THE DOMAIN GAME
webdesignwisdom.com
by Thomas Benton
IT'S YOUR DOMAIN
Do you need a domain that's all your own? Without hesitation, "Yes"! It immediately gives your business a professional and internet-established presence.
A DOMAIN FOR $10.00, OR LESS, PER YEAR
Registering your own domain is cheap. ICANN has approved several registrars so that no one has a monopoly any longer. Where it used to cost $70.00 to register, you can now register for one year for as little as $10.00.
I use $10 Domains, http://www.10-domains.com. The price is $10.00 per year if you register for one or two years. If you register for several years the price-per-year is less. At this price why wouldn't you have your own domain?
YOUR DOMAIN, YOUR WEB IDENTITY
Your domain is your internet address and your web identity. It sets your business apart from everyone else. Nobody but you can use your domain. That means that your email address can be unique.
Most web hosts provide at least email forwarding with multiple aliases. If an email is sent to anything@yourdomain.com it will be forwarded to the email address you specify. You can have it forwarded to the POP 3 account provided by your ISP or to an internet based account such as HotMail.
You can have all of your email broken down to the specific departments in your business. This helps to organize the email you receive. Have orders sent to: orders@yourdomain.com, requests for information sent to: info@yourdomain.com, requests for help sent to: support@yourdomain.com, etc. You can also have all your personal email sent to: yourname@yourdomain.com.
DOT COM, DOT NET, DOT ORG, OR DOT SOMETHING ELSE
When choosing a domain name you'll have to decide which extension to use. Until recently, your choices were .com, .net, or .org. Each was intended to apply to a specific category of web site. Now you can choose from .tv, .cc, and .ws as well. And, .biz and .info will be available soon.
So, which should you choose? If your site will be a business site, stick with .com. When you try to remember a web address, which do you think of first? You probably remember the domain itself and naturally tend to stick a .com to it. After all, that is the most prevalent nowadays. It is likely to remain that way.
You can now go to a web site by entering "domain.com" without having to enter the "www". Some believe that in the future, if you have a .com domain, you'll only have to enter the domain itself. It won't be necessary to enter the .com. That remains to be seen.
Most professionals are recommending using .com domain extension for business web sites as it was originally intended. What happens in the future if some governing body decides that only businesses can use .com? And that business sites can't use any other extension? May never happen, but with a .com business, you're covered.
THE BEST DOMAIN
It can be difficult finding the domain name that you want for your business. It isn't impossible to select a good name though. It may be that your chosen domain is for sale. If it is, and you can afford to buy it, your problem is solved.
A good way to find a domain is to concentrate on the benefits your business offers. Search for domains based on those benefits. Choose a non-hyphenated domain if possible. If the non-hyphenated version is taken, but the hyphenated version is available, register the hyphenated version.
Start your domain name search by identifying the keyword phrases someone may use when they're searching for what you offer. Enter these keywords in http://www.7search.com's engine. It will tell you how often the keywords are searched. Then check to see if those keywords are available as a domain. Register.com recommends several variations of a domain when you use their domain search.
GET IT NOW
Dot com domains are going fast. Register your choice as soon as you're certain about it. $10 Domains allows free "parking" of the domain. You may not choose a web host or build your site until sometime in the future. You can park it there until you are ready to direct the address to your web host.
Don't let transferring domains and redirecting IP addresses worry you. When you choose your host, you should receive instructions on how to do this. Your host will likely handle it for you if you want.
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