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Introduction There are many things to think about when getting ready to build a website. One of the most important (and fun) things is deciding what to call your website. It s important because your domain name is how people will find you on the internet. It s fun, because it allows you to show your personality and creativity. This guide will give you a few tips on how to choose a great domain name for your website and how to get it registered. Ready to get started?
Think.com It s almost natural, when entering a website address or, URL, you instinctively add.com on the end. For this reason, if you re choosing a domain name for your business, you should try to find a domain name that ends in.com. The.com part of the domain name is called the extension or TLD (top level domain). There are many other TLD s available, like.org and.net which are fairly common, and others like.info and.biz which are growing in use. However for most businesses,.com is the one you want. If your company is a non-profit organization, you may want to stick with a.org address. Traditionally, nonprofits have used.org addresses and many site visitors may still expect it.
Be Different Think of something unique or catchy Your website will be competing with many others across the internet for attention. Having a unique name may make it easier for your business to stand out from the crowd. Yahoo, Google and ebay were once just strange words; now they are household names. Sites like Priceline, Craigslist and Woot are popular internet destinations. Having a catchy name helps. Having a unique name can work for your local businesses too; check out these sites: http://www.flashbacksmoothies.com and http://www.allastaparty.com.
Make it easy to remember You ve been there yourself. You were just introduced to someone at a meeting or a party, and you instantly forgot their name. If it s that easy to forget the name of someone standing right in front of you, imagine how easy it is to forget a website address that someone mentions in passing or that flashes by on the TV. When choosing your domain name, try to make it memorable.
Keep it short (but not too short) A short domain name is easier to type, read, and remember. People are lazy. Make it easy for them to get to your website Using www.arcproducts.com may be a better alternative than having your customers type amalgamatedreinforcedconcreteproducts.com to reach your website On the other hand, don t go too short. A domain name like www.vmgw.com is shorter, but not very easy to remember when compared to www.visitmygreatwebsite.com. Try to achieve balance when choosing a domain name.
Avoid spelling out numbers This is one that I ve had to learn the hard way. Where possible avoid using spelled out numbers in your domain name. When you say the word six people naturally write or type the number 6. When you say four did you mean F-O-U-R or the word F-O-R? When I give my web address (www.sixfourweb.com) over the phone you ll hear me say SixFour Web, that s six S- I-X, four F-O-U-R, web W-E-B dot com. A different variation on the name may have made my life much easier.
Dots and dashes are for Morse code Avoid using dashes or hyphens in your domain name. Many times, if their first choice isn t available, a business will purchase a similar name using hyphens. They purchase something like www.bills-used-cars.com. What they don t realize is that they may be sending all of their visitor traffic to their competition. When people are trying to remember your website, will they remember the hyphens? Instead of reaching your site at www.bills-used-cars.com, your competition at www.billsusedcars.com will be getting all of the visitors (and the sales). If you really are planning on using a domain name that has dashes, be sure to check it with the dashes removed to see if a competitor has the same name before purchasing it.
Where possible use keywords Using keywords that match your industry or service can help to make it easier for people to find your website and for search engines to include you in their results. If you live in Dallas and have been in a car accident, which website may better match your needs: www.johndoeandassociates.com or www.texasaccidentattorney.com?
Check spelling before you buy your domain There are no refunds on domain name purchases, so be sure that you have spelled everything properly before placing your domain purchase order. Additionally, make sure that your domain name looks right in print. The travel website, Choose Spain does a great job providing hotel choices for your European vacation. However, their unfortunate choice of domain name, www.choosespain.com, may cause you to think twice about where to book your family holiday. The best selling book Slurls, has many examples of companies that have unintentionally chosen unflattering (and even scandalous) domain names
Where can I register my domain name? There are many different companies that can register your domain name; some well known because of their advertisements, others not so much. Because of this, prices and terms can vary. Two companies that we recommend to our clients are Namecheap and Dreamhost. Registration costs about $10 dollars a year. They also include features like free domain owner privacy and domain locking, services that some other companies charge extra for. It s worth checking a few companies for the best overall deal.
Still have questions? If you have questions about getting your website project off the ground, call SixFour Web Design. We can help you at all stages of your web design project from initial planning, to registering your domain name and designing your site, all the way to getting it launched and listed with the search engines. We specialize in websites for Small Businesses and Non-profit organizations. We d love to talk with you about creating a website that s both effective and affordable. Give us a call today at 336-303-0640 or send us an email at info@sixfourweb.com