Org domain names, as all original top level domain names, were created in January 1985. In the first place .org was intended to be used by organizations, whom did not meet the requirements of the other generic top level domains.

These days anyone can register a .org domain. Org domains were also intended to be used by individuals, but there are also alternatives, like .name and .info.

There are countries in the world that have a second-level domain with a similar purpose. They have the following form .org.xx. Xx being the country code top level domain.

Org domain names are most likely to be used by non-profit organisations. If you need to register a .org domain, be sure to use relevant keywords in your domain name. This makes it much easier to be noticed. You can research keywords for example, via Google’s Adwords program, or via software like WebCEO.

It is clear that an oganisation, like an individual both will benefit from keyword research, before choosing the exact domain name. To be noticed you need to use these keywords which describe you or your organisation at best, and that people are looking for by search engines.

Look for keywords that are popular = a lot of people are looking for, yet look for keywords with little competition = are used by fewer websites as keywords. Google’s keyword tool, on the Adwords site can help you out with that one.

F. Heymans invites you to visit Domain–Hosting.Hegatrading.Com where you can register your very own domain name. When you visit domain–hosting.hegatrading.com, you will be able to select a domain name, that suits your goal. To get your own domain name today, register at: Domain–Hossting.Hegatrading.Com/index.php

Many people believe that selecting their domain name for their web site is a routine tasks and not very important. This is a big mistake as there are a number of very costly things that can and will go wrong if you are not aware of the important factors you need to take into account.

Answers to these important questions need to be found and fully understood before you can proceed with registering your domain name in confidence.

This important activity is often seen as routine technical / administrative tasks and insufficient attention is given to it. This is particularly the so with newbies who have little experience of the wider issues of internet marketing and the more technical side of the internet.

Register Your Site’s Name

The site (domain) name you choose should meet as many of the following criteria as you can manage:

* Short as possible

* Avoid hyphens

* Contain keywords that describe your niche

* Preferably choose the dot com extension

Don’t do this — www.worlds-best-deals-on-ladies-golf-clubs.biz

A much better choice is would be — www.affordableladiesgolfclubs.com

Not only is the second example easier to remember, the major search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN will generally give higher rankings to these sites. This means that your site has a greater chance of been found when someone is doing a search for one of your keywords.

There are many companies that specialize in registering domain names. I recommend that you use one of the well known services such as GoDaddy to register your domain name. The annual fee for this is usually less than $10. Before you can register your domain name you need check that the name is still available. Most sites provide easy search facilities to do this for you.

You need to be aware that your registration is for a fixed period (usually a year) and needs to be renewed before it expires. Failure to do this will enable someone else to register your name.

Tip #1:

I suggest that you register your domains for periods of at least two years, as this indicates to the search engines that you are committed long-term and not just out to make a quick buck.

Tip #2:

Also, if you have a number of domains, arrange for them to all expire at the same time. This makes them easy to manage and less likely to expire by mistake.

The first thing you need to do is get some help in the form of step by step instructions and coaching videos designed specifically for newbies.

If you are a newbie struggling to make sense of internet marketing and want to find out more about domains and how anyone can now make profits from selling info products, Internet Business Buddy provides you with all the help you need. For a limited promotional period you can get a free copy of his life changing system (reports and video tutorials). Click here to get yours now!

When you launch a new website you must register a unique domain name with an authorized registrar. When the internet was first starting, all domain names and IP addresses were registered through one organization, Internic. Eventually Network Solutions took over the role as “keeper” of the internet domain names. Today, there are hundreds of websites where you can register your domain name but Network Solutions still maintains the main database of domain names. Some websites charge as little as $2.95 per year for your domain name while others charge as much as $35 per year for the exact same service. Some even offer one year free if you register your domain name with them and host your website on their servers. Why pay $35 when you can register your domain name for much less at another website?

