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.