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Dos and
Don’ts for Domain Names
How to Choose
Good Domain Names
If you have a Web site,
you have to create a domain name. A great deal of thought
should go in to the domain name selection. Some rules of
thumb to help select successful domain names are:
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Short names are often
best because they reduce the chances for misspellings
and a potential visitor’s forgetting the correct name.
-
Avoid plurals,
hyphens, and abbreviations unless they are part of your
brand name or the correct spelling of a word.
-
The domain name should
be easy to communicate verbally. The best choice is one
you can tell a person you meet on the street and they
will be able to remember it when they get home without
writing it down.
-
A domain name should
include your brand name and/or keywords that make your
product easier for customers to find. Rather than a
non-descriptive name like jonesbrothers.com, a better
choice might be jonesbrotherssaddles.com
-
A “dot com” (.com)
domain is usually the best choice rather than a .net ,
.org, etc. Customers usually try typing a name ending
in .com first and may become sidetracked elsewhere.
-
Names high in the
alphabet help if directories or other services list
domains in alphabetical order.
-
Be sure the name you
choose is not someone else’s registered trade name or
trademark. You can look up the name with the United
States Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov/
) and your state’s trademark database.
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When you find your
best choice for a domain, register it immediately
because someone else may register it if you delay.
-
Eliminate prefixes.
Once on the Web server, your Web master can set up your
site so that when you type in the Web address you do not
have to type in the prefixes of http:// and www. That
will give you an advantage so folks can find you both
ways. ( yourdomain.com or www.yourdomain.com) Those who
do not type in those prefixes can also find the site and
not receive a “site not found” message.
The Registration
Process
You should register your
domain yourself. Domain registration is a very simple and
straightforward procedure and there are many companies on
the Internet that will register names for a wide variety of
prices.
http://www.networksolutions.com/ ,
http://www.aitdomains.com/, and
http://www.directnic.com/ are examples of registrars
that have been in business a long time. It is important to
do enough research to establish that the registrar you are
dealing with is reputable or personal information you
supply, like credit card numbers or e-mail addresses, could
be in jeopardy.
Many people just want
their Web master or Web host to do everything and not be
bothered, but companies go out of business, disagreements
with Web masters happen, scams or deaths occur. You need
control over your own domain name. If you must rely on
someone else to do the actual registration, be sure they
register the domain in your name with your contact
information. I have had customer’s domains held ransom in
order to regain control of a name that a “friend” or Web
master had registered in their own names. This happens with
great regularity. It should be understood up front by all
parties: owner, Web master, and hosting provider, that your
domain name is your own and all content on your Web site
belongs to you. Verbal agreements are not legally binding.
A written agreement is best.
Domain Name
Renewals
Another very important
point is to be sure to know the renewal date for the domain
name and be sure to renew in a timely manner. If the name
is not renewed, the first thing that happens is your Web
site goes off the air. What may also happen while it is off
the air is someone else can register the domain name. There
are companies that monitor the net for dropped names and you
may never be able to regain it, or it may cost you a lot of
money to do so.
One safety device on
domain name accounts is a
registration lock which prevents anyone from transferring
your account or modifying it in any way (domain name server
modification, renewals, etc.) without your knowledge.
Contact
Information
Keep your contact
information current with your domain name registrar,
especially your e-mail address. This is the only way the
registrar can send you notice of renewal dates and other
important information. If you change your e-mail address
and do not send communications from the address of record,
the registrar will not make changes on your account without
your faxing copies of identifying papers, in other words a
lot of hassle, so keep records current. |
