Choosing the right Domain Name for your website

Choosing the right Domain Name for your website

So you’ve finally set up your business, everything is in order, got your products ready. You even have the name of your business sorted – Amma’s Homemade Treats. The next step being putting it out there – letting people know about you and creating demand through your website. But despite all the confidence you have, it can be a nerve-wracking to pick the perfect domain name and extension. This is potentially permanent, so you want to get it right. There are plenty of different aspects to consider before selecting just any name. So how do you ensure your website is represented by the best possible domain name and extension? Here is just a bit of information on how domain names came about: Before 1984, when University of Wisconsin (USA) technicians developed a name server, there were no domain names, only numbers like http://174.120.153.75/ to designate a website address. That would look awful on a business card and definitely not SEO friendly. Suddenly in 1985, domain names using the extensions .com, .net, and .org were available to the world. And today, tens of thousands of new domain names are registered every single day – with over 300 domain extensions ranging from .ac to .zw! Domain names generally cost a few hundred rupees a year – a basic fee, but premium domain names can go up to a lot more. A .com domain name – It is advisable to get a .com domain name as it’s one of the most common, and generally what people relate to when they think of a website. A majority of websites are .com sites. If you’re going to be telling people what your website address is (as opposed to them finding you in search engine results), there are benefits to using the “default” domain extension .com simply for easy recall. Availability – In case your domain name is unavailable, there are a few workarounds, such as utilizing a hyphen or an underscore. If you choose do so, limit yourself to one to avoid looking spammy, but consider the possibility of missed opportunities when you tell someone, “That’s ammas-homemadetreats.com.” They may forget the hyphen, or type in “ammasdashhomemadetreats.com.” Seems like a silly mistake, but it does happen. To avoid these mishaps, consider using keywords in your domain instead of your company name. For example, you could choose the domain name Freshhomemadetreats.com. If you’re concerned about branding, you could always purchase a branded URL later and redirect it to your generic domain name. This is a considerable project, as each individual page must be redirected. Related extensions – Experts do not recommended that SEO-conscious webmasters purchase low quality TLDs such as .biz, .info, .ws, .name, etc. as a means of increasing traffic.But, if you’re concerned about protecting a branded website address, then you may want to purchase related domain extensions and redirect them to your home page, just to avoid brand confusion in the future. Picking the appropriate non .com domain – 1. .Net – If you simply MUST have a domain name that is not available with the .com extension, consider a .net address. These are a good option for tech companies since there is a subtle mental hook – .net = internet or network. This is the second most popular extension and is widely accepted for businesses of all types. A .net domain is not advisable when you can have the .com or if the resulting domain name gives the wrong impression. “GreatHair.net,” for example, might be good for supplying hairnets to the food service industry, but not for your high-end hair salon! 2. .Org – If you are a non-profit, the .org extension make sense. Technically the .org extension is open to all, but is not recommended for business ventures, as there is an expectation that .org = non-profit. 3..Info – If your site exists purely to compile and provide information, as opposed to promoting a product or service, you could use a .info domain extension. But, if you’re clearly promoting yourself, a product, or a service, a .info extension might be misleading and not even get you the target audience you desire. 4..Biz – If you’re a business owner, you are allowed to use .biz. But deserved or not, it has a trust problem, being frequently associated with poor quality, spammy websites. 5.Lesser Known Extensions – With 300+ available, all can’t be covered, but here are a few examples: •.name – For use by individuals only.•.me – Good for personal branding, or if you can cleverly make it part of your business name (i.e., chaiti.me).•.pro – For registered professionals.•.tv – Technically for websites in Tuvalu, this is open to everyone and is a good option for a television-related site.•Specialty domains such as .aero and .travel are reserved for their specific industries and might be a good choice only if your customer base and business associates are extremely well-accustomed to the domain extension. The Bottom Line on Domain Extensions – While choosing the perfect domain for your new website might feel like a hugely important decision, much more important to the ultimate success of your online endeavours is your decision to commit to creating plenty of quality content, ensuring ease of use, and fostering lead generation potential. You should also make sure the domain you’re considering doesn’t come with any built-in Google penalties. If purchasing from an existing site owner, ask to see the Google Analytics overview from the last six months. A dramatic drop in traffic is a good reason to reconsider. Finally – before there is no going back – ask around, friends, family, colleagues, business associates, what they think of your domain name. They just might point out something that you missed, saving you time and trouble before investing in a disastrous domain name.

