Think strategically: Bundle a domain name purchase with a web hosting package!

Many small businesses are sometimes unaware that leading shared, cloud and dedicated hosting providers also sometimes provide bundled domain services which when utilized can bring down annual costs and allow a SMB to centralize activities under one umbrella.
Purchasing, maintaining and extending a business domain presence are becoming critical as competition grows online and competitors seek to infiltrate your customer base.
Several years ago, maintaining a .com domain name would have been sufficient for a Small Business. However, in recent years new domain extensions have emerged which challenge the traditional dominance of a .com suffix in much the same way that Facebook is challenging Google with regards how people spend their time online or where they conduct their product search.
Earlier this year, WestHost launched a massive media campaign to raise awareness for new domain suffixes including the shortened .CO extension. WestHost has continued to double down on this approach the past few months and has made a concerted effort to market TLD’s (Top Level Domains).
The New York Times has suggested that more than 600,000 .CO domains have been sold across 200 countries. The domain originated as country suffix for Colombia but has been commercialized for use in the consumer sector, worldwide.
Industry stats suggest that by 2017 the number of .CO domains will exceed 5 million registrations. It thus behooves a website owner to secure this extension both as an online growth opportunity and to protect from unscrupulous competitors who may wish to park the domain and limit their opportunity to open up new e-commerce channels.
A quick WHOIS search can determine if your desired .CO domain is available for purchase on the WestHost platform
“Get a free domain for life with our Preferred and Business hosting plans. We give you total control of the domain, point it, park it, whatever, it’s your choice,” said Westhost.
Also consider making your domain private to maximize security and ensure your competition stays in the dark regarding your future plans.