Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2011 USCA Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the USCA and data provided by third parties.

To view the Press Release that was submitted online please click the following link - Press Release

I just want to take a quick second to thank my team for all the hard work they have put in which resulted in our company receiving this honor and award. Thank you Matt Meddaugh, Shelley Cotton, and Nathan Genrich. Great job everyone on a very successful 2011 and I am looking forward to our continued success in 2012!

Domain Name Renewal Notices

This is a more common problem than people think. At this point you have either registered a domain name by yourself or a company that offers domain name registration did it for you by using a registrar like Go Daddy, Domain.com, register.com etc. If your domain name is now expired you should have received so sort of notification telling you that your domain name was scheduled for renewal. Usually companies tend to send a letter, email and sometimes both to alert you that your domain name is about to expire and there is usually an invoice attached or directions on how to renew your domain name. Usually the policy for most companies is to at least send out a letter 30 days in advance so that you have time to renew or cancel. Domain Name Registration is a service we offer here at BG Digital Designs and our policy is to send a letter 30 days in advance and if we don’t hear anything we also follow up with a email reminder two weeks before it is scheduled to expire. If we still don’t hear anything we will try to contact the client the day before it is scheduled to expire to make sure they don’t lose their domain name. Each company has a different policy when it comes to letting their customers or clients know when their domain name is going to expire.

Effects of an expired Domain Name

There are a number of things that happen when your domain name expires and I can tell you that none of them are good. The first thing that happens is that your website will go down if you have a website that is live and is attached to your domain name that expired. When your website goes down you may end up losing a ton of traffic or visitors. If someone is trying to go to your website and it is down they will most likely go right over to your competition so you may end up losing not only traffic but business as well. The 2nd issue you may run into is that when your domain name expires the DNS will stop working, therefore any web site and or email service you have for this domain will not work until your domain name is reactivated. You will not be able to send or receive any emails while your domain name is expired. Typically anyone that tries to send you an email will be notified with a return bounce back email stating that your email could not be found. Non working emails are sometimes the result of people actually figuring out that their domain name has expired.

Domain Name Cost and Availability

Now that your domain name has expired you will need to figure out if your domain name is still available and how much it is going to cost to get it back. If your domain name has expired recently you are most likely still in good shape! Most Registrar companies will not release your domain name back into the domain name pool for 90 days. This means that no one will be able to purchase that domain name unless it has been expired for 90 days or more. So if it is before 90 days you have a pretty good chance at getting it back but at what price? Now if your domain name has recently expired you may be able to get it back at the regular price. Once a domain name has been expired for a certain amount of time it goes into what is called a Redemption Period. The Redemption Period is a Domain Registry period of up to 30 days that occurs when a domain name is deleted after having expired un-renewed. During this 30-day redemption period, the original domain registrant (owner of the domain) is allowed to retrieve the domain name from deletion by contacting their Registrar or company that registered their domain name for them. This process costs an additional fee Even though you can renew your domain name after it expires you may be charged a penalty fee. You will have to check with your Domain Registrar to see what their policy is regarding Domain Name Renewals. If  your registrar is Godaddy their policy is the first 19 days a domain name can be repurchased without a penalty or extra fee. If the owner has not repurchased the domain name after 19 days it then goes into the Redemption Period and they charge a fee of $80 to recover the domain name. This fee is additional on-top of what it normally cost for registering your domain name.

People and Bots Looking to purchase your Domain Name

Once your domain name has been expired for 90 days your domain name will be added back into the public Domain Name Pool which means anyone can then purchase that domain name for the standard price. There are many people and bots that look for recently expired domain names and their goal is to purchase the domain name right away and try to turn it for a huge profit. People are able to view lists that show which domain names are going to expire and when they are going to expire. So if you are planning on waiting until the 90 days are up to just pay regular price you may have a rude awakening when you find out your domain name has been purchased. It is best not to take that chance and just pay the penalty fee which will guarantee you having your domain name back.

Summary

I hope this helps people understand the importance of renewing your domain name on-time. If you need help with registering your domain name or domain name recovery feel free to contact BG Digital Designs at (414) 443-0882.

Welcome to BG Digital Designs NEW modern website! Most of you were probably thinking that we had a cool flash website and why make the switch to something different? Well there were a number of reasons why we decided to roll out a new website. One of the main reasons why we switched from Full Flash to an Html website is that Search engines can’t index flash websites very well which means that we were not pulling in hardly any traffic or visitors from the web. So yes our website did look cool but it was not helping us. The 2nd reason we decided to create a new website is the fact that we decided to change the design and look of our company branding into something that was more modern and eye catching which in turn would set us apart from other website design companies. In creating a new website we wanted to make sure that not only was our website easily viewable on Mobile and smart phones we also wanted to incorporate a better looking portfolio section so that potential clients could view our work and projects with ease.

There are so many design websites out there on the web that just list the services the company offers and that’s it. Not only did we want to list our services we also wanted to make our website informative for potential clients as well as current clients so they could understand everything we offer in detail. We also incorporated an updated bio section so that people can see who we are and who they are dealing with. Having a bio section in your website really adds a more personal feel to your company. Another huge feature we incorporated into our company website was a blog so that we can discuss topics related to our industry. Our website blog will serve as a spot for our current clients, business owners, website designers, and graphic designers to come and discuss and comment on topics related to the design and technology industry.

We will be releasing a new blog post at least once a week and we will also be updating our website on a regular basis to make sure that our information is current and our finished projects are added to our portfolio section. Stay tuned for new updates coming your way. Our company is very excited about the launch of our new website and a BIG thanks to Matt Meddaugh our lead designer for helping me put together this masterpiece.

There are many elements that go into the design of a company logo.  First of all, the shape of the logo can make or break you as far as advertising goes.  The shape needs to correlate or be relevant to your business.  Keep the customers from guessing what your logo is, by bringing out traits of your business and incorporating them into your logo.  Color is a plays a major role in your logo as well.  It needs to catch the eyes of the viewers and be catchy and not awkward looking.  You could have the best logo in the market but if the color isn’t right or too strong, it too could keep viewers away and perhaps have a negative effect.  Experimenting with colors is a good idea when creating a logo.

Once all of this comes together and your logo is created, it is a good idea to get it register the trademark so there is no copyright infringement.  Next, place your logo next to your company name and start promoting it through signs, banners, ads, business cards, brochures, clothing,…etc.

It is very important to have a logo and company branding to give your company an identity that customers can relate to, and, bring them to your business.  A logo is very important and yet missed elements for many businesses.  Don’t let your logo hurt you.  Contact us for assistance with this.