DOMAIN NAMES

With the “dot com” craze you have probably heard buzz words like “Domain Name” or “URL”. In this article we will cover what is a domain name, what options are available to you, the benefits of owning one, and how to register an effective domain name. If you operate a successful business, you have probably gone to great lengths to choose an appropriate name and a location for it.  When operating a business on the Internet the same principles apply.

A domain name is a unique identifier or Uniform Resource Locator (URL) such as www.yahoo.com, www.sony.com, or www.ford.com. Customers use these to locate web sites on the Internet.  Unlike a business name, no two domain names can be alike worldwide.  Companies such as Network Solutions register domain names for businesses, organizations or anyone else looking to obtain one.

When exploring your domain name options you may discover the option of a sub-domain name.  This is an opportunity for you to expand on your Internet Service Provider or hosting company’s domain.  Your domain name would then appear something like this www.tbmall.com/jacksonlysak or jacksonlysak.tbmall.com.   Unfortunately, whenever you advertise your web site on your vehicles, signs, letterheads etc. you are advertising someone else too!  If you purchase your own domain name it will appear like this www.JacksonLysak.com; now the focus of your advertising is on your company. The benefits of registering your own domain name are abundant, it ensures a professional image, and creates additional awareness and name recognition when your domain name is included as part of your stationery, e-mail and media advertising campaigns. 

Search engine positioning will also improve with a distinct domain name.  Unfortunately some search engines will not consider your web site to be a professional business unless you have your own domain name.  Many web sites that are hosted by free services are not even listed on some search engines.  An added bonus for search engine ranking occurs when keywords relating to your products or services are included in your domain name. If you use your business name, your clients and customers can easily find your web site by remembering your name. If you opt for a .com address you can be found by simply typing the main body of your domain as most browsers already expect the web address to start with “www” and end with .com.

Email is another option that is available to domain name owners.  When you own a domain name your email can then be set up to compliment your domain for example info@JacksonLysak.com.  Instead of your email accounts being provided through your Internet service provider or free email services, adding to an overall professional image.

When choosing a domain name it should be short, memorable, and resistant to misspelling, pronounceable and directly related to either your business’s name and or core service. Prior to registering your domain name you will need to know who will be hosting your web site and some technical information that they will have to provide you.  Most web site developers will offer suggestions as to how to select a domain name, retrieve a list of possible names available to you, and may register your domain name as part of their service. If this is a task you would prefer to do, sit down and consider your business name.  Is it short enough? Does it say what your products and services are? Are there any companies with the same business name as yours on the Internet? If so, how can you make yours different?  Does your business name include additions like inc., ltd., or co. Are these an option? Once you have a list of possible domain names you can go on-line to sites like Network Solutions www.networksolutions.com to discover what names are or aren’t available to you.  After deciding on an appropriate name you will need to take a couple of minutes to complete the registration.

Network Solutions is not the only company you can register domain names with, you will see many advertisements for companies. Keep in mind it is important that the company you purchase your domain name from is here to stay. Also corrections or changes to your hosting and contact information should be easy to maintain.

At the rate of over 300,000 domain name registrations per month, the most popular and easily remembered names have already been registered for .com.  However other measures are being taken to open up opportunities for short memorable domains with new endings being created such as .web, as well as possibility of using countries codes like .ca (for Canada).

For further information or assistance in obtaining your domain name email: sdarosa@mpgwebdesign.com or call 344-6889.