What You will Learn
- why you would like a domain name - why the appropriate domain name is significant for the business - how to choose probably the most effective domain name to your corporation - how to choose essentially the most variations of your domain name (even in case you already personal a domain name) - wherever to purchase and host a domain name - domain name terminology
Why Buy a Domain Name?
A memorable domain name is really a valuable asset for your business. It will allow persons to discover your Web site a lot more easily, but far more importantly, it establishes you like a serious business owner, not a starving wannabe or even a shady character!
I'm always dismayed to determine small businesses trying to establish themselves on-line with domain names that obviously came having a free hosting account. They've URL's like geocities.com/seattletowing or members.shaw.ca/giftbaskets. URL's like these immediately mark these companies as "struggling, not most likely to survive."
If this really is you, please go and buy a great domain name right away! Individuals like to accomplish firm with corporations they think are successful. And on the Web, it is possible to seem successful quite easily. Which is how most of us started online. We looked successful lengthy previous to we became successful, and nobody was any the wiser.
Probably the cheapest issue you will purchase for your organization is its domain name! Please don't try to save $5.99 USD a year by while using URL provided by a free hosting account.
IMPORTANT: Folks think they cannot use their very own domain name if they're using free hosting space on their local ISP. That is not true! A domain name is also parked with the registrar and pointed at any other URL on a Internet.
Tip: Domain names are bought from domain name "registrars." Later in this article I'll tell you which registrars market inexpensive domain names.
What's in a Name?
"What's inside a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." - William Shakespeare
Unfortunately, it's not that easy when it comes to domain names. If you could choose any old domain name and have your Website "smell as sweet," there wouldn't be men and women buying and selling domain names for thousands of dollars!
So, how do you select the correct domain name?
Let's pretend our business is referred to as Smith & Sons Towing Company and we're located in Seattle, Washington, USA.
1. Usually buy your full company/business name, in case you can. The "&" sign can't be used in domain names. We need to replace it with "and," so we'll buy smithandsonstowingcompany.com.
2. Then purchase the nickname or short version you usually go by. In our case, smithandsonstowing.com. If we can get smithandsons.com, we will purchase that, too, but it is not likely we'll discover that even now available.
Tip: Purchase whatever versions of your business name that you can find as a .com. Do not worry about any other extensions like .net or .org. Should you cannot find your business name like a .com, then search your country extension. Example: smithandsonstowing.ca, smithandsonstowing.co.uk.
If you might be a charity, you'll be able to also purchase the .org version. If you are a telecommunications company, you may also purchase the .net version. Forget any other extensions like .biz, .info, etc.
If it is possible to ONLY get the .org or .net versions of your business name, buy them, but be aware that that is not the most choice. Everyone sorts .com at the end of the domain name automatically. In our hypothetical case, customers may end up at a dead end or on somebody else's Web site if they kind in smithandsonstowing.COM and we bought smithandsonstowing.NET!
3. Purchase keyword-rich domain names. In addition to buying our company name, we must help men and women find our Internet site when they do not know our corporation by name. One beneficial choice is to buy some keyword-rich domain names like seattletowingcompany.com and seattle-towing-company.com. If we purchase both versions we can hold the competition from buying a similar domain name to ours. Also, look for engines will read the version with hyphens as separate words, that will assist drive targeted traffic to our Internet site.
But first, to discover one of the most keyword-rich domain names we must know what men and women are using to research for companies like ours. A free tool to use to find this information is WordTracker.com.
When we do a look for on "towing," we get as well quite a few generic terms and as well several other cities. Once we do a research on "seattle towing," we see that the top quantity of searches are truly for "towing seattle." If we can scoop the domain names towingseattle.com and towing-seattle.com, we've done our organization a great service. If we can't, we'll try to preserve the exact same word order, but purchase a longer domain name, like a1-towing-seattle.com or aaa-towing-seattle.com.
4. Buy domain names that occur near the commencing in the alphabet. Why would we select "A1" or "AAA," rather than "fast," "best," "cheap," etc. as the first term in our keyword-rich domain name? Because, if we now have the choice, we should try to obtain a domain name that falls as around the starting from the alphabet as possible. A1 and AAA both mean "best," but they put us at the top of any towing directory online, whereas, "best" does not.
Note: Numbers occur previous to all letters in an alphabetical directory listing. So 123towingcompany.com is going to be listed ahead of aaatowingcompany.com.
Tip: If your domain name does not start with a "A" or having a number, purchase one that does. Then use that domain name as your business name for online directories you advertise in. This will put you at the top of the list alphabetically.
5. Buy the plural or singular of words in your domain name that men and women are likely to type incorrectly. So, if your company name is Adventure Cruise Company and your short domain name is adventureCRUISE.com, also purchase adventureCRUISES.com!
6. Avoid confusing spelling inside your domain name. Example: If your company name is Logic Personal computer Company, do not spell "logic" using a zero rather than an "oh" within your domain name. If you cannot get your real business name, pick a keyword-rich domain name instead.
