How to Register a URL for your Website

One of the main things people ask me about when it comes to blogging and digital marketing in general, is how to register a custom domain or URL! No wonder - it's one of the biggest considerations when it comes to building a website. It is in fact quite a simple three step process which I have outlined below.

STEP 1:  The first decision is choosing what URL to register. A handy tool in South Africa is called Who Is - it allows you to see if a domain is available and if not, who owns it.

There is also an American version for .com domains, also called Whois.

For Namibia, it is possible to see who some .com.na domains belong to using Whois.net , however this appears to only work for certain domains.

STEP 2:  The second thing to consider is which service provider to use, and I always recommend GoDaddy. Most .co.za domains cost about $9.99 / year, or R125 a year; and most .com domains about $12 a year, or R150 a year (both are billed annually).

This makes it affordable to register a domain even if its for future use, or multiple, similar domains to ensure that someone else doesn't register a domain similar to yours and mimic your website. However, the price can ramp up quickly if you want fancier "extensions" like .digital or .design or .io.

If you want to use the domain as an email address, i.e. yourname@yourblog.co.za, you can add this on for an additional $24 (R300) or so a year. This is great for making a small business look more professional, and assist you in building your brand!

STEP 3:  Depending on what platform you have used to build your website, you then need to "point" the content to the URL you have registered.

Here's how to connect a domain on WIX, but there are step by step guides per platform readily available so fear not. If you don't yet have a website and are a beginner with no coding or design experience looking for a website solution, I do think WIX is a great option explore.

Please comment with any queries you may have - I'd be happy to help you!

The State of Digital in South Africa: A 2018 Wrap Up Report

The total South African population is 57 million, of which approximately 31 million have internet (54%) and 18 million who are active social media users (32%). The number of people using the internet and the number of people active on social media both show strong growth when compared year on year. For example, between Jan 2017 and Jan 2018, internet users grew by 7% and active social media users by a whopping 20%, or 3 million additional people!

State of Digital in South Africa

South Africa as a mobile-first internet economy

South Africa is a mobile-first country which consistently demonstrates that the majority of traffic comes from mobile phones (estimated at 95% of total traffic). Approximately 60% of these are smart phones. It's also handy to note that there are an average of 2,29 connections per unique mobile user, showing that people have multiple SIM cards (presumably from multiple networks) to take advantage of their various data and call specials. This amounts to a total of 87.07 million connections.

Frequency of internet usage

In terms of frequency, 65% of internet users access the web once a day. 19% of internet users are watching videos online every day, meaning video remains a huge opportunity for brands and marketers.

Most popular social media platforms

Whatsapp is the most popular social media network in South Africa, even beating out Facebook. That being said however, Facebook penetration did grow by a whopping 20% between Jan 2017 and Jan 2018, totalling to 18 million monthly active Facebook users in South Africa. We also saw that just less than 30% (28.6%) of pages were using paid media, reflecting the worldwide shift of social media networks to a "pay-to-play" environment. Instagram boasted 3,9 million Instagram users in early 2018, with a slight female skew (53%).

How to win with Instagram Stories

Tips, tools and tricks for Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories is the fun, ephemeral way to share what you are up to with friends. Without the pressure of appearing in your carefully curated Instagram feed, they are a much celebrated functionality of Instagram as they only appear for 24 hours, unless they are added to a user’s profile as a ‘Highlight’.

First introduced in August 2016, they were an obvious steal from Snapchat Stories – but users didn’t take long to embrace the new vertical format and its exciting functionality – a marked departure from Instagram’s square photos.

The functionality within Stories is impressive – boasting formats like Type, Music, Live, Boomerang, Superzoom, Focus & Rewind – all fun effects designed to make posts more vibrant.

In addition to the inbuilt functionality, people and brands on the top of their Insta-game have looked for even more creative ways to make their lives and products pop, helping to distinguish themselves from the sea of stories.

To help marketers navigate the wide variety of options, D.O. Digital has created a YouTube video which demonstrates how to use a variety of other apps in conjunction with Instagram Stories, to help you stand out on Instagram Stories.

We chat about apps like Over, Unfold, Cut Story, Canva, Flat Icon and AZ recorder, and how these can enhance your presence on Instagram.

The social media network reached 1 billion monthly active users in June 2018, meaning it’s consistently gaining ground on big brother Facebook. It also enjoys favour from millennials and creators, making a really exciting playground for marketers in 2019.

D.O. Digital is an eLearning academy which focuses on cost effective online training about digital marketing. Its first course, Introduction to Social Media Marketing, is an eight week beginner’s course launching in January 2019 with exciting discounts and exclusive offers.