Hyphenated Domain Names And Similar Issues

Due to the explosive demand for domain names it is becoming increasingly difficult to get short meaningful web addresses. Chances are you are going to have to make some compromises when registering your domain name. If you manage to get a short domain name that is meaningful, easy to remember, sounds good, and simple to spell consider yourself very fortunate.

An additional advantage of longer domain names is that they are more room for your keywords. Long domain names that have your site keywords in them also have an advantage in that they fare better in a number of search engines. The latter give preference to keywords that are also found in your domain names. So, for example, if you have a site on San Diego Weddings with a domain name like sandiegoweddingadvicedotcom, it might fare better in a search for "San Diego Wedding Advice" than another site, gethitchedinthesundotcom.

For the most part, I would discourage the use of hyphenated domain names. Most importantly, it's easy to forget the hyphens when typing a name. Many users are used to typing things like partyandweddingfavors.com but not party-and-wedding-favorsdotcom. Chances are people typing in your domain name will leave out the hyphens giving their business to your competitor.

When people refer your site to others verbally, having hyphens in your domain name leads to more potential errors than when the name does not contain hyphens. For example, how do you think your visitors will refer to your site if it is named "party-and-wedding-favorsdotcom"? They might say, "I visited Party and Wedding Favors dot com yesterday. It is such a great site, you should check it out”. The referred person, remembering that comment later, might type into their browsers "partyandweddingfavors.com". Oops.

Hyphenated domain names are difficult to type. Who wants to insert a hyphen between each word just to get the proper domain name? It is simply too much work.

On the plus side, search engines may reward your site with better results due to the hyphen-separated words. Thus positioning your site more favorably in search results for those keywords occurring in your domain name. If the non-hyphenated form is no longer available at least you can get the next best thing.

About The Author

George Meszaros with Webene http://www.webene.com

Domain Name Complications

Some of the tell tale sites of domain name that may be easier to obtain are a home to low quality Web sites. If you find yourself in this situation, contact the registered owner and ask if they would consider selling it to you. If the price is right, you may be able to make a deal. To maintain a cool head during the process, don’t act desperate to own the domain.

If the registered owner is willing to sell you the domain name be sure to use an escrow company. There are reputable escrow companies that will guide you through the buying process while minimizing your risks. It is worth spending a modest amount to ensure that you don’t get burned in cyberspace.

Your Web address is part of your brand strategy, and you have to make sure it is easy to remember. Try to pick a name that is easy to remember. I once worked for a company called ZZYZX. The domain name was www.zzyzxdotcom. Even though it is a short name it is a terrible name, because nobody knew how to spell it or pronounce it. You want your customers to be able to remember and refer your brand to others, so make it as easy for them as you can.

Domain names can be of any length up to 67 characters, but I don’t know why would anyone want a domain name 67 characters long. Your domain name can include 26 letters of the English alphabet, numbers 0-9, and hyphens (-).The domain name cannot begin or end with a hyphen but, it can contain one or more hyphens. Don’t settle for a short domain name that doesn’t compliment your business just to avoid a longer one. As a general rule, shorter domain names are easier to remember, easier to type and far less susceptible to mistakes. For example, "hellodotcom" is easier to remember and less prone to typos than "saygoodmorninginthemorningandgoodeveningintheeveningdotcom".

Others argue that a longer domain name is usually easier on people because it is easier to attach meaning. A short but cryptic name such as zzyzxdotcom is not at all better name than a longer meaningful domain name such as raidsforlessdotcom.

About The Author

George Meszaros with Webene http://www.webene.com

How To Register A Domain Name

You may be wondering if you should get a .com, .net, .info, or .whatever kind of domain. So many different kinds of domain extensions to choose from, and so little time. If you are registering a domain name for a for profit business, you should always register a .com domain. From a brand perspective, there is no better domain than a .com domain. Most people associate business domains with the .com extension just like they associate school domains with the .edu extension.

It may not make any difference in the beginning, but the more successful you become the more it could hurt you. Let’s say you develop a new product idea and the .com domain name you want to call it is not available, so you register the .net domain instead. Sounds harmless enough. Now, let’s fast-forward a couple of years. You have spent time and money to develop your brand and people are searching for your product online with the .com extension simply because they expect you to own the domain with the .com extension.

Another reason to shy away from other than .com domain names is that someone may already have copyright protection for the domain name you want to register. Look further if the .com domain you desire is not available. Even if you don’t find the exact domain you initially searched for, you may find one that is better than your original idea.

