In addition to being trustworthy, contactable and knowledgeable, there are technical aspects to consider when looking at a web hosting provider. 

Studies show that people engage more with pages that load quickly (Aim for under 2 seconds for most pages). 

  When looking at the technical properties of a web hosting provider –

• Where are the servers located.  Servers located closer to your customer base can get the information to your customers more quickly then those further away. 
• Does the provider run their own hardware, or are they reliant on other providers?   (Our servers are hosted in well connected data centers in Auckland, New Zealand, on our own hardware)
• What kind of monitoring is being done on the servers (We monitor IO performance, bandwidth, system utilization and system availability among other things)
• What kind of clients does the provider have.  (If a hosting provider is open to anyone who wants to sign up, it is possible that websites belonging to “bad players” will be on the same server, and your site may be tarnished as a result.  (We know what businesses our clients are in, and do not host content of questionable integrity)
• Does the provider look after and secure my website, or am I “on my own”.    We take a “middle ground”, ensuring a base level of security for all our customers, with enhanced protection for the vast majority of our customers that use WordPress.

No.   A domain name is a registered address on the Internet.  While it can have a website associated with it, a domain name can exist without a website.    Among other things, A domain name can also be associated with an email address, or simply registered to protect a name or trademark.

TLD stands for Top level Domain.  GTLD’s are Generic Top Level domains, while CCTLD’s are Country Code Top level domains.

Domain names are read from right to left, with parts of the domain name separated by a “.”   The right most part represents the TLD. 

As a rule of thumb, if your target audience is within a specific country use a CCTLD, so if you audience is in NZ, use the “.nz” tld.   Doing this will likely increase your search engine rankings within the country related to the TLD at the expense of lower rankings in other countries.  If your audience is not geographically concentrated, consider a .com or .net GTLD if this is available.  The “.co” CCTLD is also an option as Google treats this like it would a GTLD.

With a few exceptions (like “.co” above) it is better to steer clear away from vanity TLD’s  including CCTLD’s that have become generic TLD’s.   While it is possible to rank these, anecdote suggests that, in general they are harder to rank then more established TLD’s.

When you use some domain registration companies website to check if a domain name is available and don’t immediately register the domain, the registrar sometimes makes this information available to third parties, who then purchase the domain name in the hope of selling it for a profit (for example if you decide to purchase it later, or if someone else thinks its a good name).

Being absolutely sure no-one is front running a domain you are interested is tricky.   The safest and most reliable way is to use the whois records/checking tools for the authorative body for the domain.  These include

• .nz domains can be checked at https://dnc.org.nz/whois/whois-lookup/
• .au domains can be checked at https://www.auda.org.au/
• .com, .net and .org domains can be checked at  https://lookup.icann.org/lookup .org

We don’t believe front running is ethical and will neither front run domains nor run checks using providers we don’t trust.    If you want to check availability of other domains, we are happy to help you to check these up or guide you towards the appropriate authority.

HTTPS is a protocol used to encrypt data between your web browser and the web server,  making it difficult for third parties to intercept and change the data.   Websites with a padlock icon next to them use HTTPS.    By itself, HTTPS does not guarantee the website is honest – it only provides a basic level of assurance that third parties are not intercepting the traffic.   It is practical to generate free certificates for any website or domain you control.  Most websites use these HTTPS certificates as they are easy to work with and “good enough” for most purposes.

Wildcard certificates are certificates that protect a domain name and all related subdomains.  They are harder to work with then regular HTTPS certificates, but can be acquired automatically.

EV Certificates are HTTPS certificates which have been validated by a trusted issuing body.   There is a cost associated with getting an EV certificate, and manual checks are made to ensure the legitimacy of the requesting body.  Typically businesses dealing with high value financial transactions (like banks, payroll companies and large corporations) will use EV certificates.   There is significantly more work required to get an EV certificate then a regular certificate due to the validation processes.    These certs have diminished in popularity as the difference between EV certs and regular certs are not obvious to the casual browser.  (In older browsers web addresses protected with EV certs came up in green.  Most newer browsers don’t do this, requiring you to click on the padlock – which will tell you the name of the associated business if its an EV certificate, but be silent on the matter if its a regular certificate.

Responsive Websites and Responsive Builders are unrelated concepts.

Responsive Websites are websites which will reformat themselves to better fit the screen they are on – ie the same website will work well on a mobile phone, tablet and PC.  Most modern websites built on WordPress or other major CMS’s are responsive.

Responsive Builders are used for building and editing websites using drag-and-drop functionality, and typically give you a good idea how the finished page will look even while editing.     They are an enhanced version of “WYSIWYG” editors which take into account the additional complexities of building web pages which will be used on an array of devices. Although they take a little bit of learning (typically a 5 minute youtube video or walkthrough)  they are generally intuitive and easy to use.    The most popular responsive builders for WordPress include Beaver Builder, Elementor, Divi and WP Bakery.  

Absolutely. Although most of our clients are in Auckland, we have designed and continue to support clients throughout New Zealand and around the world, including Australia, USA and Asia. We are happy to communicate via phone, email, Skype, Zoom and other online platforms, and (for International clients) accept payment via Paypal.

We are approachable, knowledgeable a team of experienced experts that don’t charge the earth. (And our servers are local to New Zealand and Wicked fast). We can provide a 1 stop shop, with services including domain registration, web design and hosting, email hosting, customer support, SEO and consulting services.