Advantages of getting a Personal Domain Name

A personal domain name acts like a digital CV. It is an extension of your image and a great platform to showcase your work. It allows you to have a professional presence on the Internet and makes you look like one of the “big” players. You don’t have to have a Domain name to be on the net. Individuals can also own a personalised domain name – e.g. www.anitasingh.in. You can brand yourself through a personalized domain and e-mail to help your online image. Once you own your own domain, you can do anything you want with it. If you are a business owner, you can use it to host your online store or share critical information with a global customer base. If you are an individual, you can create a digital home base that you can use to communicate with friends, family and acquaintances. It’s a real online location to refer people if they want to learn more about you. Owning a personal domain name is especially important for those offering professional services as individuals. It gives you a strong online presence and identity, making it easy for people to find your website and information about you. Here are just some of the benefits of having your own personal domain name: 1.Rights to the domain name – Like any trade name, logo, or brand name, your domain name represents a part of your business identity – something customers and business associates can recognise, remember, and positively associate with your services or products. Since names are issued on a first come, first served basis, even if you don’t have a web site yet, or perhaps not even e-mail, it’s important to register your preferred domain name now in order to secure your naming rights. Registering your domain name will at very least prevent someone else from using it. 2.Simplicity – With your own domain name, access on the World Wide Web becomes a simple matter of entering Yourname.com. It is easy to find as people just need to recollect your name. It will also look better on your business card or any other place you plan to mention your website. 3.Credibility – Having your own domain name projects a professional image of you and your company, normally associated with large companies. It tends to say to others that you’re a serious business person, operating an established business, in a professional manner. Prospective customers will more readily transact with businesses with a professional, established online presence – made possible with a personalized domain. 4.E-mail – By doing business under your own domain name, you can use multiple e-mail “aliases”. Every e-mail message affirms your name, e.g. sales@you.com, manager@you.com, service@you.com. A custom e-mail address goes a long way in maintaining professional communications with your customers. 5.Portability – Without your own domain name, your Internet address is tied to that of your service provider. Thus, if you want to change providers you also change your web address and probably e-mail address as well. This involves time and money spent in notifying your clients, suppliers, business associates; and getting the new address printed on cards, brochures or any physical communication you may issue. You can avoid this hassle when you own your domain name, and wish to change your service provider. 6.Permanence – Also, you can keep your domain name for as long as your business is online, and maintain your subscription. No one else can use your domain, unless you sell it to them. 7.Avoids Loss of Momentum – As any web marketer knows, it takes effort to promote a web site, and sometimes months to get it listed on the popular search engines. Fortunately, over time, some of those marketing efforts can build momentum, bringing more and more traffic to your site without additional marketing effort. But, if you can’t take your web address with you when you switch to another ISP or host, you can lose much – if not all – of the momentum gained by your previous web marketing efforts. 8.SEO – Having your own domain name will increase your website’s positioning under search results on top search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. 9.Geographic targeting – Google searches can be heavily influenced by a user’s geographical location, so if you appeal to regional customers, take advantage of country extensions in your domain name e.g. “www.yourname.in’’. 10.Future potential – You will have the opportunity to acquire multiple domains with different suffixes (like .org, .net, .me, .co) and associate all of them with your existing domain name. In today’s internet era, you are expected to be online and have your own website. It becomes the basis on which those who want to associate with you do an initial evaluation of your offering. If you are unavailable on the web, then you might lose out on prospective customers. The first step in making a digital presence is the registration of a domain name. It is a vital step for all businesses and organisations, whether or not you currently feel the Internet is important to your business. Internet growth continues at an exponential rate and it won’t be long before your customers, suppliers and others demand it from you. Registering your preferred name now will allow you to secure a valuable identity for yourself on the Internet to ensure you make the most of the available opportunities.