Whenever the domain you desire is not available through the registrar, you can try purchasing it from the registered owner. Unfortunately, many people register domain names to take advantage of others. The common name for such a person is domain squatter. I only recommend buying domain names from domain squatters if you have money to burn. The more they know you want it, the worse your chances of getting a good deal.

In other situations, someone may have good reason to own your desired domain name. It is unlikely that you’ll be able to buy the domain name from a thriving online business. It is possible that you run across a Web site with the perfect domain name for your business.

About The Author

George Meszaros with Webene http://www.webene.com

What’s In A Domain Name?

Branding your business on the Internet starts with your domain name. Buying the right domain name is an important part of your planning process. Even if you don't plan on using the domain name right away you should purchase it anyway before someone snatches it. You can buy a domain for under $10 so it is one of the least expensive investments you will make. To put it in numbers, there are about 70 million .com, and about 10 million .net registered domains in the world.

Don't think that all the good domain names are gone. There are more great domain names available to you than you will ever need. Even though there are about 100 million top-level domain names registered already, there are many more to choose from. Don’t believe it for a minute that you won’t be able to find a domain name that will work for your business. A little bit of research and creativity will go a long way in your efforts to the find the right domain name for your company.

The name registration is a simple process. There are many domain registrars you can choose from. Some of the larger registrars are godaddy.com, enom.com, and networksolutions.com. All registrars have simple a registration process; a few clicks and you are done. The interface is user friendly, and you could register your domain name in less than ten minutes.

Registering a domain doesn’t mean you own it permanently. Think of it as a car lease without getting stiffed with expensive lease termination fees. You have the right to use it, but you don’t own it indefinitely. You are simply registering it for your business or personal use for a certain duration. You can register your domain for one year or multiple years. It is best to register business domains for multiple years. For additional protection, select auto renew as an option. Auto renew ensures that your domain is renewed even if you forget about it. You’ve probably heard horror stories about companies letting their domain names expire. If it happens to you, it could have devastating effects. In the worst case, you may be forced to go out of business. If your domain name becomes part of your brand, losing it could mean losing your business.

Once the registration expires you have to either extend your registration or let it expire, so someone else can grab it. If you are forgetful, you may want to select the auto renew option, so you don’t let your domain name expire against your wishes. Don’t think nobody will want you domain name, there is an entire market that is dedicated to profiting from expired domain names. Don’t fall victim; take your domain name registration seriously.

All of the larger registrars are reputable companies, and you should have no difficulties registering your domain with them. A word of advice, watch out for the up sell. Most registrars make most of their money through the up sell such as providing hosting services, e-mail solutions, shopping cart software. I don’t recommend hosting your Web site with the registrars. Register your domain with them, but don’t fall for the up sell. Let the registrars do what they are the best at, registering domain names.

About The Author

George Meszaros with Webene http://www.webene.com

Website Basics-Why Register Dot Mobi Domain Names?

Dot mobi domain names are here to stay. With today’s society becoming ever more mobile, it makes sense that in the coming years people will more and more depend on mobile devices. It’s already happening; people use their mobile phones and pda’s for everything from scheduling appointments to making purchases to surfing the web. Consequently dot mobi domain registration is on the rise.

Just like dot com is the domain name ending for many Web pages on the wired internet, dot mobi domain names are the suffix for Web pages that are formatted for cellphones and other wireless devices. The principle behind the dot mobi domain name is that it will make finding websites designed for use on mobile or cell phones easier. It is also hoped that the release will herald a new age of mobile internet with the inclusion of industry standards. Above all else, though, the hope is that mobile Internet browsing and surfing will become as commonplace as the cell phone itself. Running a dot mobi domain name website could potentially be very profitable

The mobile Internet is virtually untapped. As the price war wages between mobile Internet providers and the quality of the mobile network increases, there is a very real chance that the majority of the population that owns a cell phone will start to regularly access the Internet through their cell phone browser. You could be one of the first to take advantage of what could be the next big communication revolution- dot mobi domain names.

It’s pretty much common knowledge that at the present time trying to access most web sites on a cellphone is difficult if not impossible. This is because most companies web sites have not yet accommodated the scaled-down version that is necessary for mobile devices. Actually creating a dot mobi domain name site is very easy compared to a standard computer accessed dot com site, the tools used are little more than a text editor, which is good news for anyone with an idea for how to build a better mousetrap out there.

