So you want to Purchase a Domain Name?

How have your online marketing efforts been going for you this past month? I hope you are seeing great improvements in your bottom line.

Marketing online successfully is an essential part of your Small Business marketing strategy. Simple, straightforward, easy to understand advice is provided in this newsletter. Read on ....

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Table of Contents

1. So you want to Purchase a Domain Name – what you need to know

2. This Month's Valuable Tip – Domain Name Tips

3. Latest Small Business Trend – 2009 Top Small Business Trends

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Choosing your Domain Name is almost as important as choosing the name of your child. Give it the thought and consideration that it deserves and it will serve you well into the future.

If you are simply registering your business name as your domain name and it is available then that is very good news however these days it can be very difficult to get the name that you want.

What makes a good domain name? A domain name ideally should be:

• Meaningful and clear
• One that your customers can relate to – aimed at your target audience
• Related to your site theme and containing at least one of your sites keywords
• Easy for Search Engine spiders to recognize
• Short, easy to spell & remember – old advice but still relevant. The longer the domain name the more likely will be a typo
• Remember that your domain will be in lowercase on the web so make sure it is readable if possible. E.g. fasttracker.com or fast-tracker.com
• Be professional. What you think is clever and funny may alienate you from potential customers
• You can use dashes in your domain however if you think people will be typing your domain name into the browser then try and avoid long names with dashes – this is not so important if your business is 90% online. Better still register both versions. One for easy readability by customers and search engines and the other without dashes.

My domain name, online-marketing-small-business.com (my business name) tells my audience what I do at a glance, is related to my site theme, is easy for the search engines to spider because it has my keywords in it but certainly isn’t short and easy to type into a browser. To deal with this problem I registered a domain name: SusanneWickes.com and redirected it to my website above so I then had a short and easy domain name to use on my offline advertising. I also registered onlinemarketingsmallbusiness.com and onlinemarketingsmallbusiness.com.au as well for those who miss the dashes and because I serve a local clientele in Australia as well as my global clients.

First choice would always be your business name then depending on your type of business your next choice would be your name, in my opinion. If you are not able to register the name you want then you can register your business name with your location attached. E.g. mybusinesscairns.com. Of course this is specifically suited to local business with local clientele and can assist with local searches on the web. It is not to a business that is global.

Another option is to choose a name that will brand your business and eventually be naturally associated with your business just as the word Google is naturally associated with search engines.

You could also buy a domain that has already been registered and is for sale. This may cost you anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Older domain names will often help with your search engine ranking as they have established credibility with the search engines.

You can register with a different extension; instead of .com use the .biz or .net extension. However a .com is preferable as it is the one that consumers most associate with a web address. If you are in Australia for example and you are a local business then a .com.au would be the one to choose.

Domain Name Research

• Take your time and brainstorm ideas with your team or helpful friends
• Search It: I highly recommend this tool which helps with domain naming, trademarks and legalities
• Test your domain name on others before you register and obtain a variety of opinions

Choosing a domain name for your business needs to be given the respect and consideration it deserves. Your time and efforts when you pick that inspired domain name will serve you well into the future.

This Month's Valuable Tip - Domain Name Tips

• Always ignore “official looking” renewal notices that arrive via email or in the mail) from Domain Registry of America or Canada. This is a scam where people pay for the renewal of their domain name to a non existent company and never see their money again. Keep your documentation when you register your domain so that you remember the company that you registered with and that you pay the right company when your renewal comes up.
• Protect your domain name by making sure it is registered in your name not your web designers or employees. Not sure look it up at WhoIs. You don’t want your domain name to expire and be purchased by someone else from under your nose.
• Always keep your contact information up to date with your domain registrar.
• Don’t deliberately misspell a word unless you are prepared to register the domain name with the correct spelling as well and redirect to your site. Try not to confuse people, keep it simple.

More information:

Domain Name Extensions

Guide to buying an already registered Domain Name

The Best Sites for Free Domain Name Search

Latest Small Business Trend - 2009 Top Small Business Trends

No need for me to reinvent the wheel, here is a very informative list from Small Business Labs – 2009 Top Small Business Trends

Comments? Ideas? Feedback?

If you have any comments, ideas or feedback I’d love to hear from you. Just reply to the newsletter and tell me what you think.
Thanks to all my readers who have sent their comments through my website in the past month. I really do enjoy hearing from you.
Until next month all the best with your online marketing efforts,

Susanne Wickes

Online Marketing Small Business

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