DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION

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Choosing a Great Domain Name

The first thing you will need before you build your website is a domain name. The domain-name is what people will type into their browser, and it's what they will see at the top of every page of your website. It will look something like this: www.mywonderfulwebsite.com. Since your domain-name is projected all over the Internet, you will want to make the most of your domain name registration and choose a name that directly relates to what you are offering your visitors.

The “.com” at the end of a domain name is not the only choice. You could have a “.org” (organisations), “.net” (intended for Internet service providers), “.gov” (government departments), “.edu” (educational institutions) or “.biz” (for companies). There are other lesser-known endings that won't be explored here. In addition to this, each country has its own code. The United Kingdom is “.uk”, Australia is “.au”, and so on.

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The number of available dotcom names is rapidly dwindling. There are few English-word dotcom names remaining. Because of the scarcity of good dotcom names, it may be tempting to choose a domain-name with a different ending, but that is not a good decision. Dotcom names carry the most prestige and are therefore better for your image.

Coming up with a good dotcom name is a challenge. There are people who constantly monitor domain name availability. They buy up any single word domain-name that becomes available, so forget about checking for single word domain name availability.

Your best course of action is to come up with a two or three word name that describes your website and is quite obvious in a domain name search. You will probably have more success with a three word name than with two, so brainstorm both versions.

If you would like a reasonable ranking with the search engines, think about the words your potential customers might type into a search engine when doing a search. This will require some brainstorming. Use Word Tracker tools to help you in this process. WordTracker will brainstorm hundreds of words for your particular niche and provide search engine statistics showing the popularity of each search term.

Alternatively, see my review of Site Build It, a very comprehensive e-commerce website building package that encompasses WordTracker tools, as well and Search-It and Brainstorm-It tools.

The obvious search terms may be taken so don't bother to include them in your domain name search, unless you add the word "the" or "an" in front of your domain-name. Try to come up with 4 or 5 names when doing a domain name search in case the ones you want are taken. A good tip if you are brainstorming three-word names, is to add a dash between each word. This separates the words, making them easier to read and remember.

After you have come up with several descriptive phrases, find a domain name registration service on the internet. One of the world's Largest Registrars - GoDaddy.com is a good option, but it's not the only one. Choose a domain name registration service, then type in your phrase to see if it is available. If you are lucky, you may be able to find an unclaimed domain on your first try. Pay the fee and register the name. Then you will be the proud owner of a piece of virtual real estate.

Another tip is to purchase any available domain names that are very similar to your own. For example, if your domain name is my-chicken-livers.com, consider purchasing mychickenlivers.co.uk (or as appropriate for your country). It may also be prudent to purchase misspelt versions of your domain name. For example, a competitor could purchase the same domain-name as my-chicken-livers.com but without the "s" at the end. Then capitalise on your customers' misspellings.

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