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10 Sensible Steps To Take Before Choosing Your Domain Name

Domain Name Registration Tips

Here's a great article about domain name registration which should help you find out more about the best ways to register a new domain name, renew or transfer an existing registration, or just find a cheap domain registrar.

With such a huge growth in the number of websites and the resulting difficulty in finding an available domain name, it is tempting to grab the first one that sounds like it might do the trick. However, a small amount of homework will pay big dividends – follow the ten steps below to obtain the optimal domain:1. AVAILABILITYIf it's not available you can't have it – simple!2. COPYRIGHTEnsure that you do not breach copyright or infringe trademarks with your choice of domain.3. EXTENSIONSIt's widely acknowledged that the best TLD (top level domain) is .com.

However, in the UK, web users are more than used to .co.uk so this is equally acceptable for UK websites. If .com isn't available and you use .net instead (for example), check that .com isn't either a competitor or that the .com site content is acceptable! Always try to get the .com, your country TLD or .net in that order. Web users are still not used to .biz or .info.4. BE GREEDY!If more than one TLD variant is available, buy as many as you can afford and set them all to point to your website. This is a form of brand protection and prevents unscrupulous competitors trying to cash in on your hard-earned web traffic.5.

TIP: As you can tell by reading this article on domain name registration that there's a lot of technical stuff to know when making your registrar and web hosting choices. Keep reading for more good tips on registering your domains.

BE MEMORABLEMake sure that potential web users will remember your domain name and that they can spell it properly.6. BE PRONOUNCABLETry telling people your web address over the phone – can they understand what you tell them? Or do they give up and try someone else's website.7. BE DESCRIPTIVEIf you are a new business, very few people will remember or search for your domain name if it is your company name. Try choosing a domain name that is descriptive of your products instead e.g. cheap>.com.

Try testing it with a hyphen as well as using just one word.8. OFFLINE MARKETINGUse your domain name in your offline marketing literature and ensure that it is as visible as possible. However, if your domain name consists of more than one word, that isn't hyphenated, try using capital letters e.g. which is easier to read – littlefishwebdesign.com or LittleFishWebDesign.com? Domain names are not case sensitive so your clients will find your site whichever version they use.9. BUY YOUR DOMAIN FOR LONGERSearch engines are now looking at less obvious information such as how long you have bought your domain name for.

Domain names owned for less than two years are though to be penalised, so buy your domain for as long as possible.10. OWN YOUR DOMAIN NAMEIf you use a web designer or third party for your domain names, ensure they are registered in your name and that you have a signed agreement with the company that they will release all the details (including password) to you, quibble free, if you choose to move to another design or hosting company.

About the Author

Emma Kalson is the owner of www.littlefishwebdesign.com and has been designing websites for about 10 years. She doesn't believe in unnecessary bells and whistles on websites and wants to help remove some of the myths surrounding website design and search engine activity. contact@littlefishwebdesign.com

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