Hello,
I would like to create a website for my daycare. I would like the ability to receive emails from prospective clients, post a parent handbook, give info about my rates, schedule and curriculum as well as show a few photos or videos. I have parents signed permission already. What have you all tried, what do you not like about it and what do you enjoy about it? Thanks

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I VERY much promote having a domain name and website. I know people like the ease of using FB but you are allowing someone else to control your domain.

FB is similar to using a tent in a campground were you can socialize with everyone has a similar tent and campfire.

Owning and controlling a website and domain name is similar to owning your own property and house. It is more complex and you have to be more responsible but the benefits are enormous.

Probably the least expensive way to take advantage of a website is to start off creating one on Wix.com or Godaddy.com. They offer wordpress type templates and platforms that are as easy as using a word processor to create pages and upload pictures. With Godaddy.com, you can register your domain there and build your website and email from the same backend. With Wix.com, you can build the same kind of website but would need to forward/point your domain name to the website you created there.

With a wordpress back-end, there are endless widgets and applications you can install to do whatever your want for your pages.

Just like owning a house. The more you learn about the mortgage and installing solar panels or tankless water heaters, you learn for what you need and end up with your creation and is an investment that will be worth something like an investment.

We have a lot more threads on websites here: https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...bsite+-+how+to

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Another vote for a wordpress.org site. I have one and it's great, you get complete control, plus the benefit of your own domain.

I bought my theme off theme forest, here it is in action: www.lilsprouts.net

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I am using a free wix one right now. I still don't understand what benefit I would get from paying for a domain name. Especially when so many are so alike. I guess I am dumb when it comes to all this tech stuff.

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It's important to have your own domain because it's trusted. People don't trust a free website - anyone can make one. If you pay for a .com, people believe you're a professional.

I believe there may be an advantage in SEO also (search engine optimization).

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Yes, especially if you can get a domain that is your business name and/or includes important keywords people might search for.

Another reason for a domain name is, use something.wix.com and if wix ever goes out of business, your site is gone. Use a domain name and if the host goes out of business, you just find a new host.

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But if you buy your own domain, how do you even set up a website? I mean the free ones have templates, I NEED those.

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Most hosting will install WordPress with one click, then you just need to buy or use a free theme. There are themes specifically for childcare out there, I'm using one.

http://themeforest.net/tags/childcare%20wordpress

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http://themeforest.net/search?as=1&r...gory=wordpress

looks like there are more themes under daycare, not childcare haha.

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https://www.google.ca/search?q=free+...ld+OR+day+care
or .com
https://www.google.com/search?q=free...ld+OR+day+care

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Ok so how do I buy my name? When I tried looking before, I only found ways to rent it.
Also what benifits is there to registering myname.com as a dba?

Although I am interested in buying myname.com, I feel that it will be more confusing to people. I have already had 3 people confuse my ad "day care has 1 full time opening" as an ad that I am hiring.

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You don't actually "buy" a domain name, as in a one time payment and it's yours for life. You would look at domain names as something you lease on a yearly basis. You can lease it for 1 to 10 years and renew the lease forever, as long as you remember to renew it before a deadline. When your lease period is up, if you don't renew it by the last day of the lease, it will stop working. At that point you have a 30-40 day grace period where you can still renew it at the same price as normal. After that, it's much more expensive to renew it for a month or so, then it's too late to renew it. 2-1/2 to 3 months after it expires, it gets released for anyone to register it again.


You wouldn't actually do business as "myname.com". You would be running as "my name". When you use a website, the .com is just the extension, (top level domain, or TLD), you add.

Are you doing business as your personal name, or are you doing business under a business name? Many small businesses just use their own name, but a big advantage of using a business name is advertising. A business name can tell about your business. If I was going to do business as "Mike's Daycare", I would want to register and use mikesdaycare.ca. That would say I'm Mike, I do daycare, and I'm in Canada.

If you are just doing business as "your name", you have 2 good reasons to get yourname.com, if someone else doesn't already have it.

1 - If potential clients hear about you, they may do a search on your name. If you have a website there, they will probably find it.

2 - You can always use it for your own personal website for whatever you want. Photo album, blog, a website about a hobby, or anything else you want.

They can get more details at the website.

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I use webs.

I purchased my own domain name via GoDaddy.

Webs walked me through how to connect my domain name to their hosting site (where I built my website) in a couple simple steps.

Super easy and super worth it!

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I swear I love this forum. It's so formative

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Think of a website as a home and the domain name is the address for people to visit your home. The easier the address (1 Main Street) the easier for people to find you.

I would encourage more businesses to use their Internet address as a business name. I even tell my son he should introduce himself as Jonathan.com (he won't) because it is unique and is an instant conversation starter (he's shy).

If your business is Sharon's Dayschool why not let people know your business name and where to find you in one breath with SharonsDayschool.com?

I've been proclaiming the benefits of web addresses for 22 years and am amazed at how many people are so aware now of what they are. It's been a long journey from the horse to the train to finally the car! We should all own one and know how to use them for our needs and as investments.

I am also invoved with ICANN which makes policy for domain names and the DNS infrastructure. It is like the UN of the Internet. I am also a member of the ICA (Internet Commerce Association) which helps protect our rights and lobbies Congress for our virtual liberties. Here is a profile they did on me last week that explains more: http://www.internetcommerce.org/ica-...hael-castello/

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Thank you everyone. These responses are very informative. I will be looking over the info and choosing a domain name pretty soon, hopefully. I'm pretty excited about creating my daycare website.

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