So why does Network Solutions charge $35 a year if they are the keeper of the database and their resellers charge a fraction or even nothing? Who knows and who cares! Register your domain with one of the cheaper providers and you’ll be fine. A word caution - be care who you choose to host your website. Getting a free year of your domain name isn’t worth it if your webhost is unreliable and your website is down more than it’s up.

You pay for your domain name on a yearly basis. It’s a separate charge from your webhosting bill. When you register your domain name choose the autorenewal option if it’s available. This way your domain name will not expire if you forget to renew it. If your domain name expires, it’s free for anyone else to register so you need to stay on top of when it’s expiring. Also registering your domain name for a 3 to 5 year term will often save you money. For example, godaddy.com charges $8.95 a year for your domain name but only $7.25 a year if you register for a 5 year term.

When you register your domain you can create different contact names. The three contacts are Administrator, Technical and Billing. Most of the time the same person is all 3 contacts. If you web designer registers your domain name for you, make sure you are designated as the Administrative contact. This gives you control over the domain name and you must be notified if someone is trying to make changes to your record. If you aren’t one of the contacts then someone can transfer ownership of the domain name without your permission.

To see a record of your domain name, go to www.networksolutions.com and use their WHOIS utility which is located in the bottom left corner of their home page. Simply enter your domain name and click Search. You’ll see the complete record of your domain name, where it’s registered and where your website is hosted. For a complete video of how to use WHOIS, visit www.valiss.com/video/whois/whois.html.

When you register your domain name you’ll have to the option of making it a private registration. I highly recommend paying the additional fee to make your information private. If you leave your registration public anyone can look up your domain information which includes your home or business address and your email address. Many spammers scan public domain registration records to find valid email addresses to spam.

I always use a yahoo or hotmail email account when registering my domains. This way if spammers to find my email address, I can just get a new “throwaway” email address and I won’t receive spam at my primary email address.

Always make sure your domain record remains locked. Locking your domain name is a feature implemented a few years ago. When you want to transfer your domain name to a different registrar you must unlock it. Once it’s unlocked the new registrar can “pull” your domain name from your current registrar. Once the transfer is complete, the domain name will be locked to prevent anyone else from “pulling” your domain away from you.

About The Author
Ted Prodromou spent over 25 years in the computer industry working for IBM, Digital, and Cellular One. Today he’s the owner of Valiss IT, a consulting firm that provides personalized web design and small business marketing solutions. Visit http://www.valiss.com for lots of free “how to” articles about marketing your business online. Copyright 2005 Valiss IT, Inc. All Rights Reserved This article may be reprinted only if it remains unchanged.

On my little search for free and or cheap domains I came across the site www.dnp.in. A thread had been started about .be, Belgium’s new TLD (top level domain); this struck my interest mainly because it was a free TLD. A few sites I tried out were:

www.ovh.com

www.eurodns.com

Eurodns is my preferred registrar of the two. Being that eurodns is in English not French. OVH.com may be viewed in English, too, but it’s one of the most confusing register processes I’ve ever been through.

Why are these sites giving away .be domain names? Well, it’s most likely to start a craze about the new option. I don’t believe it will be in demand as much as an .us or .de due to the fact I hardly see any Belgium related sites. Perhaps the option of having .be as a tld is great because you could mess around with the name. For instance I registered the domain bestyoucan.be, silly yes but it’s a potential sale for the Webmaster seeking a unique name.

I suggest taking up on the offer of a free TLD. Perhaps register a stockpile of dictionary term domains and sell them on eBay. Money is to be made from this. Sadly I don’t see much of a craze for it in the future.

In spite of my low expectations I’ve registered 30 .be domains. Don’t let the offer of a free TLD get past you! Someone may want to buy your oddly named .be domain name! If you can’t do anything with it simply just let the domain expire with the year passes. There’s nothing to be lost. You could even park the domain and make a few extra bucks off advertising.

Don’t let my opinion throw you off. Do what you like. Personally, I think it’s cool for now and it’s great to earn a few extra dollars this year.

