If you are going to start a web site, you have to have a domain name. There are a couple of tricks, however, you should know before you buy one.

Tips on Getting Your Domain Name Right

Far too often, people just rush out and pick domain names on the fly. What sounds cool? What sounds professional? I’ll just use my business name. These are the basic methods people come up with domain names and they can lead to regret down the road. A domain name is like a spouse, it can be great or horrific in the long run.

Unless you have a business name that is very well known, don’t use your business name as the domain. It isn’t really going to help you generate traffic and people will still be able to find you through search engines since you are probably the only one using the name. If you are paranoid about others stealing it, trademark and register the name.

The best way to pick a domain name is to first due keyword research. Keyword research is going to identify the keyword phrases your prospects are using to search for your services or products. You want to create a list of high traffic keyword phrases and then make one of those phrases your domain name. Search engines give a lot of value to a domain name that matches a keyword phrase. This helps you crank your home page to the top of the rankings, which gives you a massive head start over your competition.

Once you have identified the keyword phrase you want to use for your domain, there is another secret you need to know. The length of your registration is a factor in search engine rankings on Google. Google gives added value to sites that are going to be around for a long time. At a minimum, you should register the domain for five years, but go with the longest option available.

At first glance, picking a domain name is a fairly simple process. To jumpstart your marketing efforts, you should stop and give it some thought. If you follow the above guidelines, you can turn it into a powerful head start for your marketing efforts.

Halstatt Pires is with MarketingTitan.com - providing internet marketing services.

With society becoming more and more technology savvy it always surprises me when a business owner wants to jump into running business without having the basics.

10 years ago having a domain name was something to do if you wanted your company to have an upper edge. But now, in 2006, it’s not optional.

Every company big or small should have its own domain name. This should be especially obvious if your company is Internet based, however every company can benefit.

Having your own domain name gives you a certain look of creditability. I’ll give you an example. Who would you rather do business with? An accountant that charges $150/hour whose email address is accountz4u@yahoo.com or an account who charges $150/hour whose email address is Billy@AccountingService.com?

If you think it doesn’t matter, then think again. With all the scams and fraud going on people are getting a lot more careful about who they make online purchases with. Do you want the first thing they see to be your free email address?

This brings me to the point that your company doesn’t have to have a website in order to use a domain name. You can benefit from just using the email account.

Having an email address with your company’s name not only gives you a greater look of creditability, but it also allows you to brand your business. With each and every email you send, your company’s name will be seen.

If you don’t currently have a website, one day you might change your mind and decide to put one up. A lot of people are price shopping and gathering information from their computer before they even pick up a phone book or call directory assistance.

You think you don’t need a domain name because you can have a website that’s free? Big mistake.

Don’t just put up a website on angelfire or geocities because it’s free. Ask yourself, would I trust my personal and credit card information with a company whose website address is www.freewebsitehosting.com/folders/business/sallyscomputers? How creditable is that? Also consider what would look better on a business card. That long web address or www.sallyscomputers.com.

But you don’t have to take my advice. If you don’t want to invest $10 a year for a domain name, don’t worry; your competitor will.

DJ Nelson is an Internet entrepreneur. She hosts Bold Business Talk which strives to spread the message that professionalism in business is essential. Tune in at http://www.BoldBusinessTalk.com.

This morning when I drove to the office I had a big truck in from of me. A truck has a huge surface to be used as advertising space, and the owner cleverly placed the company name, phone number and e-mail address on the back.

However, the e-mail address was an address given by the internet connection provider – Wanadoo in this case. I was amazed. There was this huge truck, costing ten-thousands of euros, with professional lettering costing hundreds of euros giving an amateur image because they did not care to spend ten euros to buy their own domain name!

Any company, big or small, should have its own domain name.

An own domain name has various benefits:

1. Using the domain name of your internet provider does not look professional and gives the impression that you so not understand or do not care about the internet;
2. If you ever decide to change your internet provider, your e-mail address will change as well, costing you a lot of money to update stationary and the lettering of your truck;
3. Each time you use your company@provider.com e-mail address, you are making publicity for your internet provider. Why not use that opportunity to make publicity for yourself?

Of course, what counts for e-mail addresses is also valid (even stronger in my opinion) for web pages. If you have a small shop, do not hesitate and purchase your own domain name.

Jeroen Sangers is owner of BryteNet hosting (http://brytenet.com/) and has more than twelve years of experience in web hosting and web design.

