting

Setup your website

Once you have decided on your domain name and web hosting, the next step is to set up your website. Depending on your expertise, experience and time you have available, there are three main options for this:

1.    Design your website yourself – If you are capable of designing a website e.g. using HTML in Notepad or Dreamweaver software, etc, then this will give you control over the design.

2.    Get somebody else to design it for you – for example, Easyspace offers a web design service that you can use. For a free Easyspace web design consultation, visit the easyspace web design section.

3.    WordPress – This is a content management system (CMS) that enables you, without any technical knowledge to set up a website of your own. It is fairly easy to use and is used by millions of websites world-wide. It uses a template system where users install and can choose between design themes. Themes allow users to change the design and functionality of a WordPress website, while keeping the content the same. There are thousands of design themes on the internet for you to choose from.

If you choose any one of the following Easyspace web hosting packages then they come with a ‘1-Click install’ of WordPress:  StarterPlus Hosting, Business Hosting and Pic’n’Mix Hosting. WordPress will enable you to quickly get your website set up e.g. with a blog, contact us page, home page, etc.

wordpress

Once you have your domain registered, web hosting in place, and web site designed and live – which with Easyspace can all be done in only a matter of hours – the next step is for you to add content and affiliate links to relevant online shops in your sector, into your website. It is important that you regularly update your affiliate site, so as to encourage Google to increase your websites page ranking towards to the top spot.

If you have completed the above steps then you are on your way to earning money online.

Sign up as an Easyspace affiliate today!

Below are two examples of affiliate sites to inspire you:

http://www.purseblog.com/ – The blog was started in February 2005 by Meaghan Mahoney Dusil, the resident bag enthusiast and editor, and Vladimir Dusil, the tech head. Having started as a fun side project during the preliminary age of blogging, PurseBlog has transformed into a full-time obsession and occupation. With over 95,000 daily visitors, the site has become one of the most trafficked niche blogs in the shopping segment.

http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/ – Al Carlton started Coolest Gadgets back in August 2005. Coolest-Gadgets earned $61.5k in December 2007

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