Managing domain reputation

Managing domain reputation   in: Uncategorized This article describes best practices for managing your domain reputation to ensure that your email is considered to be trustworthy. Prerequisites Applies to: Administrator Difficulty: Easy Tools required: DNS host admin access Manage domain reputation Domain reputation, in terms of email, is a measure of how trustworthy others believe your domain’s email to be. Every email recipient maintains their own specific measure of reputation, but there are many industry-accepted recommendations that domain owners can follow to build a solid reputation. As more and more email providers are strengthening their rules for what is considered untrustworthy, failure to follow these recommendations might lead to your mail being considered spam, rate limited, or rejected. The three pillars of any domain reputation strategy are Sender Policy Framework (SPF), Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC). These features are designed to provide two basic things: A method of verifying that the email comes from a legitimate source specified by the domain owner. A way for you, as the domain owner, to tell email providers what to do with messages that do not meet those legitimacy requirements. Individually, these three pillars are limited in how much they can do, but together they form a fairly clear process for identifying legitimate email from your domain. Providing these clear indicators is fundamental to establishing a good domain reputation. Rackspace recommends the following 1, 2, 3 approach to establish domain reputation: Create an SPF record. SPF is a DNS record that tells the world where your email is authorized to come from. This record typically contains entries for your email hosting provider and any email services you use, such as ticketing systems, Customer Relationship Management systems (CRMs), and bulk sending services. Enable DKIM. DKIM applies an encrypted signature that is specific to your domain on every message sent from your domain. Most email service providers offer DKIM as a feature of their service. Typically, each sending service listed in your SPF record has its own DKIM signature that it adds to your email. Create a DMARC policy. DMARC is built on SPF and DKIM. It combines the validation results from both SPF and DKIM, and adds a “sender alignment check” to protect against many forms of spoofing. The policy part of DMARC is what allows you, as the domain owner, to specify what to do with email that fails these checks. It also includes a reporting aspect that is critical to long-term management of your domain’s reputation. This reporting gives you visibility into the email being sent as your domain: where it’s coming from (SPF), whether or not it’s properly signed (DKIM), and whether or not it is passing your DMARC policy.\ Because many companies have multiple domains and use many services that require email, managing reputation across several domains can become complicated. Here are some general recommendations for managing your business email needs across many domains. The following sections offer some general recommendations for managing your business email needs accross many domains. Separate your email needs You should always separate mail by purpose and class (marketing, sales, transactional, person-to-person, and so on) by using specific subdomains wherever possible. The following table shows different email purposes and their suggested domain naming conventions:   Ticket system emails Marketing emails Newsletter emails support.mydomain.com marketing.mydomain.com news.mydomain.com In addition to separating email by purpose, the following recommendations help to properly manage your domain’s reputation: Never share DKIM keys between services. Each source should have its own DKIM key. Most services offer this as a feature. If a subdomain has multiple sending sources, then it has multiple SPF includes and DKIM keys. This is perfectly normal. Segregating emails enables you to lock down each mail stream, as well as isolate each mail stream from any issues the others might have. This is important when it comes to managing the sending reputation of your different email sources. When it comes to managing your domain’s (and subdomain’s) reputation, different classes of email have different considerations. Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for each subdomain. Keep your sending sources segregated and manageable for both SPF and DKIM records. Person-to-person corporate mail is special For person-to-person corporate mail, consider the following best practices: Reserve your primary domain for only person-to-person email (your employees). Don’t use vanity addresses on your primary domain for automated systems, such as support@mydomain.com for your ticketing system. Configure an umbrella DMARC policy on the root domain, and create subdomain-specific DMARC policies based on the specific requirements and class of mail it represents. For example, you might use p=quarantine on your primary domain (person-to-person email), but p=reject on your outbound-only transactional email (support tickets). Taking this step also ensures that the root domain catches all DMARC reporting that might be missed or misconfigured at the subdomain level, as well as catching any unauthorized subdomains attempting to spoof your brand.

All About The DNS Domain Name System

We all know that in the world of domain names today, the presence of the DNS domain name system is very much significant. It is interesting to know that the acronym DNS actually stands for Domain Name System/Service/Server. However, I will be using the term DNS domain name system here to provide you with a clear knowledge about the meaning of this particular thing. The DNS domain name system is actually a powerful tool that contributes a great part in the domain name process. It is often described as an internet service that translates or transforms the domain names into an IP or Internet Protocol address. Aside from knowing such basic function of the DNS domain name system, it is also interesting to learn that a basic possession of the DNS domain name system is caching. This property takes place in situations when a server welcomes information about a mapping, it caches that information. Therefore, with such function, a later question for similar mapping can use the cached output, and will not result to additional questions to other servers. And generally, the DNS domain name system applies the caching to optimize the cost of the search. But how does the DNS domain name system caching works? In terms of caching, it is very nice to know that every server has a cache for currently applied names along with records of where the mapping data for a particular name was taken. So when a particular client is asking the server to determine a certain domain name, the DNS domain name system then does check if it has the power for a domain name, and if it does, the system doesn’t need to cache the information. However, if it has no authority for a domain name, the DNS domain name system then checks its cache whether the domain name has been resolved currently, and if yes, the DNS domain name system reports the caching data to its clients. There are some instances that the DNS domain name system cache can be examined when the system cached the data once, but didn’t adjust it. Due to the reason that the information about a certain domain name can be changed, the server may have inaccurate data in its caching table. There is a certain value known as the Time to Live or known as TTL which is applied when to age the information. So whenever an authority responds to a request for a domain name, it then involves a Time to Live value in the answer which indicates how long it assures the binding to linger.