About The Author
Tony St.Pierre is the owner of www.theiblog.com

The most important step in starting your online presence is the selection of your domain name. While this task can appear difficult, you can find a great domain name as long as you take your time and follow a logical process. A great domain name is one that is short enough to be easy to remember, easy to spell correctly, and memorable. This will be your online brand, so take your time and use our tools and you’ll soon have your own great domain name. We offer a seven step process for you to follow to get the best name available for your web site.

1.) Start with a list of names that immediately come to mind that you would like to have. If you already have an existing business, group or club name - put it on the list. Many of your first choices may not be available, but keep them on your list for now. Fortunately, there are now more Top Level Domain (TLD) alternatives such as .net, .biz, .us, .org or .info. The ".Biz" extension is still new, but will become more popular in time. Another alternate is to use the extensions that were made for some of the smaller countries such as ".cc" (Cocos Islands), or ".tv" (Tuvalu).

2.) When registering a domain name, use a company that offers free online tools to generate ideas for names. Start by searching for one of your top names or keywords. If the name is not available, you will get a list of recommended alternative names including other extensions, dashes and popular prefixes and suffixes. This can be a great source of ideas and can save you considerable time if you are looking for a very competitive phrase.

3.) Use Keyword rich domain names - Assemble a list of action keywords that can serve as a domain name or use a combination of keywords (example: killbugsfast.com). Choosing the right combination of keywords can help in your marketing efforts - both online and offline.

4.) Prefixes - One popular approach is to add a prefix in the beginning of a more generic name, as in eToys.com or eGreetings.com. Additional common prefixes to consider are e, z, my, and Ez.

5.) Suffixes - If you have an existing business, this can be very effective. Two good extensions are Online and Direct ( ex: MerrilLynchDirect.com). The more powerful your brand is, the more effective this option can be.

6.) Consider adding a Dash. Some names can be very effective with the use of a dash. If the website is primarily to be found via search engines, then the dash can be used very well. For search engine purposes, you can use a number of keywords separated by dashes. For most businesses, we recommend that you limit the use of dashes (no more than one), as you should use the address on your business cards, in your email signature and all of your advertising campaigns.

7.) Creative combination words - Get creative and use action words that can be partially combined to create a new word. Brainstorm by using a combination of your sites keywords. A great example of this is a senior care provider named Evergive.

Remember this will be your brand, so take your time, make a complete list, Follow these seven steps and you should have a list of names to choose a great domain name.

To get an idea of good keywords, we recommend an online tool that was created by Digital Point Solutions and can be located at the following link: http://www.economywebdomains.com/domain-resources-search-engine-optimization.htm

Sharon Hewitt is founder and President of Economy Web Domains. For more information about registering your own domain name, or getting affordable web hosting, visit the website http://www.economywebdomains.com/

This article may be freely distributed if this resource box remains attached.

Every web server on the internet is assigned a unique address called an IP (Internet Protocol) address. This address is much like a telephone number - a unique number that lets other computers connect to a specific server.

IP addresses are 4 bytes, or 32 bits. Each byte is called an "octet" and can be given a value between 0 and 255 so an IP address takes the form of 123.45.67.89.

Theoretically, 32 bit IP addresses support more than 4 billion unique addresses but in reality the number is much less. Certain ranges are reserved for particular uses so the number of available IP addresses is limited.

Web hosts get around this limitation with shared hosting and virtual servers. To avoid having to use a single server for each web site, shared hosting lets a single server host many web sites. Each site has the same IP address (the one assigned to the server itself) but a unique domain name (eg. mydomain.com).

The current IP address numbering system is version 4 (IPv4) and there is a new system called version 6 (IPv6). This new version will allow for 128 bit addresses which will greatly expand the number of available addresses. Because the internet is currently built around the IPv4 standard, it will take a number of years to upgrade the infrastructure to support this new format.