7. Avoid odd hyphenation. Hyphenate all or none from the words within your domain name (buy both versions). In our case, a1towingseattle.com and a1-towing-seattle.com are each far better domain names than a1-towingseattle.com. The only reason to purchase domain names with odd hyphenation would be to retain the competition from buying them.
8. Search short, memorable domain names. Short domain names are scarce, but not impossible to find. Individuals will remember a short domain name much better and they will make much less mistakes as soon as typing it. For instance, ablewebs.com is far better than ablewebswebdesigncompany.com.
Tip: Visually, a long domain name is better after hyphenated: able-webs-web-design-company.com. If I had to purchase a extended domain name, I would purchase it with and without hyphens, and I would use the hyphenated version on my business cards, letterhead, advertising, etc.
9. Capitalize the first letter of every term whenever you put your URL on any promoting media, just like your email signature, classified ads, corporation cards, letterhead, etc. Example: A1TowingSeattle.com is simpler to read than a1towingseattle.com.
10. Buy misspellings of one's company name or keywords. For instance, if your company name is Debra's Doughnuts, try to buy deborahsdoughnuts.com, debrasdonuts.com, etc. to cover all feasible spellings of Debra and doughnuts.
Where Do I Purchase My Domain Names?
Cheap Domain Names
To register a .com domain name, go to 1and1.com. You'll be able to get domain names there for $6.99 USD a year! My personal favourite registrar is GoDaddy.com. Domains are sometimes on sale, but their regular price is $9.99 USD. I like GoDaddy due to the fact their interface is simple to use. NameCheap.com sells domains at $9.69 USD. Moniker.com sells them at $8.02 USD.
There are ways to purchase even cheaper domain names, but sometimes these sites can also be confusing to your uninitiated. However, in case you wish to save a few bucks, try BustAName.com. They resell domain names from GoDaddy.com for $6.95 USD.
Country-specific Domain Names
Search online for "domain names [your country]," e.g., "domain names canada." Then look for the lowest price. As I write this, Netfirms.ca has Canadian domain names for $9.95 CAD per year.
Where Do I Host My Domain Name?
Don't automatically use the domain name registrar as your hosting company! Instead, do your homework and discover a hosting company with excellent customer assistance plus a full complement of features included in their simple service. Look for a hosting company that offers cPanel, a common, easy-to-use administration interface.
Here are some top quality hosting services. They're all good, but HostGator includes a very good status inside the Web promotion community.
- why you would like a domain name - why the appropriate domain name is significant for the business - how to choose probably the most effective domain name to your corporation - how to choose essentially the most variations of your domain name (even in case you already personal a domain name) - wherever to purchase and host a domain name - domain name terminology
Why Buy a Domain Name?
A memorable domain name is really a valuable asset for your business. It will allow persons to discover your Web site a lot more easily, but far more importantly, it establishes you like a serious business owner, not a starving wannabe or even a shady character!
I'm always dismayed to determine small businesses trying to establish themselves on-line with domain names that obviously came having a free hosting account. They've URL's like geocities.com/seattletowing or members.shaw.ca/giftbaskets. URL's like these immediately mark these companies as "struggling, not most likely to survive."
If this really is you, please go and buy a great domain name right away! Individuals like to accomplish firm with corporations they think are successful. And on the Web, it is possible to seem successful quite easily. Which is how most of us started online. We looked successful lengthy previous to we became successful, and nobody was any the wiser.
Probably the cheapest issue you will purchase for your organization is its domain name! Please don't try to save $5.99 USD a year by while using URL provided by a free hosting account.
IMPORTANT: Folks think they cannot use their very own domain name if they're using free hosting space on their local ISP. That is not true! A domain name is also parked with the registrar and pointed at any other URL on a Internet.
Tip: Domain names are bought from domain name "registrars." Later in this article I'll tell you which registrars market inexpensive domain names.
What's in a Name?
"What's inside a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." - William Shakespeare
Unfortunately, it's not that easy when it comes to domain names. If you could choose any old domain name and have your Website "smell as sweet," there wouldn't be men and women buying and selling domain names for thousands of dollars!
So, how do you select the correct domain name?
Let's pretend our business is referred to as Smith & Sons Towing Company and we're located in Seattle, Washington, USA.
1. Usually buy your full company/business name, in case you can. The "&" sign can't be used in domain names. We need to replace it with "and," so we'll buy smithandsonstowingcompany.com.
2. Then purchase the nickname or short version you usually go by. In our case, smithandsonstowing.com. If we can get smithandsons.com, we will purchase that, too, but it is not likely we'll discover that even now available.
Tip: Purchase whatever versions of your business name that you can find as a .com. Do not worry about any other extensions like .net or .org. Should you cannot find your business name like a .com, then search your country extension. Example: smithandsonstowing.ca, smithandsonstowing.co.uk.
If you might be a charity, you'll be able to also purchase the .org version. If you are a telecommunications company, you may also purchase the .net version. Forget any other extensions like .biz, .info, etc.