Quite often freebies of different kinds are offered on the Internet. In fact, though, very few of them are really free. Those making the offer will more often than not expect something in return.

Under normal circumstances, you have to pay some amount of money to get your domain name registered. Recently however some companies are offering free domain names. In return, they may require customers to add banner ads to their websites or to participate in other marketing schemes. The provider of the free domain is in most cases likely to remain the owner of the domain. Among the defunct companies that offered free domain names were NameZero and Freeservers (a subsidiary of NetZero at present).

Belgium is one European country that offers free domains in the .be TLD. Perhaps part of a temporary promotion, there could well be a renewal fee eventually for the registrants to maintain their domains.

But compared to other offers, there are relatively few that offer you free domains when you sign up for an offer. It may be because the costs of these services or products are too low to deserve much interest. There indeed are a few free domain offers on the net, but they expect you either to buy hosting or to sign up and post at forums. But remember, most web hosting companies will register the ‘free’ domain in their own name. If you are annoyed due to some reason or the other and want to change the web host, you lose the domain name. That means all the hard work you put in to develop the brand image goes up in smoke. However, it is not exactly an intelligent move to refuse a free domain name if there is no catch involved. You can find about free domain names from various databases through various Web sites.

Domain Name Search provides detailed information on Domain Name Search, Australian Domain Name Searches, Free Domain Name Searches, Domain Name Owner Search and more. Domain Name Search is affiliated with Cheap Domain Names For Sale.

Simply speaking, a domain name is a website address. For example, “city4u.com” is the address of the City For You, which is also the site’s domain name. In this example, http//www.city4u.com, i.e. the complete web address, is called the URL or Uniform Resource Locator.

A domain name has three levels. The first one is the "extension" part of the name, i.e. ".com." The “extension” is known as the “top level domain” (TLD), comprised of generic (.com, .org etc.), country code (“.us”, “.uk” etc.) and infrastructure domains. The second level is "city4u.com." while the third is "www.city4u.com."

Before looking for your domain name, you should consider these factors. First, try to use your site’s name as the basis of your domain name as far as possible. If the URL contains your name, customers will easily find you. It is very tough to register a generic domain like biscuits.com as most of them have already gone. Equally difficult is getting ranked in the search engines. Better choose a domain like creambiscuits.com to reduce competition. It may be comparatively easier to register hyphenated names but the hyphens may be forgotten as well.

In case you find the .com or .co.in extension not available, consider instead the .net or .biz. If your domain name is already registered, contact the owner and ask if they’ll sell. In most cases a domain name will be free in the plural but not in the singular form. Although a short domain name is easy to remember, it is less likely to be available. A longer domain, however, can contain more keywords that are useful. If you find your preferred domain name not available, you can always try a prefix or a suffix.

You can find basic information about TLDs at ICANN’s Introduction to Top Level Domains, and information about country code TLDs from Root-Zone Whois Index. However, as there is no single database that lists the owners of all domain names, you will have to search a number of databases.

Domain Name Search provides detailed information on Domain Name Search, Australian Domain Name Searches, Free Domain Name Searches, Domain Name Owner Search and more. Domain Name Search is affiliated with Cheap Domain Names For Sale.

Suppose the domain name you have chosen has already been taken. Now what will you do? You may either keep searching for a name that is not yet taken, or contact the owner of the domain name and want to purchase it. Before negotiating with the owner, visit the domain name you want and check if it is active. Some owners prefer to sell the name if they are not using it at all. Some others buy domain names for selling them for a large price in the future. Be careful not to overpay for your domain name.

You can obtain the contact information for domain name owners from the domain name research sites.

Network Solutions, a foundational registrar for .com and .net, offers a simple WhoIs query function that may suffice. It, however, is limited to searching by the exact domain name or by NIC handle, customarily the owner’s initials followed by a number. Register.com has a WhoIs search function on most of its pages that check a domain name with or without specifying the extension simultaneously across a range of popular extensions and some country codes. In addition, it suggests some available name variants in case your searched name has already been taken.

Allwhois.com, BetterWhois.com, TrueWhois, Whois Source and WhoIsQuery.com are also useful as each of them can access various registrars’ WhoIs databases that contain many country domain registrars. These sites also have a variety of unique search capabilities, and sometimes can provide a fuller and more accurate response for exact matches of partial or full domain names.