Shared hosting helps to solve the problem of a limited number of IP addresses for an ever-expanding number of website, but we also need to consider that every computer connected to the internet is also assigned an IP address.

To avoid having to assign a unique IP address to every computer that connects to the internet, most internet providers use system called dynamic IP. They are given a range of available addresses and when you connect, you are assigned one of these numbers. When you disconnect, that number goes back into the "pool" and someone else will get it when they connect.

This dynamic IP system is one of the reasons it’s not usually feasible to host a website on your home computer. Because your address can change any time, it is difficult to keep your domain and your IP address properly associated.

John Lenaghan writes about the best web hosting solution for businesses, and other website hosting topics on the Hosting Report website. Find out more at http://www.hostingreport.org

Domain name registration is the first task in the process of launching a web site on the Internet. Internet Domain names are the web addresses that we are all familiar with such as mysite.com. These are the names that most browsers use to locate web sites.

Internet domain names function as pointers to specific IP addresses and we are lucky to have them since they are a lot easier to remember than a series of numbers.

Numbers and Words

Every website has what’s known as an IP address in the form 123.456.78.9. The domain name system translates these numbers into names such as mysite.com.

All Internet domain names are registered in a central domain name registration database maintained by InterNIC, a subsidiary of ICANN - the organization which certifies domain name registrars.

Domain names are filtered through specialized computers called domain name servers (DNS) which link the domain names with their corresponding numeric IP addresses. Each web site typically has at least one primary and one secondary domain name server - duplicates that increase reliability.

Master Your Domain

The very first step in domain name registration is to choose one! You can choose just about anything you like but, to be most effective, it should directly relate to the nature of your website.

If you are selling jewelry it would be smart to choose a domain name that has something to do with jewelry - BestJewelry.com, for example.

The requirements for domain name registration are straightforward - only letters, numbers or hyphens are permitted. Also, a domain name may not be more than 70 characters long, but it is wise to keep it as short as possible so that it may be easily remembered.

You are allowed to use upper or lower case for your domain name as case is ignored by DNS. Using both upper and lower case can make the name more recognizable. MySite.com is easier to read than mysite.com, but DNS reads them both as being the same.

Anthony Hamill is the founder of Web-Host-Watch.Com which helps online business owners master the basics of web hosting. Get all the facts you need to find affordable web hosting plans including tutorials, tips on avoiding common mistakes, a glossary of web hosting terms, and a web hosting review that profiles the web hosts who provide the best overall value in each hosting category.

Domain names are essential in your effort to gain higher ranking and visibility on the search engines. The effect is not as high as inbound links – perhaps – but as always, a little help can change a lot. Most website owners who are new in the internet business use their company name as the domain name. This is not bad; however, if you could find a more fitted name that will direct people and potential customers to your site, it would be grand. What most new website owners don’t know is that a good domain name can actually help the site to rank well on the search engines.

Company Name as Domain Names

One of the most common mistakes that new domain owners commit is the choice of domain name. Most of them will opt to use exactly the company name. What they don’t understand is that you need to place relevant keywords on the domain name to get more traffic and gradually get higher sales profit. The domain must carry significant keywords that tell about the products or the services that the company offers. A company that sells “sports ball” online should have a domain name like “sportsball.com” rather than “bigjoe.com” (say Big Joe is the name of the company).

The domain name with relevant keywords will generate more visitors than the company name that tells nothing about the company itself. In registering a domain name, think of important keywords which you think your visitors will be looking for in search for your product or services. In doing so, the domain name is actually helping your site’s visibility and ranking on the search engines.

Advantage of Optimized Domain Names

To see if placing keywords on the domain name really works, you can try it for yourself. Key in some keywords on the search box and notice that those on the top list are sites with keyword-rich domain names. This is due to the fact that search engines read the keyword on the domain name as it crawls on the entire site. Hence, optimized domain names will be very useful and effective.

