Newsletter #91 Domain Name Strategies

Created on 16/09/04

A special hello to all new subscribers. This article is on the Web at this address.

The last newsletter (12th August, 2004) was "VOIP - Why Is It Important?"

Our first newsletter way back in May 1999 was How To Choose a Great Web Address. Things have changed quite a lot in five years although a .com domain is still the pre-eminent Web address to have.

In 2001 ICANN approved the implementation of extra TLDs (Top Level Domains): biz, info, name, pro, museum, aero and coop. The first three of these have been in use since 2001 and are viable options when looking to register a domain.

Dotcom addresses still dominant with 45% of all registered domains according to BizReport. Interestingly though, country-specific domain names are the next popular. de (Germany, 12%) is second and uk (United Kingdom, 8%) third.

There are now a large number of ICANN-accredited registrars who can register TLDs and prices have plummeted as they also have in many countries where there has also been a deregulation of the country-specific domain name systems. Domain names are now relatively cheap in most countries and easy to register. This means that even if you are a small business you have several cost-effective options for your domain name strategy.

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DOMAIN NAMES - Give us a call if you are interested in registering domain names and applying them to your Website. Or if you just want to protect a brand or company name we're happy to offer independent advice. Just reply to this email.

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It is worth considering the following:

• Most Web hosting companies allow you to point more than one domain at the home page of a Website (at no extra charge) so that it can be accessed from several addresses.
  
• Further to the point above, this may be useful if your company would like country-specific domains for marketing purposes in other countries. Also if you have a brand name that you'd like to use to direct people to your site.
  
• Most registrars have suggestion tools that can help you decide on a domain name. It is significantly harder to find a relevant .com address than any other. DomainConquest has a page that suggests a number of prefixes, suffixes and connectors you could use to develop a domain name.
  
• When you're registering a domain think about how you will market the site. If the marketing is going to be via radio, television or paper media, the domain should be easy to remember and spell. Radio in particular is difficult as any differences from the norm will need to be spelt out distinctly as will unusual extensions such as .biz or .info.
  
• If you've got a larger budget consider a campaign-based Website and domain. Rather than sending people to www.mycompany.com/superwidgets.htm consider www.superwidgets.com. In non-Web media the latter is far easier to remember.
  
• Buy an expired domain. There are a number of services like SnapNames that allow you to back-order domains, so you can buy when (or if) they become available. Note that there is a cost to this service and it's best to check Network Solutions' Whois database to see when a domain is up for renewal. Domains only become available if the current owner does not pay the renewal fee.

Having a good domain name that properly represents your business or product is an essential part of your online presence and worth spending some time thinking about.

Newbies

Power Users

As a Power User who spends a lot of time on the Web shouldn't you make your desktop more like the Web as well? The main difference is to make your programs/files able to be opened with a single click. In Windows XP go "Start", "Setting", "Control Panel", "Folder Options". Make sure the "General" tab is selected then select "Single-click to open an item" and "OK". It also makes selecting a range of files even easier. Try it and see!

For previous tips visit the Power Hot Tips page.

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Best wishes

Alex Garden

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