Are Free Domain Names Worth The Cost?

Everyone likes a bargain. It’s even wise to keep one’s costs down. On the other hand, you can be so cheap that you cut your own throat. Here are two ways to register a domain name for free and some reasons why you might not want to. 1. You Must Have Your Own Top Level Domain (TLD) Name Your business website should definitely have its own top level domain (TLD) name. This means a name like yourcompany.com. It doesn’t mean a subdomain of someone else’s domain name, such as yourcompany.someisp.net. Sometimes persons hesitate to register a proper domain name because of cost, lack of knowledge, or indecision. However, paying the nominal fee charged by the domain registrar for your own domain name can reap rich dividends. A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or Internet address like (ignoring the http part) someisp.net/hosting-accounts/yourco/, or yourcompany.someisp.net, just doesn’t look as professional as yourcompany.com. It might be free (as in included with your web space) but it just doesn’t cut it. Consider: If you put your URL on your letterheads, business cards, signs, et cetera, which Internet address looks more professional? If you mention your URL on your radio advertising or to a customer over the phone, which one will be easier to remember? As well, what if your web host goes out of business or you decide that you want to change to another provider. Now, you need to notify everyone that you have now changed to yourcompany.someotherisp.net. You will also need to change all your stationery, signs, and advertising to reflect the change. On the other hand, the domain name yourcompany.com, could be transferred from one web host to another simply by informing your domain name registrar of the change. So, to avoid losing business and incurring unnecessary additional costs, be sure you have your own top level domain name. 2. Should You Get a Free Top Level Domain? It is possible to get a free top level domain from Dot TK (@www.dot.tk). (You may also get paid dot tk (.tk) domains from them.) However, there can be disadvantages to using a free top level domain name. Here are some of the restrictions noted on the Dot TK website. You may register no more than three free domain names. The ownership of the free domain remains with Dot TK. This means that you can’t sell it. (Of course, if you pay for the domain you do own it and can transfer it to a new owner.) Also, if you don’t have 25 visitors come to your home page within a ninety day period, your free domain name registration is cancelled. You need to have existing web content somewhere so that your dot tk name can be forwarded to it. There may well be other disadvantages. Apparently, Dot TK uses frames to show your website. This being the case, you may have issues with navigation (bookmarking or finding specific pages) and search engine friendliness. Therefore, for serious business use, consider carefully the true cost of free domain names.

Big Considerations For Domain Name Owners

As domain names continue to surface, the numbers of people who engaged into getting, purchasing, and owning a domain names rises. This event therefore leads to an increase in number of the domain name owners. Given such fact, the International Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers or the ICANN with its Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and the Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) recently presents serious dangers to the innocent domain name owners. So, there surfaced a number of considerations for the domain name owners to avoid loss of their domain names. One of the considerations that the domain name owners should give attention to lessen the danger of losing their domain names is to get a trademark registration that match their respective domain name. This process is not too difficult for the fact that some of the countries today cater to this service and this is not really required by the law to employ a trademark company. Following such consideration for the innocent domain names owners’ sake is the act of keeping the Whois information up to date. This is considered to be very important since there are some cases where a court or the UDRP tribunal ruling against particular domain name owners based its judgment in line on incomplete or out of date Whois information. And after doing such move, the domain name owners should also check their Whois and Domain Name System information not just once but always. Since it is a common case where most of the domain name owners fail to pay their registration fees and therefore lose their domain names, it is therefore necessary for the domain names owners to pay for such registration fees to keep their domain names in function and up to date. One major support for this fact is that Whois information of certain domain name owners that is out of date will only lead to the situation where their domain name registration fee never reached them. And finally, in cases where someone contacts the domain name owners regarding their domain names, it is important that they are aware that regardless of how folksy or friendly a letter could be from someone asking their domain names, any answers by the domain name owners that makes of the possible blunders may probably cause a lawsuit or UDRP complaint taking advantage of the domain name owners’ blunder. But, if the domain name owners really receive a UDRP complaint, then it is a right time to respond the complaint, since the majority of UDRP decisions against the domain name owners are default decisions that is where the domain name owner failed to respond to the complaint.

