Choosing and Registering a Domain Name
Ready to put your business online? Do you know what it takes?
Here’s a quick look at the down and dirty of choosing and registering a domain name.
Name Selection
- Make it simple – The easier name you can use, the better. Potential customers are less likely to remember a long domain name.
Use simple spelling. Names that are hyphenated are also problematic because many people forget the hyphen and end up somewhere else. - Make it legal – While you may have a fun name, if it’s too close to another company’s name, it may be trademarked – meaning you could lose it down the road.
Do research on the name you are thinking of using. - Make sure it’s available – Use a domain registry check (such as godaddy.com or networksolutions.com) to see if the name you are considering is available.
Registering Your Domain
One you’ve selected a name, it’s time to register it. Choose a reputable domain registrar (companies like networksolutions.com and godaddy.com have been around for some time and are well trusted).
Compare prices. Domain names range from a few dollars to $40 or so annually; so find out what is offered for the money you will pay.
If you let someone register your domain name for you, and they put it in their name, you may be locked out of your own site down the road if something goes wrong in your relationship.
In online business, that’s like changing the locks on the storefront and not letting the owner into their own store.