Even if you have no current plans to pursue a dot mobi domain name type website at the moment, you are well advised to register your current domain name also as a dot mobi domain name to protect your brand. Any worthy commercial site should plan to, if not already be in pursuit of, a mobile ready version of their site.

Lastly, some are interested in the dot mobi domain name as an investment vehicle, in remembrance of the original dot com land rush. And indeed there seems to be a mini land rush on for dot mobi domain names at the moment. Dot mobi registration is building momentum. There is some merit to this, but pick your categories carefully, as not every website is likely to transition smoothly over to mobile devices. And keep it short…remember, the dot mobi domain name is being typed into a cellphone!

About The Author

With over 10 years experience in website creation, Richard James authors articles on this and related subjects to help take the mystery out of web building for the newbie. More articles can be found at RJ's website: http://www.startmywebsitetoday.com This article is copyrighted, please do not alter in any way.

Website Basics-How to Register Your Domain Name

The simple and short answer is that when you buy a domain name, you are registering it. The reason for this article is that there are some optional features available that are well worth considering when registering a domain name.

First and foremost, make sure that the email address and contact information you give when registering a domain name are accurate. This is especially true in the case of the email address. Communications regarding the status of domain names are sent to the email address on file, so give an email address that is readily accessible to you, and if you change email addresses at some point please be sure and update the email address attached to your domain name. It cannot be stressed enough how important this is. Often people lose access to their domain name or lose the domain name altogether because they can no longer access it, and the number one reason for this is their email address changed, they failed to update it with their domain registrar, and they no longer receive important communications regarding the status of the domain name.

Privacy One of the “deluxe” options you will be offered at the time of domain name registration is the option for privacy. You’ll probably want to take advantage of this option. All domain names are listed in a large internet database called the WhoIs database. Without adding privacy to your registration, your contact info, including your name, address, phone, email, etc. all become public information, and readily accessible to spammers, telemarketers, and junk mailers. Private domain name registration is not mandatory and will not block all spam, but it is well worth the extra investment nonetheless.

Business Registration This next option concerns how your domain name is perceived in the WhoIs database and by the search engines. If your planned website involves commercial interests, this is a highly recommended option as well. Business registration places your domain name in WhoIs as a business, rather than a personal registration, and lists you by business category and subcategory. There is also an option to place an online business card and a link to a map to your store location, which will show up on the search engines. This also boosts your standing with the search engines; ie., business vs. personal.

Platinum Registration This option protects your domain name from domain name hijack. In the event that you give others access to your account, such as when hiring a web author to build your website, Platinum Registration locks the domain name down in such a way that no one can modify or steal it in any way. Highly recommended as well.

Multiple Years In the past few months Google and Yahoo, among others, have modified their search techniques to include checking the length of registration of a domain name. This is to weed out the pretenders from the players. Registering your domain name for a minimum of 5 years (or more) will boost your esteem in the eyes of the major search engines. For more information on this topic, read the article HERE.

About The Author

Richard James

StartMyWebsiteToday.COM was created by Richard James as a helpful resource for people new to building websites. Featuring free articles and 24/7 telephone support, the site aims to help newbies with their first web venture. You can visit the site at http://www.startmywebsitetoday.com This article is copyrighted, please do not alter in any way.

Website Basics-Someone Else Already Has My Domain Name

So you’ve found the perfect domain name for your proposed website, but there’s one catch: someone has beaten you to the punch. Don’t despair, you do have options, and there is a chance you still might become the owner of that shiny new domain name. Before proceeding be sure to find out who owns a domain name, using the WhoIs database. You can search available domain names using the domain search engine provided on www.StartMyWebsiteToday.com and then click on the link for more info. Once you find out who owns a domain name, below are your options:

Buy Direct If you were able to out who owns the domain name and obtain contact information of the current owner of the domain name it may be possible to contact them directly via email or phone and to work out a deal directly with them to buy the domain name. Be advised that in this case you are dealing with a seller’s market, and the owner of the domain name is under no obligation to sell the domain name to you or anyone else. Therefore they have control over the price they will charge, and you will have to decide whether or not it is worth it to you to pay their asking price for the coveted domain name.

Expiration When conducting a domain info search in the WhoIs database one piece of information you will get is the upcoming expiration date of the domain name. WhoIs will show you when the domain name was originally purchased and when it is due to expire, which sometimes may be several months or years in the future. You can elect to wait until expiration and then hope the domain name becomes available on the open market so that you can purchase it.

