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Why You Should Have Your Own Internet Business Domain Name
Your domain name, what people type into their browsers to access your site, needs careful consideration. Also called a 'URL' your domain - place where you live on the Internet - can be as cheap and cheerful or as expensive and high-class as you wish it to be. More than anything it should be different, it should set your site apart from thousands more having bland, totally unmemorable names, or which are obviously sub-domains of someone else's site.
Today, the term 'Domain Name' typically applies to names usually purchased from specialist providers. Such names are exclusively yours, no-one else can copy them while they belong to you and, like private car number plates, the very characters and words used can say much about you and your business. In fact, the best domain name is a marketing tool in its own right. I'll tell you why later.
Tips
* Act fast to obtain your domain name or content yourself with .co.uk when .com would have suited you better, or worse still you find none of your chosen list of names is available. An estimated 20 million plus domain names have already been registered with many companies buying thousands of names as a potential future investment. Act while the iron's hot! To illustrate this point, for a book I will one day write about heroic dogs, I had long ago decided on the title Dogs of Distinction. Unique, don't you think? Sadly, not. I fooled myself into thinking no-one could have registered dogsofdistinction.com. So I put off ordering until the end of the month, when cash flow looked a little more promising. That was four weeks after deciding on the name. Later I contacted my domain name company, requested the name, only to receive a fax two minutes later saying "It went two weeks ago. Do you want dogsofdistinction.co.uk?
* Benefits - the most important thing for potential buyers - can be exploited in the domain name itself answering the 'what's in it for me?' question before anyone actually visits your site. For example, imagine I want to create a site about homeworking. It's an area packed with scams, alongside highly reputable companies providing goods and services to benefit people working or doing business from home. How can I induce people to visit my site over others in the homeworking field? I will be offering advice and tips for choosing good homeworking and home business schemes and will indeed be exposing others I consider scams or lacking potential. Mine will distinguish the smart homeworker, the one who gets everything right, from the unfortunate few who simply gain hope and lose money.
* That's it, I have the answer, the biggest benefit of my site. I'm catering for smart homeworkers.
The name of my site? http://www.smarthomeworker.com
* Be careful of using hyphens in your domain name, unless you also buy the hyphen-free version. For example, I searched for makemyday.com and found it was already taken. As was make-my-day.com as well as the .co.uk versions. Oh dear, and it was a site I so much wanted to sell gifts for special anniversaries and occasions, such as Christmas, weddings, and so on. I had to have the Make My Day thing. So I chose make-my-day-gifts.com. It suits my purposes perfectly and I have no idea if the hyphen-free version makemydaygifts.com actually exists. But when this writing stint finishes I will certainly find out and, if it's is still available, I'll buy that too. The Reason? Well, if my site takes off and customers all over the world remember the concept MAKE MY DAY GIFTS they may forget that my version has hyphens, and could instead type in the hyphen-free alternative. If I don't own the alternative, someone else stands to gain from my marketing and business endeavours. In short, if the hyphen-free version is available, grab it, and think hard about whether the hyphenated variety is right for you.
* The fact short domain names are snapped up in their thousands every day has led to domain name companies offering longer names, up to 67 characters at present. My opinion: Why bother? Would someone really remember all those letters, numbers and symbols comprising your name? The exception is where your name is easily memorable, say because it's a catch phrase or is already a well know saying or concept. For example (hopefully fictitious, but feel free to register any you like):
Neverboughtanythingsogoodinmylife.com
Anothergreatdayinparadise.com
Theproofofthepuddingisintheeating.com
* Important. Many well-known phrases have apostrophes which are not allowed in domain names. This could render the domain name alternative useless.
* Not to mention the fact those three well-known sayings were typed as a gap-free string of letters which felt both uncomfortable and involved close checking later. Would I really look for a site using those names? I don't think so.
* Be careful of words spelled differently in other countries, for example 'Centre' in the UK, which is 'Center' in America and could restrict hits you can expect from countries using the alternative spelling. Examples: Jewelry/jewellery, customize/customise.
* Because spelling of the same word varies, a firm registering just the UK version as a domain might give the impression all business is conducted in the UK. And vice versa. If in doubt, register the alternative, too, and make sure your site states whether overseas orders are welcome.
* Dot.com is preferred to all other suffixes and it's the one most search engines go to first when no other extension is added. Other suffixes, for example, dot.co.uk, are okay if the visitor keys them in or if the name is marketed aggressively outside of search engines.
* Experts recommend you register all versions of your chosen name to prevent ambiguity and prevent those with similar names from cashing in on your marketing endeavours. And of course it guarantees no-one can innocently or deliberately steal some of your business goodwill by registering names similar to yours.
* Domain names are purchased for reasons more than simply to front the buyer's own business. In fact, today more names are registered as a potential future investment. When shorter names are impossible to register, imagine how much those you captured earlier might fetch on the open market.
* Lots of vital information about choosing and using domain names, as well as buying to sell, is available at:
DNSIndex.com
DomainWeekly.com
DomainGuideBook.com
* Which leads me to recommending sites and companies involved in buying, selling and auctioning domain names for profit. They include:
GreatDomains.com
Afternic.com
* Don't be tempted to buy names at auction or from others seeking a fast profit. Exceptions:
- you're certain you really do need that name and positively no other will do.
- you've checked a better alternative isn't available from traditional domain name sellers.
* Buying domain names as an investment is a legitimate business and one we recommend to you.
* Shop around for domain names. Some providers charge up to two-thirds less than competing companies and offer superior customer service. Many also ask a hefty fee to transfer names purchased from them to other hosting companies. Check before buying.
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