Domain Name Matters To Your Small Business

I have been receiving emails or private messages on many small business forums about where and how to start a small business or home based business. They often asked me how to find their business name and register a domain name for their small business. Does domain name matter to their business? What a domain name can do to help them gain more business or drive their business forward?

The answer is simple. Domain name does matter. A good domain name will attract visitor and help the web site to be indexed and searched easier that just some weird domain name. I registered all my domains at GoDaddy. They are the largest domain and web hosting company in the world. Now, what domain name should a small business owner get? Here is some guide lines.

1. First of all, don't try to get a domain with a big brand name in it. For example, diggGoogle.com or GoogleMe.com, which has Google in the domain name. You might get sued by those big shops when your site is getting some traffic.
2. Try to find a name close to your business name.
3. Get dot com (.com), if you can. Most search engines will look for your domain + .com to find if there is such a matched domain. The search engine will list it in the order of .com, .net etc. And most of people who only remember the domain name will type something like example with .com after that while he/she meant to type http://www.example.net. Not many people remember to type .net, .org, .info or anything else. So get a dot com domain!
4. Find a good domain registration company to stick with. It's easy to get a domain, but not so easy to get your domain transferred.
5. If you can't find a good domain name close to your business name, think about something sharp and easy to remember. Yahoo and Google are both very easy to remember.
6. Try not to make your domain more than 12 characters long. Most people will not remember long domain or just forget the .com, .net part of the domain. A long domain will also make your email address hard to remember as side effect. A long domain name might not fit your newly design business card of advertisement materials. Can you remember this email address? terencechang@lookatmywebdeisgnlayout.com. You get the point.

Does domain matter to your business? Domain is just like your company name, it's part of your business plan and success. Without a good domain name, you won't represent your business in a good and wealthy way.

Terence Chang is an entrepreneur of his online business. He has been in the Internet business for years. He starts web programming since 1992. He worked for many internet based companies and gain reputation in his IT consulting career.

Terence Chang is also well known for his knowledge and mentor other and help other companies grow from few employees to international corporation. He has helped many company succeeded in their industry by with his internet business strategies.

An Older Domain, is a Better Domain

First of all, getting page rank, and traffic (the two are not synonymous) takes time. Anyone offering to get it for you in 24 hours, is either lying, or is doing something underhanded that could get your site in serious trouble. Take a page from the old drug war, and "Just Say No".

Search engines prefer domains that have been active for a while, and, they prefer sites that have been active for a while, even if they are small sites, containing minimal information, as long as there are a couple of hundred words with good solid information. If the information is important in the least, it will be indexed. Domains and websites are like fine wines, they get better with age.

It is possible to get to the top of a particular keyword or phrase in a short time, even without page rank. One usually leads to the other. They are symbiotic. This will however, probably not happen with your main keywords, unless, you are in a small niche. One way to do this is to go local. If you have a pizza shop in "Big City" U.S.A., you may want to narrow it down a bit, by narrowing the parameters. Use your part of the city, "South Big City U.S.A.", or "South East Big City U.S.A.", or your street, "Hungry Street, South East Big City U.S.A." Sure, you will be in a smaller pond, but you will be a bigger fish. If you offer the only "mango, pineapple, coconut pizza" in town, use that to help identify the niche. Make your keywords work for your locale, and specialties.

I have one site, that I built soon after the registration by this method that zoomed immediately to the top of a couple of search terms, only to be put into supplemental results a short time afterward. After a quick analysis, I realized that I had used too many keywords (something you should avoid). The horror stories came flooding into my mind, "darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth"! In actuality, after correcting the problem, it only took a few days to get out, and almost back to number 1 again. This leads me to wonder whether the horror stories I hear, may, in some cases, be a result of deliberate manipulation.

That makes me think of another thing. Is it always bad to have a site in the supplemental? Honestly, no! I know that theory will run afoul of all the other webmasters in the world, but because the categories don't always have an exact spot where you fit, it is better to have even supplemental listings than none at all!

