How do you expect to be found by
people who don't know the name of your business?
There are 3 categories of domain names to be chosen in order to make your domain name work for your website.
I'll go over all 3 and why you'll need one from each of them.
your domain name Is your business name
www.YourBusinessName.com is great for printing on business cards and letterhead, vehicle signage and banners. This make it easy to use because it's most likely the one right in front of them. However, most people get stuck on using only this domain name. This can be a bad idea because, most business cards get thrown away, Letters and invoices get filed. A lot of the time your domain name won't be in front
of them when they need it to be.
Your Domain Name A (.net or .com)?
For your business name it really doesn't matter unless you're a well know brand, or business. It would be better to choose a (.com) if you're a business, and a (.net) if you say your an information resource. It might be all right to even choose extensions, .info, .us, .biz or .tv if it fits right with your business.
I would recommend some research before using it though.
The best would be a DOT com and the second being a DOT net.
Your domain name is Your Name
What I mean is Your name. I don't mean your business name I mean Your Name. This makes a lot of sense if you do any kind of freelance work. If you work in a specialized field, and people already know who you are. Having your domain name being your name can make it easy for people to find you. All they have to do is remember your name. Even if your name doesn't mean anything to anyone yet, we're certainly hoping it will eventually as you gain attention.
If you write and submit articles, press releases, contribute to blog posts or forums, you'll most likely sign your name not your business name. This brings your closer to registering domain name. It is also likely that you'll have domain name availability.
Do you belong to a networking group or Chamber of Commerce? As you get involved in those organizations, people may not remember your business name (because you don't use it to introduce yourself, do you?), but will likely remember your name. They may not always have your business card available, but will remember working with you. They may just do a search for your name to see what pops up. If your business or articles are among the search results, you've just accomplished the goal of this domain name.
If you give seminars or participate in other speaking engagements, your name sticks more than your business name. Are you in real estate? Your name is on every yard sign you set out, not the name of your business. There are many other industries where that will apply as well.
So what if someone already has YourName.com? Then find a domain name that contains your name and add a word or phrase onto it that is pertinent to what you do. Jane Smith has a cooking utensil web site called Cooking Stuff Online, so she could use janesmithcooking.com. Hyphenated domains work too: janesmith-cooking.com. This one should be a dot com if at all possible because that's what people try first when searching almost anything.
So as you can see using your name as your domain name can be very useful depending on the industry or business your in. So lets check out the next step that will bring you closer to register a domain name.
Having A Keyword based Domain Name
So when you register a domain name your 3rd option is a keyword based domain name. This also just happens to be the most important of the 3.
Search engines give weight to a web site called www.frenchloprabbitpets.com that is about, and sells, French Lop Rabbits because the keyphrases for the web site are contained in the domain name. Most search engines will list by category. This allows users to search by business types, like Pets for example. The goal is that you want to be listed in searches
For keyphrase, business type, product or services. A good example of something wrong to do would be say register domain names as www.chocolate.com if you don't have anything to do with Chocolate. You'd be surprised of how many people make that mistake.
I recommend spending time on research and try to figure out what type of domain registering is going on in your industry, and that will help you figure out what would work best for you.
I hope this section will get you that much closer to
registering domain name, and find out more about domain information. I also hope that it helps people out and also teaches people how to choose a domain name that's right for them when they decide to
buy a domain.
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