AMNESI can reveal a range of similar names that can be utilized for identifying misspelled or similar versions of a name. Whois.net is capable of searching a database of deleted names using your name fragments. That can be extremely useful in discovering what someone else thought was a worthwhile name previously but which is now available again.

Domain Name Search provides detailed information on Domain Name Search, Australian Domain Name Searches, Free Domain Name Searches, Domain Name Owner Search and more. Domain Name Search is affiliated with Cheap Domain Names For Sale.

A website’s domain name (also know as a website address or URL) is an important consideration when developing your online presence. Choosing an appropriate domain name is the first step in the process of building online credibility. Remember to choose carefully because this online address may be where your business resides for the rest of its operating life. Now, some important tips to consider before choosing your domain name:

Choosing Your Domain Extension

A domain extension or top level domain is simply the suffix of your website address: (.com, .net, .org, .ca, etc.) Most Internet users are familiar with the “.com” extension, and will generally use this extension by default when typing an address into their browser. Choosing a “.com” extension should be your fist choice in case your potential customers forget that your address is “www.mybusiness.NET”, and visit your competitor at “www.mybusiness.COM” by mistake. Choosing the “.com” extension gives your website the most credibility in the eyes of your customers.

If your business only caters to the local community, then it makes sense to get a country specific domain name, such as the “.ca” extension. A country specific domain benefits you in two ways: both your customers and search engines such as Google will know that your website is registered to a Canadian and operates in Canada. Potential customers will feel more comfortable knowing that they are dealing with a Canadian company, and not a U.S. based business pretending to be a Canadian company. Also, search engines will give your website higher placement in the search results when a user is performing a Canadian specific search. I personally recommend that my clients, if possible, register both the “.com” AND “.ca” extension. This way, your Canadian based website will benefit from using the “.ca” extension, while at the same time ensuring that they reach your website if they accidentally type the “.com” extension into their browser.

Using Your Business Name

The first choice for any domain name would be your business’ name. This ensures that your customers will remember your website’s address. You can’t expect your potential customers to remember a phrase that just relates to your business.

Choosing Choice Keywords

Including specific keywords in your website’s address will help your rankings in popular search engines such as Google or Yahoo. It is best to choose a keyword that you think your potential customers will use to search for your business. A search engine optimization (SEO) professional such as Cost Effective Design can assist you in choosing your keyword(s). These type of domain names are used in instances where the client does not want to use the business name because it is either already registered by another company, or the company name is simply too long. Any company that is serious about generating traffic through search engines should acquire a domain name with a keyword in addition to your business name.

Don’t Confuse Your Customers

If possible, try not to use domain names that include: “2” for “To” or “4” for “For” or “u” for “You”. These may make your domain look “cool” or “hip”, but in reality they are not very practical. These domain names create a problem when directing your clients to your website verbally or over the phone. For example, if you owned www.UsedCars4U.com, every time you verbally directed someone to your website, you would have to specify that the URL uses the actual number 4, and letter U.

To Use, Or Not to Use Hyphens

Given that more and more businesses are registering domain names every day, getting the website address you want is becoming increasingly difficult. One or two word domain names are usually already registered, forcing new registrants to choose URLs containing three or four words. To some people, these URLs can look like a big mess of words. Using hyphens in between the words can make them visually more appealing. For example, “www.used-cars-for-you.com, looks better than “www.usedcarsforyou.com. The jury is still out on hyphenated domain names. The advantages are that they look better and search engines can easily distinguish the separate keywords for better search placements, but the disadvantages are that they are difficult to verbally communicate and type.

The best solution would be to register both the hyphenated, and the un-hyphenated version of the domain name to ensure that there is no confusion.

Domain Name Length

Even though you are allowed to use 67 characters for a domain name, the general rule of thumb is: shorter is better. Although, in some instances, the website address may be more memorable if it is more descriptive. For example a domain consisting of initials only, such as “www.waa.com”, may not create a lasting impression compared to the domain name “www.windsorautoassociation.com”. Therefore, it is best to choose a name that, while short, contains enough description for your customers to easily remember.

Buying an Existing Domain Name

Maybe the domain name you really want is already registered, either by a legitimate company, or by a “domain squatter” who merely registered the name to sell for a profit at a later date. You can make an offer for these types of domains, although they make cost several hundred, or even thousands of dollars. There are advantages to purchasing an existing domain name. In addition to getting the domain you want, it may also rank highly in the search engines for certain keywords and / or generate topic specific traffic that you will benefit your business.