Even if you are not the worlds foremost expert on your subject, your views deserve to be heard, even if they are still developing. That is how we hash things out as human beings. Learn to write about your niche. This will give you content for your site, and articles to publish in venues like blogs and ezines. The duplicate content issue, is not as much of an issue as most people think. Google guidelines suggest, that if you use an article being published elsewhere, that you always include the link back to the original, and that this will avoid that problem. Some things need to be heard in more than one quarter, an article on landscaping can be useful in a landscaping category or a homeowner site, and search engines seem to understand this, and make appropriate adjustments.

This leads me to another thing that I think should be looked at. The search engines are trying to make information available to people. At least that should be the goal. That being the case, it would seem logical that if web sites are designed for people as well, the search engines would like them. Pages filled with lots of good content, should automatically place better. Perhaps we should stop trying to think like spyders, and start thinking like people!

The more involved I become with my websites, the more I realize that building a good website is exactly like building any other quality product. Build it with the needs of the user in mind, and promote it to the people who need it.

8 things that work for me: 1. Get your domain registered yesterday! A mature domain is a better domain.

2. Build a few decent web pages, with some decent content. This is relatively easy to do. Most popular sites, are so low on content, that they can barely be called "Web Pages".

3. Link from one page to another, search engines seem to like internal links.

4. Link to at least one, but only one or two, good informative sites on your subject. A site with no links basically goes nowhere. It might be an oasis in the dessert, but people will die of thirst before thy find it.

5. Make sure your keywords, are ones that will get the sight searched.

6. Submit your site to a few search engines. You don't have to submit it to all of them. Once it is indexed by a few, the big boys will find it pretty quickly.

7. Write about your area of expertise, and publish it on your site, and in ezines. This is one of my favorite methods of SEO. No matter what your area of expertise, there is a group of people out there looking for information about it. To me this is about the most important function of the Internet, the sharing of information, from every angle, from every stage of knowledge. Sometimes the new kid has some great ideas that we can all learn from.

8. Make sure your site is what users need, not what you think search engines want. The user is who you want visiting your site. Search engines don't buy products and services.

The main thing, is to get started. Even if you don't have a hundred pages of content, even if you cannot come up with all the best keywords, even if you have to host your site on free hosting.

Yes, I said free hosting! I know it is looked down upon by some, but it works. I have a fairly large number of sites with page rank up to 3, that are on free hosting, building traffic, building page rank, building longevity, and building value. Some are building traffic with no page rank, some are building page rank, with little traffic When they reach a certain point, I either purchase appropriate hosting, or host them on a subdomain of another site, even if I just forward them using a 301 redirect, and yes, they do continue to build, and it is always better to be moving forward and upward, than to be standing still, or lying dead!

How (Not) to Choose a Domain Name

The "No-Dash" Rule

In almost all of the cases, dashes (hyphens) and underscores will hurt your domain name in the efficiency department. This is because many times you won't be able to give your web address to people in written form, but all you'll get instead is the opportunity to say it. Let's take Mommy Mentors as an example. Mommy Mentors' domain name is mommymentors.com. If I were to tell someone about Mommy Mentors (in person, on the phone, in a radio ad), all I'd have to say is "Go to mommymentors.com." Conversely, if the Mommy Mentors domain name would contain a dash (i.e. mommy-mentors.com) I'd have to use "mommy dash mentors dot com," "mommy mentors dot com and don't forget the hyphen," or any number of other ungracious formulas. To say nothing of the fact that a lot of people will know about Mommy Mentors from an offline source and will intuitively type in their browsers "mommymentors.com."