Backorder You can enter a backorder for a domain name, meaning that you put in an order for the domain name to transfer to you as soon as it expires. In this scenario you may or may not end up owning the domain name, depending on whether or not the original owner actually allows the domain name to expire. But if the owner does allow the domain name to expire, a backorder places you in line for ownership. You are “in line”, because if other parties have also entered backorders for the desired domain name, the domain name will then be up for auction between all interested parties, and awarded to the highest bidder. www.StartMyWebsiteToday.com has an option allowing for backordering domain names HERE.

Those are your options, and best of luck. But ultimately you may decide you wish to create your own unique and custom domain name, and start from scratch. And of course, there is also the consideration of going with another domain name extension, such as dot net, org, biz, info, mobi, us, etc. (Known as "TLD"). And there is no reason not to. In fact, there is good reason to consider these types of domain names now that the dot com “land rush” has caused so many domain names to already be taken. The next article explores the whys and wherefores of purchasing other types of domain names besides dot com.

About The Author

Richard James created StartMyWebsiteToday.COM as a resource for experienced and newbie website builders. You'll find more of his articles by visiting: http://www.startmywebsitetoday.com This article is copyrighted, please do not alter in any way.

Website Basics-Fine Tuning a Domain Name

OK, so now you’ve found the domain name you want, but someone else owns it. Can you still get it? The answer is a qualified YES. You can still possibly register that coveted name even if someone has beaten you to the punch. In the next article we will discuss how to go about registering a domain name that is already taken. But for now, lets look at some alternatives to that:

Hyphenated Names Sometimes it is a good strategy to just take the same domain name and hyphenate it as in turning bobsautoparts.com into bobs-auto-parts.com. Is it always the best strategy? Yes and no. If you are dealing with an already well known name, generally the answer would be no, as most web surfers would usually just enter the non-hyphenated version in, and end up at your competitors’ website instead. Not a good strategy. Also, the longer the name you have chosen, the more tedious and error prone it becomes for the surfer to type in the name correctly, again foiling the chances that they will end up at your website. Definitely shorter is better. But if the name you have chosen is already taken and there is no chance of getting it from it’s owner, and the owner either has no website or a poorly designed one with little traffic, this can be a good strategy in purchasing a name.

Longer or Shorter Domain names can be up to 67 characters long. At 63 characters, thelongestdomainnameintheworldandthensomeandthensomemoreandmore.com claims to be the longest domain name in the world, and it may very well be. But who would want to type it into a browser? Our website, www.StartMyWebsiteToday.com features a name that in a few words encapsulates the purpose of the site. It is helpful also with search engines. In as few characters as possible the name of the site, the purpose of the site, and the keywords of the site have all been neatly put together in a domain name. Shorter is better here. Nuff said.

Brand Name or Generic The answer here is it depends. If your business is your brand, of course it is the best possible strategy to try to register that domain name. For instance, Nike.com is a well known brand name site, although there is nothing in the domain name to suggest that it is a site about shoes. Still, Nike is such a well known brand name to the public that people automatically know what they will be shopping for when they get there. If your brand name is well known, definitely try to obtain your brand name as a domain name. But if you are Nike or Coca Cola don’t discount the idea of buying shoes.com or soda.com if they are available as well. People often search the web using generic terms, more so even than brand names. A person is more likely to search the internet for shoes or footwear or sneakers than to search by a single brand name, even one as big as Nike. So if possible cover all the bases, but a generic name if your business is new or not yet well known can get better results, if you can find a good one.

In the next article, we discuss strategies for buying a domain name that has already been taken.

About The Author

StartMyWebsiteToday.COM (Richard James's company) is our recommended resource for domain names and other necessary tools for the creation of websites. To start your website today, visit http://www.startmywebsitetoday.com This article is copyrighted, please do not alter in any way.

Website Basics-Choosing a Domain Name

The first step in building a website is in the choice of a domain name. Whether you are a doctor, lawyer, plumber, aluminum siding salesman, or if you want to start up a website to feature your family dog Spot, the entire endeavor begins with the choice of a domain name.

