Before you select a domain name, be sure you can speak, print and type it easily.
If you're ready to take your business online, you need to buy a domain name... your own piece of branded online real estate. That name can suit you well or make life miserable depending on how carefully you go about the selection process. Buying a domain name is a process that starts with "thinking" (read: planning), and ends with the buying process.
The "thinking" part can be the toughest – envisioning and selecting the right name can take time and imagination. Don't feel compelled to make a snap decision. It's a good idea to approach any aspect of your marketing with thought and planning. Here are some tips for selecting – and buying – an effective domain name for your business.
As obvious as this step sounds, don't overlook the importance of buying a domain name that reflects what your business is about. Before you buy, take time to brainstorm ideas. Start with the most obvious... your company name. If your company name is unique enough, you may be able to buy it intact as a domain name.
On the upside, buying a domain name that is also your company name provides a great branding opportunity. But be careful if your company is "Midwestern Country Fresh Beef and Eggs". Customers will have a hard time remembering, let alone typing, "midwesterncountryfreshbeefandeggs.com" and it'll be quite a mouthful for you every time you repeat it. Also beware of companies with similar names. If someone already owns "midwesterncountrybeef.com" then buying a name so similar might accidentally drive customers to a competitor.
Before you decide on a domain name, try typing it into a browser, printing it and saying it out loud. The look and feel of your domain name is as important as its relevance. Make sure you can use it to advertise effectively, in a magazine, on your business card, on the radio or anywhere.
Another idea for choosing an effective name is to select keywords that relate to your business. If you manufacture cat-shaped pet rocks, then try "petrockcats.com" or "pet-rock-cats.com". Be careful with hyphens though, which are harder to type into a browser and harder to speak when you want to tell people your site name. If you do use hyphens, try to stick to only one, and make sure the words you choose are meaningful. There's no sense in buying a domain name for "my-site.com".
If you're running a for-profit business, your best bet is to stick with .com. Buying a domain name with another extension is *almost* a waste of time. More on alternate extensions later, but for now, let's discuss why buying a .com domain name is a wise choice.
The most important reason to select a .com name is because that's what most people (your potential customers) think of, recognize and expect. Let's say you're looking for the phone number for the great restaurant, the "Flying Taco". You decide to look it up on the Internet. Quick: what would you try?
Most people would start with "flyingtaco.com". Few would think to move on to "flyingtaco.net" if the first failed. You especially want to avoid alternate extensions if a competitor already owns the .com extension. Since .com is so prevalent and common, even customers familiar with your site may automatically type "superproduct.com" instead of "superproduct.biz". If your competitor owns the first, that's bad news for you.
A good reason to buy a domain name with an alternate extension is to protect your brand. If you're lucky enough to get “superproduct.com” then go ahead and snatch up “superproduct.net”. You might even want to buy "greatproduct.com" and "terrificproduct.com", too. Buying similar domain names gives you multiple windows into your site and also keeps the competition from getting too close. Secondary domains can be routed automatically to your primary domain. You'll cover your bases and prevent competition from tailgating on your incredibly successful site. Buying multiple domain names adds only a small cost to your marketing budget for an added measure of security and marketing power.
As for other extensions, don't go crazy trying to catch them all. Many aren't relevant to your business anyway, such as .org, which is associated with non-profit organizations, or .edu which is relevant to educational organizations.
Choosing a great domain name requires analysis of the benefits and the tradeoffs. Spend some time on the potential of yours before you buy.
There are many places to research the availability of domain names. Any registrar will provide the tools. A registrar is the organization that is authorized to handle your purchase. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is an international, non-profit organization that accredits registrars and governs domain name sales. You can visit the ICANN web site for a complete listing of accredited registrars.
It's worth noting here that when you buy a domain name, you don't actually own it. Rather, you own the right to use it for a specified length of time. Buying a domain name is really buying the rights to a particular address on the Internet for the length of your license. You may choose a one year, ten year or even one hundred year license. It's a good idea to buy a multiple year license because you reduce the possibility of letting your term lapse and losing the name, and you usually get a multiple year discount.
To find out if the domain you want is available, you can search at the registrar of your choice. No matter where you search, you'll get the same results. Either a domain name will be available or it won't. If it's available, congratulations! Buy your domain and start your online journey.
If it's unavailable, you can keep searching, or if you're adamant about buying a particular domain, you can try to contact the owner and make an offer. Perform a WHOIS lookup at a registrar to see if contact information is listed for the owner.
This will only work if the owner doesn't use the domain. Would you sell "myfantasticproduct.com" if you're successfully running a web site and drawing customers to it? It may also work if the owner bought the domain on speculation, hoping for the day when a business such as yours would desperately want myfantasticproduct.com. If that's the case, dig deep. That owner is holding onto an investment and isn't likely to give it up cheaply. If you're low on marketing budget, stick to Plan B and try for another name instead.
Choosing a domain name requires a little creativity, some planning, and following the steps set forth by your chosen registrar. Once you have a domain, you're free to build your online brand and develop a fantastic web site that is a fundamental asset to your business.
If you need help brainstorming, or registering, your domain name, Contact Us and we'll help you get online.
Whether you know exactly where you want to take your business or aren't sure where to start, our planning and consulting services will outline your web needs, define marketing goals and determine an effective way to make it all work. Before you invest a single cent in developing a web site, we will define and document your business needs.
First impressions count. That's why you want a web site design that is current, attractive and fits your business image. Our graphical design services aim to provide quality imagery that will deliver your message and achieve your business goals. We believe that you should never compromise your site's objectives to fit it into a cookie-cutter mold.
There's a difference between how people read on the web versus how they read in print. When we write for you we take into account your audience and how they will be reading about you. Whatever the project we can draft, write and publish content that meets your business needs, speaks to your customers and fits your marketing.
Web site development encompasses everything from database design, content management system development, shopping cart and form programming, and site search and reporting. If this all seems a bit overwhelming, our process will help simplify it by defining in plain English what your site will do.
A content management system gives you editorial control over content that appears on your web site and can serve as a distribution tool for information. Having a content management system for site maintenance will save you time and money by simplifying recurring tasks and giving you in-house, real-time control over your web content.
We employ search engine friendly practices and follow industry standards for every web development project to ensure your site is crawler- and user-friendly right out of the box. If you are looking for improved search listings and more qualified traffic, we can help by analyzing your web site and analytics to find out where it needs improvement.
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As a successful business owner you're always thinking ahead to new opportunities. Our support and maintenance services begin when you need a new feature, find a bug, or want to take advantage of new technology. We also offer regular testing of any application or program that we've developed to ensure that it continues to run smoothly.
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