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Your domain name is your company's
address on the Web and is how customers find your business online.
When you pick your domain name, keep the following tips in mind:
Domain names can only use letters,
numbers, and hyphens ("-"). Spaces and other symbols are
not allowed, and domains cannot begin or end with a hyphen. Domain
names are not case sensitive. They can be between 2 and 63 total
characters, not including the domain extension.
- People who do not know your
domain name may try to guess what it is based on your company
name (e.g. www.yourcompanyname.com), so it is in your interest
to choose a domain that is as close to your company name as
possible. If your web site is based around a specific brand or
subset of your products, you may prefer to choose a domain
name based on that brand or product.
- Try to register the .com version
of your name first. When people look for your site on the web,
they are likely to first try your company name with the .com
suffix. If .com is taken then consider using .net, .org (for
noncommercial), .us, info, or .biz.
- Keep your domain name short, but
not too short. Shorter names can be easier to remember, but
only up to a point. Be careful not to abbreviate your name so
much that it becomes unrecognizable. If you must use
abbreviations, focus on the one or two words in your company
name that have the most impact, and work your abbreviations
around those words. For example, Carlton's Sporting Goods
might choose www.carltons-sports.com or www.carltons.com.
- Choose a domain that is easy to
say, understand, remember, and spell. For example, you may not
want to select www.scents.com because that could be confused
with www.cents.com or www.sense.com when said over the phone
or radio. Also, be careful with the use of hyphens and
numbers, as they can make domain names harder to type and
recall. You don't want to lose potential customers because
your domain name is difficult to use. Test out potential names
with friends before making your final selection.
- Consider registering other
similar names. If you're registering a .com address for your
business, consider registering the .net and .biz extensions as
well to keep them out of the hands of competitors. You may
also want to consider securing similar-looking addresses that
contain alternate spellings of your name or common typos. For
example, Carlton's Sporting Goods, might register additional
domains like www.carltonsportinggood.com,
www.carlton-sport.com, and so on. You can register additional
domain names at Yahoo!
Domains. With the Yahoo! Domains service, you can use web
forwarding to redirect traffic from these other urls to your
main site.
What Do
.net, .org, .us, .biz, or .info mean?
When you select a domain name,
you can choose from several different extensions. These
extensions can help indicate the type of business or service
you are providing online or your geographical location.
Different extensions may also have different domain names
available in inventory. For example, newer extensions such as
.biz may have more available names than the more mature .com
extension.
Here are definitions of the
extensions you can choose from:
- .com represents the word
"commercial," and it is an unrestricted global
domain name extension. Many businesses prefer a .com domain
name because it is a highly recognized symbol for having a
business presence on the Internet. But, the number of
available .com domain names is shrinking as more and more
businesses go online.
- .net represents the word
"network," and is an unrestricted global domain name
extension most commonly used by Internet service providers,
Web-hosting companies, or other businesses that are directly
involved in the infrastructure of the Internet. Additionally,
some businesses choose domain names with a .net extension for
their intranet web sites.
- .org represents the word
"organization," and is an unrestricted global domain
name extension that is primarily used for non-commercial
sites. However, many commercial entities register the .org
extensions corresponding to their .com domain names in order
to protect their brands.
- .biz is a restricted-use
global domain name extension used for business web sites. As a
relatively new type of domain, .biz offers a company the
opportunity to get the domain name it really wants and enhance
its presence on the Web with a domain name that means
business.
- .info is an unrestricted
domain name extension that creates an opportunity to reach a
worldwide audience with information about your business and
ideas. .info is growing in popularity, but still has many
great names available.
- .us is a restricted-use
country code that may be used by any individual or
organization with residence in the US or its territories,
including foreign organizations that do business in the US.
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2002 Maltindo All Rights Reserved |
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