Getting Your Domain Name
What is a domain name? Domain names are used in URL’s to identify your website. They are the characters that come after the ‘www.’ reference and typically are named with the theme of what the website is all about. They can be your company name or some other descriptive factor about the website. Or the term can simply be randomly chosen—but this is not advisable. You want your domain name to suggest what your website is all about. This will help search engines and people searching on your subject to find you.
First of all, how do you choose a domain name? It is thought that all the ‘good’ domain names are already taken. There are literally hundreds of thousands of web names already taken by websites on the web today. The big companies have typically taken the most generic and commonly used domain names, such as ‘www.travel.com’ or ‘www.dogs.com’, but you can still get some good domain names that are related to your subject or niche. You may have to use a hyphenated or longer phrase in your domain name. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because if you choose wisely, it may help limit your competition for keyword searches.
You may have to do a little research before making a final decision on your domain name. As suggested, a hyphenated phrase may be a good choice for your website domain. But, it is best to keep the phrase limited to two or three words. For example, “www.best-dog-breeders.com” or “www.weight-loss-tips.com” would be acceptable domain names. Then when a person searches for ‘weight loss tips’ your website domain would be presented to them.
To search for domain names that are still available, you can use many of the web hosting sites. You simply type in the name you are thinking of and they will tell you if that name is still available. You may need to be imaginative to get a domain name to suit you and your website topic.
When searching for a domain name, you can also search to see if it is available in other extensions. For example, the domain name you choose may be taken for the dot com extension (‘.com’) but may be available in dot ca (‘.ca’) or dot biz (‘.biz’), etc. Also if you do find a domain name with a dot com that you are interested in, you may want to look to the future of your growing internet business and register for other extensions as well.
The sites that you use to search for available domain names are also the same sites that can register your domain name for you. It is wise to compare prices on the different hosting sites, but you can typically get your domain registered for as little as $5.95 or $7.95, and up. Some companies will even throw in the domain name registration for free if you sign up to host your website with them.