Paul Coulter owns and operates a custom web design company in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. If you would like to read more web design articles or contact Paul, visit his business’s website: Cost Effective Web Design, Windsor ON

Domain Name Registration

Never register your domain name through your web hosting company however attractive the deal might appear. Why? Well one day you may wish to transfer your domain name to another web hosting provider and your current web host may not take kindly to this. It is not unusual in such cases for the web host to charge a transfer fee and even in extreme cases to unequivocally refuse the transfer of your domain name. If such a situation arises you can report the offending party to the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Another thing to consider when registering your domain name is not to rely solely on your domain name register to ensure that the domain name you have in mind is available and does not infringe on someone else’s trademark rights (unless you enjoy being sued). To be doubly sure your domain name has no trademark infringement issues, after conducting a search for its availability on your domain name register’s website, you can also check at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) http://www.uspto.gov.

When registering your domain name it’s a good idea to register it for more than one year. The reason being that, other than the usual discounts you get for multi-year registrations from most domain name registers, Google (and perhaps the other search engines) consider multi-year registered domains as less likely to be spam sites. Consequently, right off the bat your site will have a search engine advantage (at least with Google), such as a shorter evaluation period in the Google Sandbox.

A final note about domain name registration; there are plenty of domain name registration companies out there, all eager and equally willing to register your new name. Domain name registration prices range from as little as $10 a year up to $35 per year and beyond. Generally there is little point in opting for the more expensive registers because you more or less get the same service. In fact some of the cheaper domain name registration companies provide better quality service.

However whatever service you use, make sure that your domain name is registered in your name. Some less scrupulous domain registration services have been known to register new domains with their own information. You can verify that your domain is registered with your particulars at: http://www.internic.net/whois.html.

The Domain Name Game

So what kind of domain name do you want? Do you want to pick a domain name incorporated with a targeted keyword, or do you want to take the memorable-brand route that the likes of Google, Yahoo and Amazon (to name but a few) have done with astounding success. Well, if your website is going to be business related or involved in some form of commerce it makes sense to have a well-searched-for-keyword incorporated within the domain name. The majority of online businesses are still found through search engine queries. By and large though, a good rule of thumb is to incorporate the most searched for term (for your market) in your domain name.

The shorter your domain name the more memorable it’s going to be. However you’ll discover that most one-word/two-word domain names have been snatched up already. One alternative you’ve got is to hyphenate your targeted keyword with another word. The jury is still out about hyphens though, but most seo experts concur that hyphenating a string of words makes a long domain name more search engine friendly. The downside is that when it comes to word-of-mouth dissemination most folks won’t bother including those pesky hyphens, with the resulting consequence that intended referrals to your domain could end up on your competitor’s doorstep. So as you can see, the whole process of naming your domain is a fine balancing act.

Cutesy Artsy Domain Names

There’s a budding artist in all of us waiting for just the right moment and place to show the world we are the new Leonardo da Vinci. Be that as it may, but naming your domain is not the place to express that inner artist. Avoid cutesy names interspersed with numbers in place of words (e.g., 4 instead of for), they’ll only confuse potential customers and torment you with heaps of regret somewhere down the road. In fact the best rule of thumb is to avoid numbers in your domain name altogether. However, if on the other hand your domain functions merely as a cyber-platform to let an uncaring world know you exist, then by all means let loose!

Bottom line…your domain name is your online identity, so try to choose something that is memorable, fares well with the search engines, and also inspires confidence and respect.

To Dot.com or Not to Dot.com

These days there’re more and more choices for domain name extensions. This is great news because it is getting increasingly difficult to find a good domain name ending in .com that runs under twenty letters (okay that might be a wee bit of an exaggeration but you get the point). However the drawback with using anything other than a .com extension is human nature. You see people are creatures of conditioning and habit, and given a choice of precisely similar domain names, (other than the extension) you can bet most of us will instinctively beeline for the domain name with the .com extension–Without question the .com extension is the most recognizable.

Also think twice before settling for a top level country code domain such as co.uk. Unless you are located in that region and ship primarily within the area, such a domain name could have a negative impact on your business. Think about it…a potential customer based in the U.S. or another part of the world is not going to relish the prospect of forking out a mini fortune for shipping and handling fees when they can easily find a more local competitor. In the same vein try not to regionalize your domain name (unless your business caters to a market found only within that region) because you’ll probably lose potential customers who reside elsewhere.

