What is a Domain Name?
- A domain name is your address on the web. It's the information that customers type in to find your website. It's what comes after the www. in www.domain.com. The domain name for this site is everythingaboutbuildingawebsite.com
A domain name can be any combination of letters and/or numbers up to 63 characters. The official domain name extensions are .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .us and .ws. There are also other extensions like .tv and .tk but don't waste your time with those. Stick with a recognized one.
How to Choose a Good Domain Name
When looking to purchase a business domain name, you are looking to brand the name. That is, you are looking to associate the company name and the product you want to be associated with, for example, Clancy’s Moving and Storage very easily becomes clancysmovingandstorage, clancysmoversandstorage or clancysmovingstorage. There is a very big probability that your name will be available with a .com name extension.
I also want to caution anyone who is trying to purchase a company associated domain name and I’ll use Toys R Us as an example. The “R Us” part of the companies name is trademarked and the usage of “R Us” mark is heavily defended by the company. If you are choosing a domain name, make sure you choose a name that is not associated with a known trademark.
Here is some information and tips to help you select the best domain name for you:
- The shorter, the better. It’s best to keep your domain name less than 15 characters if possible. A shorter name is easier for people to remember and it also reduces the likelihood that your visitor will mistype it or spell it wrong. 2. The more memorable the name, the easier it is for people to remember. You can have the best site in the world, but if people can’t remember your domain name it will cut down on your return visitors. It’s hard enough to get traffic on the web without “losing” visitors that want to come back but can’t find you.
- Make sure the domain name is easy for people to spell. Don't spell words unusually. Unless you have incredible branding, people will type in the common spelling of your domain and your competition will get visitors who were looking for you.
- Choose a domain name that reflects your business. Don’t just choose a random name. 5. Try to go with the .com. It’s what most people think of when they are typing in a domain name.
Now that we understand about registering a domain name our next step is selecting a web hosting company.
Good Luck and have fun!