How to register a domain name

Following are the steps that we suggest you follow to register domain names:

Step 1: Develop a list of potential candidate names and/or words.

Step 2:Check which of these domain names are still available under .com, net, org, many other new TLDs such as .biz, .info, .us, etc. You can also search names under other extensions.

Step 3:

Case 1 Domain name available. You should register it immediately. To protect the value of the primary domain name, we also recommend that you register "close substitutes". If the name consists of more than one word, you should consider also registering the hyphened "-" version. Also consider permutations of multiple names. If you are considering, for instance, submitonline.com, we recommend that you also register onlinesubmit.com. You don't want someone else to register a domain name that can be easily confused with yours.

Case 2 Domain name already registered. Try to use a domain availability software to perform the following checks:

1. Whether the domain has an under-construction page or is a developed site. Owners of domain names with under-construction pages are more likely to sell their domains.
2. Whether the Registrant address starts with "Available at". If so, it represents a signal that the domain is available for sale.
3. Whether the domain is listed for sale on any of the domain auction sites.
4. The administrative contact of the domain. This is the person you should approach if you are interested in buying a registered domain name.

In addition, you can increase your chances of registering expired domain names as they become available.

Step 4: You can protect the intellectual property of your domain name by registering your trademark with the respective trademark office in your country of origin

The importance of a good domain name

The domain you use for a your web site can have a huge impact in the way that humans and search engine spiders perceive it. Domain names were once so expensive that only those wanting to protect a brand or who could afford them owned them, now they are commonplace and if you know where to look, you could pick up a domain name for free.

Now that they are much easier to obtain, it is hard to take any site that does not have it's own domain name very seriously. Without a domain name, a company is likely to be passed off as amateurish or seen to want to cut corners to save money. If you have a company site and you still haven't got a domain name for your website, then you might want to think about getting one!

Make it Memorable

The best domain names are those that people can remember, because if your visitors can remember it, they are more likely to come back. If you do not already have a company or other name selected for your site, then it is often a good idea to make your domain name the brand for the site. Tying your site name to the domain is just one way you can help your visitors remember how to find you again.

Tips for choosing the most memorable domain name.

• keep it short and easy to spell.
• make use of keywords or popular search terms whenever possible.
• generic terms are like gold dust if you can get them.
• the more unusual but familiar sounding a domain, the better.
• add a twist, some domain names are remembered for being different to what you would expect to find there.

One of the major problems of trying to promote a specific domain name is that in general, people (or sometimes browsers) assume that they end in a .com. If your site uses a domain other than a .com, then you may want to make the domain your site identity, otherwise you could have your visitors remembering the domain name but not the extension and going to related site that isn't your own!

Domain Branding

If you purchase your domain with the intention that it will become the brand that you promote, then it is worth taking into account the specifics of the domain. Keywords can play an important part in your brand, particularly if it is specific to your industry, as they will help to make your domain name memorable while improving your search engine rankings.

In the case of directories such as Yahoo and DMOZ sites are usually listed in alphabetical order, so anything starting with A, B or C has a much better chance of being higher on the list than those starting with X, Y or Z, and so is more likely to be noticed. Don't however be tempted to use a domain that has been "padded out" to get a high position in an alphabetically sorted list; not only will it look tacky and amateurish, but most directories use human editors who would pick up this obvious trick and either correct it or ignore the site altogether.

Choosing a right domain name

There are three basics steps in choosing the domain name that is right for your site:

1. Determine the Purpose of Your Site
2. Market Your Site
3. Explore Domain Name Alternatives

1. Determine the Purpose of Your Site

Determining the purpose of your site is the first essential step in choosing a good domain name. Depending on why you are building your site you will choose different dot endings for your domain name. There are basically two reasons why people build web sites - for business purposes or personal reasons. Business includes marketing your services, selling goods, or referring visitors to other sites that sell goods. In these instances a .com would be used at the end of your domain name. This is the most popular and most common for this type of service on the internet. Building a site for personal reasons refers to individual sites, free information sites, non-profit organizations, etc. For these types of sites you would use a .org, for non-profit organizations, or a .com, or .net for personal sites.

2. Market Your Site

Now that you have determined what the purpose is for your site, the next step is to determine how you will be marketing your site, or getting people to visit your site. After all, what good is a web site if no one ever sees it? There are two main ways that sites are advertised- by word of mouth or through a search engine. Word of mouth includes telling friends or, on a larger scale, advertising through your actual store. In this case it would be best to choose a shorter domain that includes the name of your company and is easy to remember. People will visit your site by remembering your domain name and typing it directly into their web browser.

