Register your domain name
Choosing your domain name is the first step in creating an online presence. I remember a few years back when new webmasters opted out of this step, going for the free web spaces and names (you might remember those geocities.com/websitename type URL’s). This is no longer an option for serious bloggers and affiliate marketers. You MUST register a domain name if you want visitors to take you seriously.
When choosing your domain name, you have many options including .com, .net, .org, .biz, .us extensions, using hyphens and so on. So which should you choose for your website? When advising my design clients, I always ask them to first consider how they plan on marketing their website.
Online Marketing
If you plan on marketing strictly online through online ads, text links, PPC and/or search engines, extensions and hyphens – heck, even spelling – do not really matter because most of your visitors will be clicking on a link to get to your website.
Offline Marketing
If you plan on doing a considerable amount of offline marketing – with business cards, car magnets, print advertisements, etc. – then stick with a .com extension if possible, use correct spellings and avoid hyphens. Keep it simple and easy to remember.
General domain registration tips include:
- The name should include your keywords.
- The domain name should be suggestive of your business category. Potential customers should be able to get an idea of what you sell by reading your domain name. Example, if you sell personalized candy wrappers try something like www.personalizedcandybarwrappers.com
- Your domain name should be unique but not difficult to spell. Try to avoid intentionally misspelling your domain name (for example, using mindz.com instead of minds.com) as people may not remember the spelling and visit the wrong website. On that note, you should also register the misspelled versions of your domain and have it forwarded to your website, just in case someone does type in the wrong spelling. This way they still find you.
- For offline marketing focuses, the name should not be difficult to remember. You want customers to remember your domain name after they see it.
Once you have your domain name decided upon, you will need to visit a domain name registrar to secure the domain name. I recommend you complete this step before naming your business and/or creating a design around a domain name that may not be available to register.
Word of caution: Regardless of where you register your domain, make sure the domain name is in YOUR name. Not your web hosts, not your web designers. They can manage it for you but be sure the ownership is placed in YOUR NAME! If they tell you that’s not possible, register it yourself.
Failing to make sure you are listed as the legal registrant could be fatal in the future. I have worked with countless webmasters who lost contact with a previous web designer and no longer had access to their domain name. Another common occurrence are clients who registered their domain with their web host only to find out later (typically when attempting to change web hosts) that the web host actually owned the domain name.
I personally use and recommend GoDaddy for domain registrations. I have been using them for 6+ years and have never had a problem with anything. At GoDaddy, if the domain you want is unavailable, they offer suggestions for similar versions and/or extensions that ARE available. Very handy tool.
Register your domain name now: Domain Sale! $7.49 .com at GoDaddy
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