7 Strategies to Choosing an Effective Domain Name

A friend of mine calls me the “Domain King”, since at one time I owned around 50 domains. I’ve let many of them go (I own only 22 now) as my business has changed and developed, or I’ve just simply lost interest in the project. I’m often asked how I go about picking effective domain names, so as the “Domain King”, I’ll share my thought process with you. What’s the purpose of the domain name? Are you planning on using this name as the main website for your company, as a one page sales letter site, or squeeze page site? If the domain name will be your primary company website, try and find the closest version to your company name that you can. If you’re just starting out, choose your business name and domain name with care. When I started my virtual assistant practice, I chose the name SOHO Business Solutions, as I thought everyone knew that SOHO stood for Small Office, Home Office. I think I’ve run into 2 people in my 7 years in business who knew what that acronym stood for. If I had it to do over again for this business, I would choose a business name and domain name with virtual assistant in the title, like InternetMarketingVirtualAssistant.com, a name I just recently purchased. If the purpose of a domain is for a one-page sales letter site or a squeeze page, think ahead as to how you might promote this site. Because content is king in today’s internet marketing world, there’s little chance that either of these types of sites would be picked up by the search engines on key words. Therefore, your best promotion strategy is PPC, or “pay per click”, where you’re buying keywords for placement in search engines. If you’re buying keywords from Google, for example, the paid listings appear at the top of a search in a blue box, or down the right-hand side of your screen. You want to be sure that the info displayed there is compelling enough to get someone to click and visit your site. So, for example, I’ve created a squeeze page, GetMoreClientsOnline.com, which has a compelling solution to a common problem that my clients have, as a side door gateway to my OnlineBizCoachingCompany.com coaching website. Brainstorm a list of ideas of the problem you’re trying to solve or the solution that you have.  A domain name that clearly indicates what you do, or a problem that you solve, or a solution that you have to a problem will give a visitor a fairly clear picture of what s/he’ll find on your website. What I typically do is go to my domain registrar, www.UltraNetDomains.com, and just start plugging in the names I’m brainstorming until I come up with 3 or 4 that are available. If the domain name that you type in isn’t available, the service will come up with 10 or so alternates for you to consider. I found this alternate listing quite helpful recently in picking the name of an article directory site that I want to create. For SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes,  It helps to have your keywords in your domain name. Marla Regan, who’s a professional organizer, has put two keywords in her domain name, OrganizedTime.com. Retirement Coach Lin Schreiber has her keyword niche in her domain, RevolutionizeRetirement.com. Consultant John Reddish has the desired outcome keywords in his domain, GetResults.com. I own a domain that I haven’t yet developed for house sitters, BecomeAHouseSitter.com. Before buying your domain, make a list of keywords that someone might use to find you online. This list could include your industry, your target market or niche, a problem your target market has, or a solution that you can offer. Shorter is better, if it’s to be your primary domain.  I haven’t always followed my own rules here, as I tend to have business names that are quite lengthy. If the domain name is going to be your primary domain where your primary email address will be housed, you want your domain name to be as short, catchy, and memorable as possible. After a few times of spelling out your lengthy email address, you’ll come to appreciate the beauty of a short domain name. Your domain name can contain up to 67 letters and numbers, although I would encourage you not to have one of this length, and can contain no special characters other than hyphens. Purchase your your given name as a domain name.  I typically tell my clients not to try and brand their given name as their business name, as that takes many years, much money, and lots of hard work to have the name recognition of Oprah, for example. However, it still pays to purchase your given name as a domain name, as well as any common misspellings of your name. Many people think my name is Donna Gunther, with an “h” in the last name, but I’ve been unable to register that common misspelling of my name, as a photographer in Venice, CA, has owned in since 2000. Once you’ve purchased your name as a domain, you can redirect it to your primary website. This means that when someone types in a domain, they land at the website to which you pointed that domain. So, currently DonnaGunter.com redirects to OnlineBizCoachingCompany.com because I don’t want to use my name as a website, although that might change in the future. Buy the .COM version of the name if it is available.  When people hear a domain name, they “hear” .COM whether it’s .NET or .BIZ or .ORG or whatever. So, it pays to find a domain name that you like that is part of the .COM family. If you just can’t get the name you want, try a hyphenated version of the .COM name. For example, when I was seeking a domain name for my Self-Employment Coaching Gym, I really wanted SelfEmploymentSuccess.com, but it wasn’t available. However, Self-Employment-Success.com was available, so I grabbed that.