Some argue that a hyphenated name will allow search engines to distinguish actual words in your domain name and, provided that those words are some of your target keywords, you could get more traffic from search engines. But chances are that, for most domain names, it won't happen. Too many variables would need to fall into place: you'd need a domain name which will contain a good search engine keyword, that keyword should be not too popular (to avoid competing with unbeatable sites for search engine traffic) and not too obscure either (no one would then look for it), and other factors. Besides, the increase in traffic you'd be gaining from this trick would not be worth losing the traffic that a good, non-hyphenated domain name could bring you. Also, it's been shown in studies that when trying to guess domain names, average Web users will first go straight for the no-dash version of the domain name, even when it's made up from multiple words.

Only Use Digits When Appropriate

If the name of your company is 1 800 FLOWERS, for example, you will definitely want the digits in your domain name. It would look like 1800flowers.com. which is perfectly acceptable. But there are a lot of domain names out there whose use of digits only hurts them. Chances are no one will readily remember a domain name like cars33182.com.

Make It a "Dot Com"

Most people will remember your site's name without the TLD (that is the part after the dot). Their intuition will guide them to assume that .com is what they need to type after the name of your Web site, since it is the most popular TLD. To illustrate, they will know it's "mommymentors" that they will have to type followed by, most likely, .com. In this case they would be right. Rarely will it occur to the average Web user to try .net, .org, .us or others, when trying to reach your Web site by typing it in their browser. That is not to say that .org and .net are never good. They are, but in case you opt for one of them, it's ideal that you also get the .com version of your domain name and redirect it to your actual Web site in order to make sure you capture the visitors who will try to reach you at YourSite.com. If not possible, get the alternates (.net, .org, .us, .info, etc.), but only if you find a really good name whose .com version is already taken.

The Shorter, The Better (Usually)

A friend bought a long time ago the domain name www.buenosaires-best-lodgings.com. When I saw it for the first time, I got a little dizzy. Lucky he didn't stick a couple numbers and an underscore in there too. There are more chances that a typo will occur in that name than there are letters in it. That is a very dangerous name, as it will very likely cause its owner to miss a lot of business due to typos. In order for a domain name to be efficient it will either have to be logical and intuitive, like mommymentors.com, or else pretty short. Think Google, Yahoo, MySpace, YouTube, Wikipedia, MSN, AOL, Altavista... There's a reason why the most popular Web sites have short names. First, they're easy to remember. Second, the shorter the name, the fewer the chances that it will be misspelled by potential visitors.

If your company name is too long, use its initials as your domain name. For instance, what could have been work-at-home-moms.org (what a disaster!) is WAHM.org. Short and sweet. That doesn't mean you should always throw away a perfectly good word, such as "mentors," and make it into "mtrs" or something similar. If you have a good couple of words that you want to use and that will be easy to remember, go right ahead. Just try to keep it to two words and only use more when they're fairly short (e.g. ilikecandy.com, dancewithme.com). If the combined total of characters in your prospective domain name is over 15 (www and the TLD excluded), it would probably be a good idea to look for alternatives.

How to Register a Domain Name

Always use a reliable domain registrar. Companies that have been in business for quite a few years usually provide good, reliable service. The last thing you want is to lose your domain name, after working hard to make it popular, because of inadequacies in the way your registrar does business. To be safe, it's always good to hang out with the big kids on the Web.

Buy and Sell Domains: Truly Lucrative

All that matters is a name, is a well known dictum in the world of Internet marketing and especially when you are talking about the right domain name. Selling and buying domain name is one of the most talked about business that has come up in the modern times. There are people who could find a perfect domain name and then sell it and make good money out of it. Such people like making money by registering the most accurate and the most sought after domain names and run a business by selling it.

Then there are the seekers. This includes those aspirants who are keen to buy a domain name that fits rightly into the demand of their business. If you are one in the group then you must try to figure out as to what kind of domain name would become the most accurate for you in order to harness your business in the most equitable manner. The point is to attract the right kind of traffic to your website in order to increase the possibilities of business. Interestingly, some people take a slightly misspelled domain name of the famous and well known websites in order to increase the probability of being hit through typos.