The next logical question you might ask, is “What is a good domain name?”. The answer is, it depends. For example, if you are the person above who wants to build a website devoted to Spot, the family dog, then the answer is that the choice of a domain name really doesn’t matter. Why? Because you probably don’t really care about gaining a lot of traffic to your website, your site is probably only something you are going to produce for family and friends, to let them know about the latest goings on in Spot’s life. In a case like this, it does not matter whatsoever if you find a domain name like “ourdogspot.com” or not, since most likely you will only be giving out the website address to a few friends and family and maybe Aunt Tilly in Toledo.

In fact, in a case like the above, you could call the site anything you wanted to, “dogdiary.com” or even “catsdontlikespot.com” or something even as silly as “lookatthis.com”, which really has nothing at all to do with the subject matter of the website itself. The point is that in a case like this, there is no real concern with getting a lot of visitors to the website other than friends and family and Aunt Tilly in Toledo, so there is no real harm in naming the website ANYTHING, because you will be giving out the website address to a select few people. BUT……

What if the website is for business? What if I do want it to attract attention?

The simple answer is, it pays to have a domain name that reflects your site or business. If your website is about car parts for example, do you really expect the average web surfer to remember how to get to your website if it is named "bobsthingsforsale.com" or some other unrelated name? The best strategy is to find a domain name that directly relates to your business, whether it is the business name itself or related to the category of business. For example, a car parts website should have a domain name like carparts.com or bobsautoparts.com, something that immediately associates the domain name with the theme of the site. It’s all about branding, and making a lasting impression on the target audience or customers.

You can find domain names by checking the WhoIs database on the internet. While there are any number of places on the net to do this, we have conveniently placed a domain name search engine on www.StartMyWebsiteToday.com for this very purpose. After searching the domain name, the results given will instantly show whether or not the domain name is available, and if so, give you the option to immediately register it. If not, several alternative domain names will be proposed, to help you fine tune your search, or possibly giving you an acceptable alternative domain name to register instead.

In the next article, we discuss strategies for choosing a domain name, long or short, hyphenated or not, and generic or brand names.

About The Author

Richard James has been a contributing author for this website and is an acknowledged expert in the field of domain names. He can be found on the internet at this website: http://www.startmywebsitetoday.com This article is copyrighted, please do not alter in any way.

Choosing Domain Names – Hyphens or Not?

Choosing a good domain name is one of most important steps in setting up your online business, but it’s getting harder and harder to find good names that are still available. You could use a domain name with hyphens, but is that really a good idea?

Let’s quickly review what makes a good domain name. A domain name needs to be relevant, easy to remember, keyword optimized, and free from trademark conflicts. It should also be shorter. Although seven characters or less is ideal, you may have to settle for a domain name that’s a little longer.

So you’ve just set up your new barbecue grills business and now you discover that barbecuegrills.com is already taken. Should you consider hyphenating the domain name to barbecue-grills.com or should you go back to the drawing board?

The first choice should always be to take the name without a hyphen. Having established that, there are some exceptions. Let’s look at hyphenated domain names and when they are might be good to use.

Domains with hyphens can sometimes be a good idea if you really want certain words in your domain name but all the domains without hyphens are already taken.

Another reason to use a hyphen is when the words you plan to use are harder to read without the hyphen. The domain hotellamps.com is harder to read than hotel-lamps.com. That is not necessarily a great domain name but it does serve to illustrate the point that some domains are easier to read with a hyphen.

You might also consider using hyphens for search engine optimization. Some people suggest that using hyphens helps the search engines to distinguish your keywords better. This may be a good option for webmasters whose primary goal is to optimize their sites for traffic from natural search engine rankings. The only catch here is that this could change over time since search engines are constantly adjusting their search algorithms.

Incidentally, if you decide not to use hyphens in your domain name, watch out for any unintended double meanings that might be embarrassing. To illustrate this point a couple of fairly suspicious domain names are therapistfinder.com and molestationnursery.com. In case you are wondering the latter was reportedly the domain for the Mole Station Native Nursery based in New South Wales, Australia, although it seems, fortunately, to have moved.

Whatever reason you have for using a hyphen in your domain name, it would be good to remember one thing. Some people will forget the hyphen when they type your domain name. So whenever you invest in promoting your site, some lucky webmaster who owns the un-hyphenated version of your domain is going to get some free traffic, courtesy of your hard work.

As you can see, there are some situations when using a hyphen in your domain name may be a good decision.

About The Author

Daniel Moro has been successfully building online businesses for ten years. Download your free report on '10 Remarkably Effective Traffic Building Techniques' at http://www.DanielMoro.com/domains.htm