October 2014 News

Welcome to the future of the .nz domain name space... no more .co.nz, now it's just .nz 

In this issue of Website Builder news:

  • Shorter .nz domain name.
  • How do i get my .nz domain?
  • Did you pre register a .nz domain? 
  • What about conflicted domains? 
  • What impact will these changes have on SEO
  • What about my long term investment in the .co.nz domain?  
  • Where can i get more information on the .nz domain changes.
  • Need training? 
  • Professional Web Design Services
  • Better Broadband
  • Affiliate discounts
  • Start your own business - reseller options
  • Cool links/system links
  • Websites of the month

Shorter .nz domain names

Welcome to the future of the .nz domain name space. No more .co.nz ,  now it's just your company or trademark name ending in .nz.

eg: www.websitebuilder.co.nz is now promoted as www.websitebuilder.nz

and support@websitebuilder.co.nz is now support@websitebuilder.nz

For the next few years you can use either address, but eventually, in April 2020, our .co.nz will be no more. (we picked that date because we had originially renewed to that date...)

There are also lots of new international keyword rich domain suffixes to choose from, but we highly recommend you use .nz for a New Zealand oriented business, as you are more likely to secure your trademarks and promote your kiwi identity, and create consumer trust that you will abide by NZ law.  

How do i register my shorter .nz domain? 

If you have had your domain for at least 2 years, you have preferential status to register (or reserve) the shorter domain for the next few months. If you don't register the shorter domain before 30th March 2015, then it will become available for general availability. 

If you have had your domain for less than 2 years, then it is likely it is already in a general availability status. You should secure your domain for the future ASAP before anyone else does. 

If you have your .co.nz or similar suffix domain with website builder, then please login to the CMS, find your relevant domain under the domains tab, click the Registry button, then look for an option called "check for 2nd level domain". Follow the process from there. If you don't see that option, it is because you may have already initiated the process. If so, look for the shorter .nz domain in the domains tab, and go to the registry page of that domain to complete the registration process.

You will need the UDAI for your "eligible domain" in order to register the shorter version. If you follow the process above, we automatically retrieve and insert the UDAI as part of the registration process.

If we are not the registrar for your existing .co.nz domain, that's ok, we can still register the shorter .nz domain if you provide the UDAI as part of the process... You might also like to transfer your .co.nz at the same time. Remember we only charge $19 for .nz domains per year. 

Did you pre register a domain with us? 

We managed to auto register 100% of the "available" domains that our customers requested we auto register, and about 95% of the PRR status domains. However, a few PRR status domains did not have their eligible domain registered with us, so we were unable to retrieve their UDAI required to complete that process. A few customers who did not get notification of their .nz domain registration will need to login to the CMS to complete the registration with their UDAI. 

The automatic registration of domains was only for 1 month, so you will need to urgently renew your domain for a longer period of time. Please login to the CMS or use the link in the domain renewal reminder that you have probably already received. 

A 1 month domain fee of $1.82 was charged for all who requested the automatic registration of a shorter .nz domain, you will need to make allowance for that when paying for your renewal, or pay it as part of your monthly hosting fee, otherwise it will effect your month to month statement balance. If you have an automatic payment in place, please consider making a 1 off additional payment to cover that domain regisration fee, and a little more to cover a full year renewal.

What about Conflicted Domains? 

If more than 1 domain with a different owner is linked to the shorter domain, then you need to go through the conflict resolution process at http://anyname.nz/. That process should be straight forward if you are the owner of all the linked domains, but potentitally difficult if there are competing interests for the same name. You should consult the http://anyname.nz/ website for more information on that process.

Our support team cannot help you in the conflict resolution process.  

You can get your UDAI for your linked domain from within the CMS, under the domains tab, then your domain, then the registry button, then retrieve your UDAI. You should check your contact details are up to date as part of this process. 

 

What impact will these changes have on Search Engine Optimisation?  

Google will rank both .co.nz and .nz domains more highly than international domains for NZ based google searches. But the shorter .nz domain should have the best result for google in the long term. 

The process to ensure google ranking works best is to get your shorter .nz domain fully operational, then after a weeks setup a URL redirect from the .co.nz to the .nz domain, using a trailing slash. The trailing slash on a URL redirect ensures that any original linked URI is automatically redirected to the correct URI within the new domain name... eg  "/"  

Your google rank may either increase or decrease in the short term, but the permanent 301 redirect as above will ensure the google rank is associated with your new permanent address. 

You might also consider using Google Webmaster Tools to inform google of your new domain name:  https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/

More information on changing your primary domain: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/44231

What about my long term investment in my .co.nz? 

Sad to say, but we are in the same boat as you. We invested in renewing our .co.nz domains for several years because that was best for SEO rank in the past. The approach is still correct, but we are all out of pocket. Sorry there is nothing we can do about that. We only make a small margin on domains, and the majority of the domain fees you pay we pay to the .nz Domain Name Commission.

If your domain has PRR status, you can reserve your shorter .nz domain for free on the http://anyname.nz/ website. However, you cannot actually use your domain while it is reserved. In order to use your domain, you would need to pay to register it.