Apart from the above consideration, you must also consider the suitability of a domain. Normally, a domain name should be not more than two words. As that will increase the chances of the attracting the traffic in a right manner. More than three words reduce the traffic and the chance of people clicking on your URL. So these things should be kept in mind while buying a particular domain.

If you are out to sell a domain name, then don't forget to remember that there is every chance to get a great value for it, if you pitch it in the right way. Also, if you sell it to the right kind of buyer. For that purpose, you can visit some of the auction and sale sites and then calculate the worth of your domain. If you find the right kind of buyer then, you may get the deal of your liking.

So, when it comes to domain names then, your attitude should be “to seek, to struggle, to strife and not to yield”. And surely, your efforts will bear fruits!!

Tips On Choosing A Domain Name For Ecommerce

Choosing the right domain name is an important foundation for any ecommerce business. Not only should it be memorable and relevant to your target audience, but there are specific considerations relating to search engine optimization, as well as implications associated with the domain name extension itself.

More so than a simple, offline street address, domain names can convey a lot of information to your prospects. Fortunately, this is something you have a lot of control over. Whereas you cannot rename a street, you can define your web address, within the limits of what is available. Because prospects cannot see your site in directory and search listings, the domain name should communicate the nature of your site, and if possible, something of your business.

When brainstorming a domain name, start with your main keyword. Whilst it's not essential to include this in the final name, doing so serves two purposes. First, it tells your visitors what they can expect. It identifies your site as being relevant to their inquiry, and it also helps search engine bots determine the relevance of your site. Whilst no-one truly knows what goes into a search engine's ranking algorithm, most of the sites in the top 30 tend to include their main keyword in the domain name for a given query.

Keywords are not enough, however. Simply stringing keywords together creates a very weak domain name. It tends to be cumbersome, and poorly remembered. Try to thing of a way to convey some value or description of your site, in as few words as possible. If you can create a short phrase, perhaps three words, including your keyword, then it will sound both memorable and natural. For example, my sister called her site "Sane Parenting". My business website is called "Pick The Business".

This exercise requires a little lateral thinking. It can be a good idea to use a thesaurus to find synonyms as many combinations are already taken. Unfortunately, this is the case with a lot of two word combinations, although with a little patience you can still find some good ones.

The best domain extension to choose is generally .com, though there are exceptions to this rule. The reason you should opt for .com in most cases is because this is the extension that most people default to when they try and remember web addresses. If you choose a different extension, perhaps .biz or .org, you will potentially lose some traffic to the .com extension as people mistakenly type in that url. Conversely, if you own the .com extension, this can be to your benefit.

Country specific domain names are another case entirely, particularly if you have a business that is not global. They essentially act as a filter, and can deliver more targeted traffic. If your business is global, however, this filtering could have a detrimental effect, as people may assume you don't service their country. In that case, choosing a .com extension would be better.

Avoid using dashes and numbers in your domain name. They are hard to remember, and look cumbersome. There are no search engine advantages to using dashes, if anything, the opposite. In any case, you will probably lose traffic as people are likely to forget to type them in. Numbers can be easily confused, as they can be spelled or written numerically. And they don't look professional.

If you can create a domain name that communicates the intent of your business, or a sense of your business' values, then you assist your visitors in remembering it, as well as creating a favorable first impression. And if you're looking at selling your domain name (or site) further down the track, short domain names that are catchy always fetch higher prices.

How to Sell a Domain Name for Maximum Profit

In the world of domain name, there is an act of buying a domain name and selling a domain name. These acts are so typical that many domain name consumers and holders are into it a few years after the introduction of domain name in the world of the internet. Today, as domain names continues to become a commodity; many people have particular desires to buy a domain name and particularly to sell a domain name.

Generally, to sell a domain name, which is the main focus of this article, involves a not so easy process. If buying a domain name involves some processes, to sell a domain name is also to undergo different steps.

