Domain
Name Do's and Don'ts
Domain Name Do's and Don'ts
For newcomers to the Web, I'll give a brief definition of a domain
name.
Your domain name is the same as "www.yoursitename.com".
It's also known as your URL or Website Address.
For example, www.webmastercourse.com is my site's domain name or
my web address.
The domain name must be registered and approved before you can
call it your own. The reason it works this way is because two websites
having the same domain name cannot reside online at the same time.
If someone types in www.webmastercourse.com, he/she will go to my
website and no one else's.
Registering your domain name and awaiting approval gives the registration
company opportunity to check with every other company around the
world to be sure no one else has already applied for your domain
name "first."
It normally takes 2 to 3 days to receive confirmation of your domain
name.
If you haven't registered your own domain name yet, please take
the following tips into consideration before doing so.
Your domain name can affect the number of repeat visitors to your
website.
Here's How:
1. Visitors will only remember your domain name for a future visit
if it is easy to remember.
Which of the two domain names below would you more likely remember?
http://www.webmastercourse.com/ or http://www.web-designer-training-course-part-1-learn.com/
Probably the first one. The shorter the better. Visitors will see
the domain name, remember it, and hopefully visit again in the future
if the domain name is simple and to the point.
2. Your domain name should be directly related to your offer or
information available at your website.
For example, www.webmastercourse.com is directly related to web
design training. In monitoring our website statistics, I've noticed
that we have many visitors each month who arrive at our website
by simply typing in the domain name instead of arriving through
search engines, other links, etc. Of course, this was not so at
the start. But, as visitors began coming, they began memorizing
the domain name and repeating their visits in this fashion.
3. If possible, use a generic name that people might would type
in without ever hearing about you.
For example, www.webdesign.com is very generic, and I'm sure many
people simply type this name in to see what's available in the web
design field.
Other "very" generic names I can think of are:
www.soap.com
www.cars.com
www.boats.com
www.computers.com
www.calculators.com
www.food.com
www.pencils.com
www.skiing.com
etc....
Although many of the most popular generic names are reserved, it
would be wise to search for the most generic name possible in your
field that's easy to remember.
The three above tips will help you choose a domain name that will
tremendously increase your repeat visitor rate. A website must first
be designed, and then built upon a solid visitor flow. A simple,
easy-to-remember domain name is a great start to reaching your goal!
About the Author Article written by Candice
Pardue, editor of Web Design Weekly. Subscribe today to receive
free web design updates, resources and more by email. Go here to
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