On a final note, if you anticipate a lot of your traffic is going to come via word-of-mouth referral, you might consider registering similar domain names and redirecting to your main url (e.g. www.africasafarizone.com and www.africansafarizone.com) before cyber-squatters (people who register domain names in hopes of selling them for a profit) get wind of your growing success and beat you to it.

Find A Quality Domain Name Registration Provider

Ba Kiwanuka is the webmaster of http://www.internetbusinessmart.com

There was a time when all domain names were handled by Network Solutions, Inc. leaving you with no choice at all. But the monopoly no longer exists and now you can choose from over a hundred domain registers according to your needs and satisfaction. A domain transfer is in effect a domain registrar transfer as it means the transfer of the name from one registrar to another.

If you are interested in doing so, you can transfer your domain at any time. The cost of transfer depends on the domain registrar. It usually varies from $5 to $20 or more. Some are even ready to drop the fee, provided you agree to extend your domain for a period of two years. They will be equally keen to get your business, as you will be on the transfer. So bargain hard and ensure a good deal for yourself. Remember, you cannot transfer a domain within the first 60 days of registration.

There is no bar on any domain registered with any registrar being transferred to another. You don’t have to worry about the ownership of the domain. It still stays with you; you only change managers when you change registrars. The job of the registrar is to manage your domain name.

However, it may not be possible to transfer a domain name if it is involved in a legal dispute, or the identity of its owner is unknown, or the owner is in bankruptcy.

For domain transfer, some registrars demand a notarized form, while others can do it using a web site form. It normally requires five to ten days to review and validate a transfer request. Once it is done and put into action, a couple of days are needed for the change to filter through the Internet. Rest assured: the change will not affect access to your Web site while the process is on.

Domain Transfer provides detailed information on Domain Transfers, Transfer Domain Registration, Cheap Domain Transfers, Free Domain Transfers and more. Domain Transfer is affiliated with DNS Hosting.

In this article, you’ll discover a key element of your Web site and how you can use it to drive traffic to your site from offline sources. What is this "basic element" of your site, you ask? It’s your domain name - your business’ virtual address.

To figure out why a business’ domain name is important to its Web site’s offline promotions, a little background into domain names is in order. To begin with, there are two main classes of domain names, gTLDs (general Top Level Domains) and ccTLDs (country code Top Level Domains). The seven original gTLDs are .com, .net, .org, .mil, .edu, .gov, and .int. As of the writing of this article, seven new gTLDs are in the process of being launched by ICANN, the governing body of TLDs. They are .aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name, and .pro. The gTLDs were developed to represent specific types of entities, such as commercial organizations (.com), educational institutions (.edu), or cooperatives (.coop). The ccTLDs were developed to represent entities from specific regions, such as the United States (.us), France (.fr), or Japan (.jp).

In most cases, if you find the right registrar, you can purchase domain names with any extension, no matter why you need the name or where you are based. Does this mean you should though? Unless you need to protect your intellectual property rights in a name, probably not. The best choice by far is a good solid "dot com". Why? Because people are familiar with it, and it’s what people associate most with Internet addresses. This is very important in offline advertising, because if a potential customer sees your Web address, he or she will likely have to remember that address when it’s time to pull up the old Web browser to visit the site. So generally speaking, a domain name ending in .com is most desirable for offline advertising.

Several other important issues to consider are the domain name length, use of hyphens in the domain name, and the name’s overall "readability". The domain name length can have a direct impact on how effective that name is at driving traffic to a site. As you can probably imagine, the fewer the characters in a domain name, the better. The use of hyphens in a domain name can have a negative impact on a name’s effectiveness, so they should be avoided if offline advertising is planned. A name’s readability should also be taken into consideration when planning offline promotions. Do the words run together confusingly? Are the letters positioned in such a way that the name might be misread? If so, capitalization can be used in print to eliminate some of the confusion.

So what if you’ve already registered a name, and you find another name that you think would work better for offline advertising? That’s simple. Register the new name, and get your host to set up an "alias" that will direct any traffic the new address receives to your existing Web site.

Alan is the lead developer for InfoServe Media, LLC, a Houston Web design company that allows you to purchase domain names through its site.