Domain Name Information

5 Tips For the Perfect Domain Name


What is a domain name? A domain name is the location of your website on the Internet. Your domain name will be what you become known by online so it's important to get it right.

Each website on the Internet is labeled with something called an IP address which is the actual address of the website online. A typical IP address looks like this: 159.134.27.64. Remembering a string of numbers like that is difficult so a domain name translates all those numbers into something like amazon.com. This is far easier to remember.

#1 Dot what?

Each domain has what's called an extension. The most well known of these extensions is .com. This, however, is not the only type of domain extension available. There is also:

.net

If you can't find your preferred .com domain name you could always choose the same domain with a .net extension. It might not have the same ring as a .com but is still as just useful as a .com.

.org

These domain extensions were orginally designed for educational and more formal websites. Anybody can register a .org however so you have more options for domain selection.

.info

A more recent introduction to the domain name game are .info domains. Many of the valuable .info domains were bought up overnight but there's still a huge range of good .info domains available. With a little creativity you could really make a .info work for you e.g. www.moviereview.info.

Bear in mind that most web surfers tend to remember .com more easily than anything else.

#2 Branding vs Business Name

There is an age old debate on the whether or not you should establish a brand name online or use a domain that more actually reflects your real business. Let's look at Amazon as an example. Amazon sells books online. Most people setting up a business would have chosen say www.booksonline.com instead of amazon.com Amazon has since established itself as a brand name of global recognition - proving the value of building a brand name.

You'll need to choose between the two. Brand name or your own business name. Consider how your domain sounds, how it might look on a business card and how well it relates to your business.

There's no one right answer to this question. You need to choose what makes most sense for you, your website and your business in general.

#3 Hyphenated or not

This is another area of debate. Should your domain be one single word or should the words be separated by hyphens? There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. Single word domain names can be easier to explain, use on header paper and lend themselves to brand names very well.

Single word domains are in very, very short supply.

Hyphenated domains names can be slighltly more difficult to explain, may not look as well on headed paper and possibly harder to establish as a brand name. There's no shortage of multiple word domains.

The single biggest advantage a hyphenated domain has is that search engines can "read" the domain more easily. For example in a domain like foreignholidaysonline.com the search engine can only read the first word "foreign" and that's it. It can't tell anything else about the website domain name.

If you hyphenated that to foreign-holidays-online.com the search engine can read "foreign", "holidays" and "online" as separate words and therefore knows that this website is about foreign holidays.

A well chosen hyphenated domain name can be just as effective as a single word domain name.

#4 Your Domain Registrar

These are the people you pay to register the domain for you. There are dozens if not hundreds of these companies out there so which one do you choose? This takes some research but things worth checking are:

  • Do you retain sole ownership of the domain or do the registrar keep some level of control over it?

  • Search Google for any horror stories relating to the registrar

  • Does the registrar allow you to transfer the domain to another registrar?

  • Is there an online control panel for domain administration?

  • How easy is it to change the domain Name Servers?

Shop around for domain registrars. What you really want to find is a previously satisfied customer to ask questions before you buy.

#5 Cheap Domain Names

You can save a lot of money on the domain names you purchase. A typical .com domain costs about $15 to register from most registrars. However you can get the same domain for as little as $7.95 from other, very reliable, companies.

Oddly enough some of the cheaper domain registrars are more reliable, have fewer horror stories and offer equally good customer service as their more expensive competitors.

Are there any disadvantages in using a discount domain registrar? Will it affect your website in any way? The answer to both is a definite No.

This article was provided courtesy of Domain Tutor where you'll find tons of information on how to register a domain name


MORE RESOURCES:

Creative Thinking: Replycycle for Parked Domain Names
Domain Name Wire, TX - Aug 26, 2008
If you think your parked domain names don’t receive e-mails, think again. Some of my domain names that aren’t parked but don’t have content receive multiple ...


JIPO moves to block sale by US-based company of athletes' domain names
Jamaica Observer, Jamaica - Aug 24, 2008
Domain names of Jamaican gold medal Olympians are being pedalled on the Internet and the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office JIPO - the government ...


Where to Find Free Domain Names
3x24 - Your Newspaper and News Magazine, Germany - Aug 25, 2008
There are some facts you should know about what is involved and what should be looked for in considering the offers of free domain names. ...


OKC NBA team nickname to be announced Sept. 3
NewsOK.com, OK - 1 hour ago
Thunder has been believed to be the nickname for more than a month after KOCO reported the company the NBA uses to file domain names purchased ...


Unlimited-Space to give away 1000 internet domain names this Thursday
Seeking Media (press release), Australia - Aug 24, 2008
Australian website hosting company and domain provider Unlimited-Space.com is set to take the internet world by storm by giving away 1000 domain names and ...


ME DOMAINS NAMES HIT MARKET IN RECORD STYLE - Domain auction
OnlineCasino.org - Aug 26, 2008
Domain names are a big part of any internet business. As anybody that has had a modicum of success in the online world can tell you, an easy to remember ...


Boosting numbers in .ke domain names
Business Daily Africa, Kenya - Aug 19, 2008
August 20, 2008: Internet domain names have increasingly become part of our daily lives, but the uptake of the .ke (dot ke) is still lagging behind. ...


VeriSign to Extend SSL Security to Web Sites With ...
CNNMoney.com - Aug 18, 2008
VeriSign today announced that its SSL Certificates will now support Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs). IDNs display Web site addresses in local language ...
Go Daddy SSL Market Share Hits All-Time High Ad-Hoc-News (Pressemitteilung)
all 21 news articles


India should follow China in protecting domain names of athletes
SINDH TODAY, Pakistan - Aug 22, 2008
Maybe, it is time for the Indian sports authorities to take some steps in this direction of protecting domain names of famous athletes. ...


Big Companies Go After .Mobi Domain Names
Domain Name Wire, TX - Aug 22, 2008
In the past two months, Capital One, Airtran, Tufts, State Farm, and Primerica have all filed UDRP complaints to get their hands on .mobi domain names. ...

Domain-Names - Google News

home | site map
© 2006-2007