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If
you wish to have a presence on the web, your domain name is
one of the most important decisions you will need to make.
We offer these tips.
Dot
what?
There
are many different extensions available right now. If you
are a business, we recommend a .com suffix. It is the first
extension that most people try when searching for a site. If
.com is not available, our registration order form will
provide you with alternative extensions as well as a list of
prefixes and suffixes added to your original choice.
Avoid
Trademarked Names
There
are two really good reasons for this. First, it’s not very
nice. We have all heard the stories about the zany guy who
thought ahead and bought
"some-huge-multi-million-dollar-company.com" and
sold it to the company for enough money to retire on. But,
remember that those companies have spent lots of time and
money creating their brand, and it would really be
unfortunate if the tables were turned. The second reason to
avoid trademarked names is that companies are no longer
opening their pocketbooks to get their names back. They are
calling their lawyers. Also, pending legislation will soon
make it very difficult to register someone else’s
trademarked name.
Register
your domain ASAP
Domain
names are being snatched up faster than a schooner of beer
on a hot Aussie day. You must register soon unless you want
to get stuck with
"thedomainnamethatnoonewanted.net". You do not
have to have a webmaster, an e-commerce department or a web
design consultant. Click here
and register before you lose the opportunity to get the name
you really want.
One
may not be Enough
Sometimes,
it isn’t a bad idea to register several similar domain
names. If you have "yourname.com", register
"yourname.net" so no one else takes it. You can
register your full company name and a shorter, easier to
remember version. Some people even register common
misspellings of their company’s name.
Character
types
Just
a reminder. Domain names can only use letters, numbers, and
hyphens ("-"). Spaces and other symbols are not
allowed, and they cannot begin or end with a hyphen. Domain
names are not case sensitive and cannot exceed 63 total
characters.
Ask
Around
When
you have settled on several available name choices, see what
your friends and clients have to say. A name that may make
perfect sense to you may be too hard for other people to
remember. Is your domain easy to say? Is it hard to spell?
Do you have to explain why you chose the name?
Don’t
shell out large amounts of $$$
At
one time, companies were able to get away with charging
reservation fees plus a "mandatory" $70 InterNIC
fee. Recently, it was decided that other companies should be
able to compete to sell domain names. This has lowered
prices dramatically. To see how much, check out our prices
and see how you can register your domain .com, .net or .org
for $30.00AU a year or $170.00 for 2 years for a .com, or
.net.
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