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Web hosting articles
How to choose a
domain name
You, or
the
company
you
represent,
have
decided
that you
need to
establish
a web
site.
Maybe
you have
a new
product
you want
to
promote,
or maybe
your
company
needs to
sell to
a wider
audience.
Whatever
the
reason,
you want
to get a
web
site.
The
first
thing
you will
need to
do is
choose a
domain
name –
your own
address
on the
World
Wide
Web.
A domain
name
consists
of two
parts,
the name
itself,
and then
the Top
Level
Domain,
or TLD.
This is
the part
that
follows
the
period,
or dot.
For
example,
.com,
.net or
.biz are
TLDs.
There
are many
different
TLDs,
some
reserved
for
particular
uses,
for
example
.gov for
U.S
federal,
state or
local
government
organizations.
Others
are
intended
for use
in
particular
countries,
for
example
.co.uk
or
.co.jp,
which
are used
mainly
by
companies
operating
in the
United
Kingdom
and
Japan
respectively.
However,
there
are many
others
available;
a full
list of
TLDs and
who can
use them
is
available
at
http://www.icann.org/tlds/
or at
http://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt.
The
first
choice
for most
companies
choosing
a domain
name
will be
the
company
name
itself,
in the
form of
companyname.com.
If you
are
lucky,
you will
find
that the
domain
name is
unregistered.
However,
since
the .com
TLD is
so
popular,
there is
a good
chance
that
this
will
already
have
been
registered
by
someone
else. If
this is
so, then
maybe
companyname.biz
or
companyname.net
are
still
available.
Or maybe
you are
not
based in
the
United
States,
and can
use one
of the
country-specific
TLDs. By
the way,
most of
the
country-specific
TLDs
don’t
require
that you
live or
work in
that
country,
although
a few
do.
If none
of those
choices
are
available
then you
will
have to
get
inventive.
As a
general
rule, a
shorter
name is
better
than a
longer
one, as
it is
easier
to
memorize.
The
domain
name
“joesautopartsstorefortlauderdaleflorida.com”
may be
very
descriptive
of what
you do
and
where
you are,
but most
people
would
not want
to have
to type
a name
like
that
into
their
browser.
Remember
when
choosing
a domain
name
that
letters,
numbers
and
dashes
are the
only
symbols
that can
be used,
and that
JoesAutos
is the
same as
joesautos
– the
Internet
is not
case-dependant.
One
place to
start is
to add a
dash to
the
name, so
that
instead
of
yourcompany.com,
you have
your-company.com.
Or
alternatively,
you
could be
A1yourcompany.com,
although
this is
getting
over-used
nowadays.
You
could
try
using a
name or
term
associated
with
your
field of
business
as part
of the
domain
name
too.
One
final
word of
warning,
try to
stay
away
from
well-known
trade
names or
business
names.
Most big
companies
do not
like to
see one
of their
trade
names
being
used as
a domain
name. In
the past
there
was a
chance
that a
big
company
would
pay a
premium
to buy a
domain
name
from a
user,
but
those
days are
gone.
Nowadays,
expect
to
receive
a stiff
letter
from a
law firm
telling
you to
“cease
and
desist”. |