If it is possible to ONLY get the .org or .net versions of your business name, buy them, but be aware that that is not the most choice. Everyone sorts .com at the end of the domain name automatically. In our hypothetical case, customers may end up at a dead end or on somebody else's Web site if they kind in smithandsonstowing.COM and we bought smithandsonstowing.NET!
3. Purchase keyword-rich domain names. In addition to buying our company name, we must help men and women find our Internet site when they do not know our corporation by name. One beneficial choice is to buy some keyword-rich domain names like seattletowingcompany.com and seattle-towing-company.com. If we purchase both versions we can hold the competition from buying a similar domain name to ours. Also, look for engines will read the version with hyphens as separate words, that will assist drive targeted traffic to our Internet site.
But first, to discover one of the most keyword-rich domain names we must know what men and women are using to research for companies like ours. A free tool to use to find this information is WordTracker.com.
When we do a look for on "towing," we get as well quite a few generic terms and as well several other cities. Once we do a research on "seattle towing," we see that the top quantity of searches are truly for "towing seattle." If we can scoop the domain names towingseattle.com and towing-seattle.com, we've done our organization a great service. If we can't, we'll try to preserve the exact same word order, but purchase a longer domain name, like a1-towing-seattle.com or aaa-towing-seattle.com.
4. Buy domain names that occur near the commencing in the alphabet. Why would we select "A1" or "AAA," rather than "fast," "best," "cheap," etc. as the first term in our keyword-rich domain name? Because, if we now have the choice, we should try to obtain a domain name that falls as around the starting from the alphabet as possible. A1 and AAA both mean "best," but they put us at the top of any towing directory online, whereas, "best" does not.
Note: Numbers occur previous to all letters in an alphabetical directory listing. So 123towingcompany.com is going to be listed ahead of aaatowingcompany.com.
Tip: If your domain name does not start with a "A" or having a number, purchase one that does. Then use that domain name as your business name for online directories you advertise in. This will put you at the top of the list alphabetically.
5. Buy the plural or singular of words in your domain name that men and women are likely to type incorrectly. So, if your company name is Adventure Cruise Company and your short domain name is adventureCRUISE.com, also purchase adventureCRUISES.com!
6. Avoid confusing spelling inside your domain name. Example: If your company name is Logic Personal computer Company, do not spell "logic" using a zero rather than an "oh" within your domain name. If you cannot get your real business name, pick a keyword-rich domain name instead.
7. Avoid odd hyphenation. Hyphenate all or none from the words within your domain name (buy both versions). In our case, a1towingseattle.com and a1-towing-seattle.com are each far better domain names than a1-towingseattle.com. The only reason to purchase domain names with odd hyphenation would be to retain the competition from buying them.
8. Search short, memorable domain names. Short domain names are scarce, but not impossible to find. Individuals will remember a short domain name much better and they will make much less mistakes as soon as typing it. For instance, ablewebs.com is far better than ablewebswebdesigncompany.com.
Tip: Visually, a long domain name is better after hyphenated: able-webs-web-design-company.com. If I had to purchase a extended domain name, I would purchase it with and without hyphens, and I would use the hyphenated version on my business cards, letterhead, advertising, etc.
9. Capitalize the first letter of every term whenever you put your URL on any promoting media, just like your email signature, classified ads, corporation cards, letterhead, etc. Example: A1TowingSeattle.com is simpler to read than a1towingseattle.com.
10. Buy misspellings of one's company name or keywords. For instance, if your company name is Debra's Doughnuts, try to buy deborahsdoughnuts.com, debrasdonuts.com, etc. to cover all feasible spellings of Debra and doughnuts.
Where Do I Purchase My Domain Names?
Cheap Domain Names
To register a .com domain name, go to 1and1.com. You'll be able to get domain names there for $6.99 USD a year! My personal favourite registrar is GoDaddy.com. Domains are sometimes on sale, but their regular price is $9.99 USD. I like GoDaddy due to the fact their interface is simple to use. NameCheap.com sells domains at $9.69 USD. Moniker.com sells them at $8.02 USD.
There are ways to purchase even cheaper domain names, but sometimes these sites can also be confusing to your uninitiated. However, in case you wish to save a few bucks, try BustAName.com. They resell domain names from GoDaddy.com for $6.95 USD.
Country-specific Domain Names
Search online for "domain names [your country]," e.g., "domain names canada." Then look for the lowest price. As I write this, Netfirms.ca has Canadian domain names for $9.95 CAD per year.
Where Do I Host My Domain Name?
Don't automatically use the domain name registrar as your hosting company! Instead, do your homework and discover a hosting company with excellent customer assistance plus a full complement of features included in their simple service. Look for a hosting company that offers cPanel, a common, easy-to-use administration interface.
Here are some top quality hosting services. They're all good, but HostGator includes a very good status inside the Web promotion community.
About the Author:
How, Why and Wherever to Buy Highly effective Domain Names For your Firm - domain name and domain name search