5 Ways To Think Up A Great Domain Name That’s Still Available

I’d be a zillionaire if I earned a dollar each time someone complains that all the great domain names are already taken. It’s just not true, however. Even in a highly competitive industry, you can think up original, appealing domain names for businesses by using naming tactics that few people use, such as these: 1. Focus on results. What is the outcome or end result that people want to have from buying a certain product or service? How do they feel when they have finished the transaction? My own company name, Named At Last, falls into this category. 2. Look for puns.Make a list of relevant keywords, say each out loud and play around with the sounds. Puns are much less likely than other kinds of names to have been registered because their component parts are not actual words. For instance, the name Sitesfaction, for a web design company, was a finalist in our first naming contest – and an available domain at that time despite tens of thousands of web design firms in the English-speaking world. 3. Think sl Let your imagination and memory fly around for pleasing-to-the-ear expressions. As of today, the domain BoyOhBoyToys.com for an online toy store is unregistered, as is a domain for its sister store AttaGirlToys.com. 4. Go symbolic. Suppose you’re an expert on the horror genre and want to start a paid online community for horror fans. Horrorific.com, horrorgate.com and Horrornet.com are all taken, but as of today, the less obvious and more vivid FrightOwl.com is not. 5. Vary real words. “Google’s name is a play on the word googol, which refers to the number 1 followed by one hundred zeroes,” says the Press Center of the world’s most successful search engine. “The word was coined by the nine-year-old nephew of mathematician Edward Kasner,” it continues – providing another hint for creative naming: consult a kid.

10 Tips For Accurate Domain Registration

You should think about registering a domain name before you actually do it. Many people come up with a catchy name, or feel the need to lock in their name, and rush out to buy a domain name. But there are several things to consider in your domain name. After all, your domain name is an extension of your business and your image—don’t you want to project the right one? These ten tips will help you to pick just the right domain name for you and/or your business. 1. The extension you select makes a statement to user about where you are and who you are aiming to attract. For example, .co.uk tells people you are operating out of the United Kingdom, and .ca tells them you are operating out of Canada. If that is important to you, then register accordingly. If you would rather give them impression of being a global company, or based in the US, then pick a .com name. 2. Use a reputable registration service. Unfortunately, some domain registration services are little more than a scam. They are only middlemen. You tell them the domain name you want, and they register it, for a fee higher than you would pay! In the worst case, they actually register the domain name using their information, so it becomes very difficult for you to do anything with your domain name.Do some background research into the company before you register a domain with them. 3. Use keywords in your domain name. These will sometimes help search engines in ranking your website. For example, if you sell gourmet dog treats online and from your own store, but your business name is “Laura’s Homemade Snacks,” you might consider two domain names: one for your business name, and one for keywords. In this case you might select “gourmetdogtreats.com” as your domain name to represent to the search engines and searchers what you are about. 4. Short names are easier to spell correctly. What’s easier to remember and type in: gourmetdogtreats.com, or laurashomemadeandgourmetdogsnacks.com? 5. Avoid trademarks from other companies. Companies have been known to sue website owners for copyright and trademark infringement, so be very careful if you try to play off an existing business. Make sure that you register a domain name in good faith, and think about the possibilities and connections that might exist between you and another business. 6. Avoid hyphens. Sometimes you must use hyphens because the straightforward name is gone. In that case, a better idea is to come up with a completely different name. The problem with hyphens is that users may end up visiting the wrong site. If you try to register gourmetdogtreats.com but it is already taken, you might choose to register gourmet-dog-treats.com instead. But you run the risk of someone trying to find you typing in the first address. This means you lose business. Better to try and register a name like homemadedogtreats.com instead. 7. Consider buying several different extensions so no one else can infringe on your success by registering a similar name. For example, if you register homemadedogtreats.com, you might also take .net and .org (with the same name), since these are the most popular extensions after .com. That way, no one can register homemadedogtreats.net and try to piggyback of your success. 8. Look for companies that offer telephone support. If you have trouble with your domain name, you need to be able to contact the company and talk to someone. If there is no phone contact, that may be a sign that you are not dealing with a reputable company. 9. Look for accreditations (i.e., ICANN). Reputable companies will seek out accreditations because they know it boosts their business image to be part of a group that enforces good business ethics and practices. Failure to have an accreditation does not necessarily mean the company is bad, but it could mean that. If the company you are looking at does not have an accreditation, make sure you check for other things like phone support, payment procedures, etc. 10. After you find a company you like, do a search on Google for “domain registration.” Does your company of choice appear in the first couple of pages of results, or just via Adwords? If the latter, they may not have been around for a long time and may not be reputable. A legitimate company with a solid track record will be ranked in Google’s search engine, especially within the first couple of pages. Beware of registration companies that you can only find in Adwords. These ten tips will help you as you seek to register your domain name.