According to many domain name experts, there are really certain purposes why a certain domain name holder or companies sell a domain name. It is a common note that many of them just purchased a domain name for the purpose of reselling it. Most of the domain name holders sell a domain name after finding that it has no use for them, or perhaps when the third party shows some interest in buying it.

Given such fact, it is then a nice move if you have certain desire to sell a domain name that prior to getting down to the hard work that is necessary to sell a domain name, you know how to place some sorts of value on your domain name. In fact, even if you are not going to post or publicize the set value of the domain name, it is still significant that you are aware of the minimum amount that you would accept for it when you sell a domain name.

When you desire to sell a domain name, you should take note that there are fundamentally two major means to sell a domain name. The first way for you to sell a domain name is to look for a buyer yourself or what the other call as “private transaction”. From the name itself, it is understandable that this way to sell a domain name is strictly between the buyer and the seller, of course with no third party involved in the transaction. Knowing such fact, it is then a very important factor that there is a level of trust between the parties, for the fact that a party is naturally waiting while the transfer authorization is absolutely done and the amount is sent to the seller.

On the other hand, the second way to sell a domain name is to use a company or group to find a buyer on your behalf. Many people address this way to sell a domain name as using an escrow service. In here, you are applying a third party that will fundamentally cling to the buyer’s payment while the dealing is absolutely done. As such, both the side of the buyer and the seller is protected. However, one of the bad impressions for the escrow service to sell a domain name is that you are putting another step to the process involves in the desire to sell a domain name, and another expense.

The Domain Name Game - A Beginners Guide to Domain Names

So... you want your own website. Well, the first thing you need is a Domain Name. Registering one is very easy to do, as long as you know where to go and you understand some basic terminology.

So what is a Domain Name?

Domain Names are basically just cool, word-based shortcuts to websites. They make it possible to say to someone "Check out www.thefasterwebmaster.com" rather than telling them "Check out 1755.575.392378. Does that make sense? They basically allow you to assign word-based shortcuts to numbered locations somewhere on the World-Wide Web. Every single Domain Name has a bunch of numbers behind it, making it actually work. Domain Names can cost as much as $35 bucks a year... but you can also get them for less than the cost of a large pizza. I like to get my Domain Names from GoDaddy.

How do I get one?

First, make sure your domain name has not been registered by someone else. GoDaddy will tell you if the Domain Name you like is available or not. If the Domain Name is taken, you will have to select another one. If it is unregistered, you can go ahead and register it. Then just select the number of years you want to pay for, and enter your contact information. There are four types of contacts: the registrant (owner), the technical contact, billing contact, and administrative contact. You may use the same information for all four, if you like... there should be an option that allows you to auto-fill them all out. Enter your billing information, and choose between a "private" or "public" registration. A private registration costs more, but will protect your identity and may cut down on the amount of SPAM you receive. That should be about it: the process should only take about ten minutes or so.

Before you pick your Domain Name and register it here are a few great tips:

- Check Related Domain Names.
Before you register your Domain Name make sure to open a web browser and check out Domain Names that are similar to yours. After all, these websites are where your potential traffic may end up! So check some of the Domain Names that are similar to yours in spelling, by adding dashes or changing a letter here or there. Check for common spelling mistakes.

If you have a business selling shoes, for example, and the Domain Name that you like is called toocomfortable.com... you want to make sure that there is not a competing offer (or nasty, questionable material) on 2comfortable.com, or tocomfortable.com. See what I mean?

- Avoid Domain Names that are hard to spell.
I would highly recommend that you go with something along the lines of www.mikescollectibles.com, rather than www.michaelscollectibles.com, Why? Because people notoriously misspell the word Michael. Is it 'eal'; is it 'ael'? No one really seems to know.

Say you invented a revolutionary accounting software. You don't want to register a Domain Name that has the word "receipt" in it. Why? Because in the 35 years that I have been walking around on this earth, I don't think I have met a person yet that can spell the word receipt correctly the first time. You don't want to Register Domain Names that are hard to spell.