Getting the Best Domain Name

Most of the internet users think of domain names as all ending in “.com”. New website owners who are in search of a good domain name may end up feeling disappointed knowing that all his potential names are already taken. What happened to all the “.com” names? With millions of websites worldwide, what will you expect?

Don’t worry because search engines treat all domain extensions as equal. So the “.net”, “.biz” and other extensions are all cared for at the same level by major search engines. These extensions can actually be the key for a greater opportunity to register an optimized domain name that carries relevant keywords about your site.

Altogether, what you need is an optimized domain name. It is not all that you need to increase your site’s visibility and rank but it does a little help!

This article is written by nPresence. For more freshly written website content and for all your web marketing needs, please visit http://www.npresence.net.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave somewhere for the past decade, you now know that owning a website and promoting it the right way can help you improve your freelance translation business. There are many steps that you have to go through when you finally decide to build a website for your business, but one of the beginning steps is to choose a domain name for your foreign language translation business.

There are many articles on how to choose a domain name, and most of them offer good general tips for people interested in building their websites. However, there are some things to keep in mind when choosing a domain name for a translation business.

First of all, a website domain name is usually the first introduction a person has to your website, and by extension, your business. If that person, a potential client, doesn’t have a good first impression of your domain name, there’s a greater possibility that that person won’t click on your website, and therefore you won’t have that lead. That places a considerable amount of pressure on just the domain name.

So what characteristics should your foreign language translation business domain name have? I think the most important thing is that the domain name needs to be descriptive of what your business provides. Many people in the translation industry use their name as the domain name for their business and while this isn’t horrible, it doesn’t do a good job of describing what your business offers. For example, if you are a Spanish translator, put some combination of the word "Spanish" with another word, so that when people see your domain name they will at least know you work with Spanish and not something else.

Another thing to remember when choosing a domain name is to make it readable. Previously, people thought that dashes in domain names weren’t very professional and that search engines didn’t like them. Well, I don’t think that is necessarily the case anymore. The goal of search engines is to provide good results for human searchers and making a domain name easier to read by using dashes between words will help human visitors be able to read the name of your website and know what it’s about. In the world of the Internet, seconds do matter and if a (potential) client has a hard time reading the domain name for your foreign language translation business, you can forget about them spending extra time trying to read it. They’ll move on to the next site for sure.

Whatever you decide to use as your domain name, though, make sure it fits your business and that you make it easy for visitors to read it. Just by taking these tips into consideration, you will be on your way to then creating a website capable of attracting clients in need of your foreign language translation services.

Clint Tustison is a Spanish <–> English translator interested in helping businesses and translators better understand the translation industry. If you’re interested in how to improve your translation business or your relationship with translation companies, check out his website at http://www.spanish-translation-help.com

Have an idea for a website and confused whether it should be registered as .com, .org, or .net?

It really comes down to personal preference but there are some practical considerations before choosing. Keep the following tips in mind when choosing:

1) Websites are virtual property. Consider the eventual resale value of the domain name. For this purpose .com, .org and .net are best.

2) The world at large is most familiar with these three suffixes. While a name maybe available using .info or .ws, these suffixes have not found a place within the mind of the typical Internet user. In the end, sites with .com, .org or .net extensions carry more natural "authority" and built in reputation.

3) .com is the most familiar to most people. Even if a domain name has already been taken, it maybe worth the effort to pursue the purchase of the name. See point #1.

4) .org has been generally used for non-profit organizations. This has been changing. Lots of non-profits have "stores". Today, it is often used for sites that simple provide information with no intent of selling anything.

5) .net is recommended if the .com equivalent has been taken and purchasing the .com version is out of the question.

6) Transferring .org domains (in the event of a sale) requires actual signed paperwork. This can get messy.

While there are no hard and fast rules, beginners should stick with one of the main three suffixes.

Paul Flyer writes and maintains Recommended Web Tools, an online resource for web development beginners. Visit his blog archives for more information on domain name tools.