Domain Name Do's and Don'ts

With the recent, record purchase price of fund.com for ten million dollars, the value of a good domain name is easy to see. At Inlet Media we include domain registration services within all of our web design contracts. But, what should a web site owner or potential web site owner be looking for in a domain name?

First, and foremost you should be looking for a top level domain. One that ends in either .com, .org, or .net. There are others that you can use for your business, but they are all mostly rubbish and not worth considering. If you are launching an educational site or an international site then other top level domains should be considered. Overall though you should focus on acquiring a .com domain as this is the only domain most people consider when searching the internet.

To check the availability of a possible domain use the free search engine by Domain Tools.

At this point almost all of the best domains have already been registered and are in use. This means that either you need to spend money branding your domain, and advertising, or you need to purchase a domain. Using a poor domain to save money is one of the most dangerous things a website owner can do. If you are going to cut corners then do not do it with your domain name. A good domain name is worth its weight in gold, and buying a domain name is often not as expensive as you might guess.

Most of all though a domain is a brand. It is going to be the word or phrase that your potential customers have to remember you by. Make sure that it is something you will want to be using five to ten years from now.