Follow Me on Twitter
Check me out on Facebook
Domain Names and Registration
If you do not yet have a website, then one of the first things you will have to do is decide how you want your company to be known on the internet. That will be your website’s domain name.
The domain name is what is after the http:// or http://.www of the so-called URL (universal resource locator) that takes people to your website. Choosing this is more than just deciding on a name. It is much more than that.
The domain name should always contain a word or phrase, called Keywords, that ideally describes your business niche, or area of expertise. Just because your name is Joe Smith doesn’t mean that JoeSmith.com is the best name for your business on the web.
If you are an architect, then JoeSmithArchitect.com would be infinitely better since there is then a chance that if someone is searching for architects in your geographical area, that your website might show up in the first page of the search engine results. Just having JoeSmith.com would absolutely not show up!
There is a lot of brainstorming required before you make a decision. But you still need to know if the name you decide on is available. The best place to go is a site where you can not only find what domains are available, but also where you can register it if you find it. You can search for domains with a variety of suffixes, like .com which is the best known. But many times, the suffixes .org or .net might serve you better and may be still available when the .com is already taken.
The place is personally use is Name Cheap. You can search for names, register them and very easily transfer them to your web hosting company. Don’t let the name fool you, they are first class.
Domain names run about $7.95/year, although sometimes they have sales on certain names. Be careful though, they hardly ever discount .com, .net. or .org since they are the most desired.
Always register your domain for a minimum of 3 years; better still, do it for 5. That makes it more expensive to start, but then you don’t have to think about renewing every year. More importantly, the search engines look at domain age when ranking websites. Since spammers tend to register for 1 year only, the search engines are skeptical about how serious a business is if it is only registered for one year.