The second way to get people to your site is through search engines. Success in search engines requires more than an easily remembered name. When search engines spider (or search) your site they look for key words. An excellent way to place high on the searches is to include the target key words, or the words you want people to use to find you, in your title. In this case it is better to use long domain names packed with keywords with a high alphabetical listing. After matching search results for key words the engines put listings in alphabetical order. The higher up you are on the list, the more clicks you will get from customers searching for your product.

3. Explore Domain Name Alternatives

What if your preferred .com is already taken?
Don't worry! There are some quick and easy ways to find a great domain name for your site even if the .com is already taken. The three main options for choosing alternative domains: choose different variations of your name with a .com, use dashes or longer more descriptive names, or choose alternatives to .com.

• Use dashes or longer titles
  

  Using dashes in your domain name or longer, more descriptive, names is also a good idea in choosing your domain. Where yourproduct.com might have been used already, your-product.com might still be available. Though not as effective with word of mouth advertising schemes, using a longer name with dashes like buy-your-product.com would be a great domain name for placing high on search engines.

• Alternatives to .com

How about if there are no desirable domains left with a .com ending for your business? Are there other options? Yes! You are not the first to have to look elsewhere for a suitable domain name. Registration services are available for international domains, new top level domains, or subdomain names.

• International Domains

Each nation is assigned a two letter suffix for their geographical region, or international domain. Becoming very popular in the domain industry is buying these domain suffixes from smaller nations and marketing them as valuable top level domains, such as; .tv, .fm, .mu, etc. These work just like a .com and are increasingly favorable to domain buyers.

• New Domain Name Extensions

The new top level domains .biz, .info, .pro, .name, and others, have been released to the public to fill the need for more domains. These are excellent domain name choices if you can get your hands on one.

Domain Name Do's :

• DO know your target audience. Choose domain names that are appropriate for them. Depending on who you are targeting this could mean choosing names that sound sincere, cool, current, active, professional, or that use key words from the industry.
• DO keep domain names short and simple. Generally, the shorter the domain name the easier it is to remember or write down, and the less chance of users noting and remembering it incorrectly. Restrict the domain name to one, two or three words at most. (The one exception to this is the next tip). All other things being equal, give preference to words with fewer syllables and words that are easy to pronounce. Short is good, but don't use difficult to remember acronyms, such as nghzj.
• DO register a long domain name containing a list of relevant words for your web site to achieve a higher ranking in some search engines. Several of the major search engines rank web sites much higher if the search terms are contained in the domain name. You can use up to 63 characters to create a long domain name with keywords and automatically redirect visitors to the real web site. Some registrars offer the redirect service as standard in their price.
• DO use the appropriate pluralization. For example, newhomes.com is probably better than newhome.com if the web site is not relating to "a" particular home.
• DO use words that can be visualized. Vision is the strongest of human senses. Even better, use words that involve several of the 5 senses. This usually involves choosing more common nouns (names or objects), verbs (actions), and adjectives (descriptions). For example, the word "fire" is easily imagined. It includes strong cues in four of the five senses - visual (red and yellow flames), auditory (crackling and other noises), feeling (heat), and smell (smoke).
• DO plan for the future. If you are planning on releasing other products or services from this domain name in the future then don't limit the relevance to the initial product or service. That being said Internet marketing experts believe that your web site should have only one subject or focus. All products or services listed on the web site should be related. A web site with a broad focus is not as appealing to someone who is looking for particular information.
• DO register the domain name in the correct global or country level domain. For universal appeal use a .com, .org, or .net domain. For local appeal use an appropriate domain in your country, such as .co.uk or .org.au. Note that many domains have restrictions on what domain names can be registered. In some domains you can only use a name that is derived from a registered business or organization name.

• DO check that you are not infringing on an existing trademark or other name that rightfully belongs to another company or individual. An available domain name does not necessarily give you the right to register and use it.

Domain Name Don'ts :

• DON'T use hyphens between words if possible. A domain name with hyphens is harder to describe when said aloud. It is commonly accepted that a domain name with multiple words does not include hyphens. An exception to this rule is when choosing a domain name that has many words or words that are hard to decipher.
• DON'T use confusing spelling. If your domain is targeted at a worldwide audience then stay away from words that are spelt differently throughout the world, such as words ending in ize(US)/ise(UK). This also applies to many words that have different meanings throughout the world. Some common English words are even offensive in other languages.
• DON'T choose domain names that are very similar to others if possible. After all, you want customers coming to you, not your competitors! An exception to this rule is if you register the domain name of a commonly mis spelt word, in the hope of catching additional customers.

• DON'T choose domain names with words that join to form unintentional words such as "jeans wearing" which can read "jean swear ing". Avoid them altogether or use hyphens to separate the words if really necessary.

Search Engine Rank - Does the Length of a Domain Registration Affect Your Search Engine Rank.

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