In our opinion, all .nz businesses should start using their shorter domain asap, and keep the longer domain registered for at least 2 years. So in most cases, only the remaining years have been a lost investment.

Where can i get more information on the .nz domain changes? 

The subtleties of the changes to the .nz domain space are hard for anyone to know all the ins and outs. So please do not ask us for free support on the .nz domain change process. It is a time consuming and repetitive conversation to have. Please consult the official .nz domain name commission website http://anyname.nz/ for free information. If you want, you could ask us for paid consultancy to help you in this process, but really, you are best to just go ahead and register your .nz domain if you can... that would be cheaper and easier for all involved. 

We cannot do anything to help you with conflicted status domains, you must go through the conflict resolution process yourself at  http://anyname.nz/

We cannot register domains on your behalf, you need to do that via our CMS, and tick the box to confirm you agree with the .nz terms and conditions.  

All other information you could possibly want to know can be found here: ------->>>>>>  http://anyname.nz/   <<<<------

Need one-on-one Website Builder Training?

If you require personalised training, please contact one of our consultants, who are based all over NZ. Many of our Auckland team can also provide over the phone training at a scheduled time. 

We would encourage all customers to get at least one hour of training at the early stages of building their website, and one more review prior to going live, just to give your website that professional critique, and quick tidy up of the rough bits.

Training topics include:

  • How to use website builder and shopping cart

  • How to design websites

  • How to crop and tidy up photos

  • How to optimise to get your website higher on google and other search engines

  • How to setup a facebook page, or other social media account

  • How to send newsletters

  • How to use any other feature we offer.

Book personalised training here

Clearing your Browser Cache and Publishing

Caching speeds up your computer, but it also causes confusion when viewing changes to your website.  Every web master needs to become familiar with this concept. Almost a third of all our support tickets relate to mis understandings about caching. We can't change the nature of the internet, we only educate.

With the introduction of the international CDN hosting service, it's important that we highlight a few issues with regards to browser and proxy caching. 

  • The importance of the publish button is even greater now. Once apon a time, product page and blog page updates might have published instantly, now you have to press the publish button to see changes.
  • If your site had errors, or was offline for a short period, you may need to press PUBLISH again to tell our CDN service to check for updates on your website. Publish will generally resolve most issues. 
  • People in different parts of the globe, may now see different versions of your content. The CDN will cache your website in different locations based on the time content was first accesses. Pressing Publish will ensure every one gets the latest version. 

Learn more about Clearing your browser cache

Professional Web Design Services and Training

If you require training or professional help getting started with your website, please review their portfolios, specials etc and contact a local consultant. We have authorised all our resellers and design consultants to engage with you directly, and bill you directly for their time.

You can see all the available consultants at the following link from all across NZ.

/webapps/d/21/347206/web-designers-specializing-in-our-cms

 

Better Broadband

We have teamed up with the awesome 2talk team to offer you some great broadband options. If you have become disgruntled with your current isp, now is the time to get a great bundled broadband offering.  

/webapps/l/21/347206/nz-broadband-providers

Receive a 20% discount off your web hosting, for life, by referring a friend 

Did you know that if you refer a friend to use our awesome website builder service, you get a 20% discount off your hosting? If you refer 5 friends, then you will essentially get your web hosting for free! Not only that, but your friends will also get their 2nd month web hosting absolutely free. That's a nice little encouragement for them to check our service out and gives us the opportunity to setup your discount. Both discounts apply for your  2nd and subsequent websites also. It doesn't matter if it is yours, a friend, family or a stranger. Discounts begin once both websites are live. Please make sure you or your friend communicates the referral at the earliest opportunity. 

More information about affiliates here

Reseller Options 

We have an awesome new offer for web designers and awesome business networkers. We can setup any web designer who is interested with all they need to get started as a web designer at no cost:

  • There are no setup fees, no contracts to sign.
  • You will earn $2+ on every domain name sold (based on RRP $19 per year). 
  • You will earn (20%-50%) commission on hosting 
  • You can manage all your customers content, domains, emails etc, easily from just 1 login.
  • We take care of all the billing arrangements, so no administrative hassle. 
If you know of anyone who might be interested, point them at our reseller page. We'll offer a $100 finders fee commission for any existing customer who finds us a new reseller who set's up 3+ live websites. Offer expires 28th Feb 2014.

More information on reselling here


Need Help! is at hand...

There are several places you can find answers to questions about how to build your website and add features (which, there are a lot of) and its free for you to look:

If you can't find the answer you need - then get professional help

Contact - Web Designers or lodge a Support ticket

In 99% of cases the answer to a problem is covered in one (or more) of these places. We always fix bugs fast, with all the users we have we get notified very fast of any real bug -  they are not common, so if you are having an issue operating the CMS consider some online training with us - you'll always take something away worth value. In all other cases we are happy to do anything you are having trouble doing yourself for a small fee starting from $20 for 10 minutes. 


Cool links

All those links and more at our new toolbox page: More Toolbox / Links


Websites of the month

Here's a selection of some of our recent Go Lives.  

And view more examples of websites powered by website builder


Please contact us for more information. 

From the Team @ Web Widgets Ltd - Free Website Builder

www.websitebuilder.nz

Posted: Sat 11 Oct 2014

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