Websites

If you find yourself asking this question, chances are your business offers several different services. So, you're probably wondering if it's easier to make separate microsites with independent links and addresses that can be accessed from your main site, or if it makes more sense to create one website consolidating all of the information in one place.

Before you make your final decision, consider these two questions:

1. Will the separate site have a different audience than your main site?
2. Will the new site have different goals?

If you answered 'yes,' to both of the above questions, chances are it may make sense for you to move forward with the development of a separate site.

In any other case, it may be a better idea so simply create subpages off of your main site. This could save you hundreds of dollars and hours in the long run.

Keep your content fresh. Website content requires constant updates. Make sure your current resources, product launches, latest news, upcoming events, and program details are posted on a regular, monthly basis. Give your visitors a reason to keep coming back. Change is good for both loyal users as well as those looking to find you online. Search marketing relies heavily on continuously adding new content to your web presence.

FQDN stands for Fully Qualified Domain Name. Which is great if you know what a Fully Qualified Domain Name is – if not, read on! 

A FQDN is a unique and complete address (URL) used to direct traffic on the internet to a specific location or internet IP address. The biggest characteristic is that a FQDN can only be interpreted in one way, meaning that entering a FQDN in a browser URL field for example, will take the user to only one place. This allows website hosting companies and authentication services to pinpoint exactly where they want their content to be located.

The formatting or syntax of a FQDN is very specific – which enables the system to work around the world.

FQDN Formatting

There are 3 elements of FQDN formatting.

• TLD – Top Level Domain
  The ending characters that appear in an FQDN – normally 3 or 2 characters (.com, .edu, .net etc.)
• Sub Domain – Is the domain that appears under the TLD – DOMAIN.com for example
• Hostname – the hostname is the leading characters of the FQDN (www in the case of www.domain.com) A domain holder can create countless hostnames as they related to a subdomain. For example:
  • mail.domain.com
  • ftp.domain.com
  • www.domain.com

Next time you enter a URL into a browser, take a moment to look at and break down the FQDN into it’s parts.

LAMP is an acronym used when discussing websites and web development that stands for: Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP.

A subdomain is an additional part of your main domain name that acts as a separate, distinct section of your website. For example, in virtualtour.(yourfoundation).org, "virtualtour" is the subdomain. Creating one involves a series of steps focused on configuring your domain's DNS records. If Corporate Communications is responsible for managing your domain, you can stop reading now -- we've got you covered! If not, here is an explanation to help with the process:

Here's a breakdown of what needs to happen:

1. Access your domain's DNS settings. You'll need to log in to your domain registrar or hosting provider's control panel. This is where you manage your domain and its associated DNS records. The specific interface will vary depending on your provider (e.g., GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Hostinger).
2. Create a new DNS record. To point your subdomain to a specific location, you need to create a new DNS record. The most common record types for subdomains are:
   • A record: This is used to point the subdomain to a specific IPv4 address. This is the most common choice if you're hosting the subdomain on its own server or a different server than your main domain.
   • CNAME record: This is a canonical name record that points the subdomain to another domain name. It's often used when you want a subdomain to be an alias for another domain, like pointing virtualtour.(yourfoundation).org to a third-party hosting platform.
3. Configure the new record:
   • Name/Host: You'll enter the name of your subdomain here (e.g., "virtualtour").
   • Value/Target: This is where you'll enter the IP address (for an A record) or the target domain name (for a CNAME record) where the subdomain will be directed.
   • TTL (Time to Live): This value determines how long DNS servers should cache the information before refreshing it. It's often recommended to leave this at the default setting.
4. Email Validation. To make sure any emails sent from the new subdomain website reach their intended recipients, we offer Amazon SES (Simple Email Services). This sends emails through Amazon's email settings which are highly regarded by other email systems. It's unlikely that emails will be blocked or bounced using this method.
   • We will create a new account through our Amazon partnership.
   • We will provide three CNAME records, each with a Name/Host and Value/Target entry. These need to be added to the primary domain (i.e. (yourfoundaton).org).
   • Once these are entered, we'll confirm that they have been validated by the Amazon account. We will be able to finish the process from here.
5. Wait for DNS propagation. Once you've created and saved the DNS record, it can take some time for the changes to update across the internet's DNS servers. This process is called propagation and can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours, though it's typically much faster. During this time, your new subdomain may not be accessible to everyone.
6. Set up the content. The Corporate Communications server your new site will be living on, will be waiting with content ready to be served up to users visiting the subdomain.