The Importance of the Domain Name
Published on the 30th of January 2005
Skip to the Table of ContentsAn Explanation
Now, for those of you out there who have no internet experience whatsoever and so do not know what a "domain name" is, I will explain before I begin. A domain name is the combination of letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores and dots that you type into your Internet Browser to view a certain website. For instance, the domain name for Lowter is lowter.com (external link). See, simple!
In The Beginning
Now, the importance of owning a domain name cannot be over emphasized for anyone with a serious website, especially if you sell products or services. Why? Because without a domain name your website has no credibility. For example, if you were looking for a place online to buy cheap clothes, and after searching on your favorite search engine you were given the following web address: http://members.tripod.com/FredsWebsite123/MyRealGoodShop/index.html, how safe would you feel buying something off of that site, even if the products looked to be of a very high quality and were well priced? My guess is that if the shop traded under the domain: www.FredsClothesShop.net you would have been much more likely to purchase something from there.
So Now I'm Sorted?
So as long as your website has a domain name you're going to do well? Wrong! It's all very well rushing out now and buying www.BobsClothesShop.com, but if your website has nothing to do with Bob or Clothes, your not going to do very well. When choosing a domain name, you have to make sure that it is relevant to the content of your site! Also, try not to make your domain name too long! A domain name like: www.kd83ngeu3i48rtk2nf8ri.org wouldn't get very many hits. Why? Because people won't be able to remember that to pass it on through word of mouth, or even visit it! You need a name that is relevant, yet easy to remember.
Sly Positioning
Also, another thing to consider when purchasing a domain name is where will it appear in an index/directory? The most popular way of sorting websites in a directory or index is alpha-numerically. Now obviously the first number is Zero (0), but it is a good idea to steer clear of using 0's (Zero's) at the beginning of a domain name. For some reason it seems to put visitors off the site just by seeing it. Unless it is absolutely 110% relevant to your site, avoid it! So, the next number is 1, or why not push the boat out and use '1st'? This method can help you get to the top of certain online directories, which by study is always a good place to be!
Drawing To A Close
My last tip is that you can never register too many domains! If you are going to register a domain with a 0 (Zero) or 1 (One), then try and register the same domain but changing the 0 to an O, or the 1 to an I. Or if you are going to use 2 for 'to', or 4 for 'for', then register the longer versions as well. The whole idea of this tip is that when people tell someone else a domain by speech, it is often confusing as to the spelling of the domain name. So for example if your domain was www.SendGifts2Mum4HerBirthday.org, you should attempt to register www.SendGiftsToMumForHerBirthday.org as well.