Choosing A Domain Name For My Business

The domain name for your business is your online identity. You should be very careful about choosing a domain name that is memorable, scores quite well with search engine listings, has a trust factor attached to it, and commands a brand value. A domain name is quite important for your business correspondences and emails. A long one can cause problems in communication, especially if the domain name seems complex. Here are some tips in choosing a well-meaning domain name that captures the essence of your brand image or business: 1. KEYWORD ORIENTED OR A UNIQUE DOMAIN NAME? If your website is going to have a crucial role to play in your business, then it is important to have an adequately researched keyword incorporated within the brand name. Use the most searched-for term in search engine queries, within your domain name. Prior to launching your online business, you should do some research through website tools to find out which keywords register the most number of traffic during a month. For example, if you want to make a website based on advising people, you will find that the keyword help is normally typed in the search engine query window a lot more frequently than the word aid. If your domain name includes targeted keywords, than you will get higher rankings in the search engines like Google and Yahoo. You should bear in mind that, apart from having the targeted keyword in your domain name, you should also have keywords in other parts of your site as well. 2. USE A COMPANY NAME ONLY IF YOU ARE FAMOUS: That is right. If your company name overwhelms the basic product name, then by all means go for the company name as your domain name. For example, people normally use the term Xerox rather than photocopy and if you are Xerox, then you should go for Xerox as a domain name because of the sheer popularity of the brand name. This is usually not the case, so using a keyword-rich domain name is a better move for most people. To be on the right side of balancing your business well, you should buy a set of two domain names, one that represents your business/brand name, and another that represents keywords or key phrases.<br. 3. KEEP YOUR DOMAIN NAME SHORT: The shorter your domain name, the more memorable it is. If your domain name has an every-day lingo, the better it is! More often than not, you may find that a simple two-word domain name is already taken. The alternative in this case, is to put a hyphen (-) to your targeted keyword and then add the other word. SEO experts are of the belief that hyphenating two or more words makes a long domain name more search engine friendly. The flip side is that people do not tend to write words with hyphens naturally, and there is a chance that if someone has recommended your site to a friend, the friend may find himself going to a competitor’s site. So one has to understand and undergo a lot of study while choosing a domain name. After all, it is one prominent thing that can dictate the flow of your business. Also, you should avoid putting numbers like 4 instead of for in your domain name. It will only lead to confusion. 4. DOT.COM ONLY: If you intend to have a website for commercial or business reasons, then by all means go for a website which ends in extension .com. The domain name companies will market other options like .org, .us, .net, etc. However, by all means try stick to .com for better mass appeal. 5. REGISTER SIMILAR DOMAIN NAMES: If you believe that in the future you are going to have a huge amount of people visiting your website through word-of-mouth advertising, then you should consider registering similar domain names that direct to your main URL (e.g. www.datinginformation.com and www.datinginfo.com). There are cyber-squatters who register domain names in the hope that they will be selling them for a profit to someone who really needs that domain name. Before they do this, you should register the domain names if you think that such a possibility can occur. 6. BE PATIENT: You should not choose a domain name in minutes merely just to get it done and over with. A hasty decision may cost you a lot. It is better to invest time in research and arrive at the right kind of domain name. You should also discuss the comprehensibility and usage of the domain name with friends, neighbors and well wishers to find how simple and commonplace it really is.