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TEN GOOD REASONS TO REGISTER A DOMAIN NAME TODAY

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.

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These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construedin accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Any disputesarising from matters relating to this article shall beexclusively subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of Englandand Wales. You agree that any legal action against Answers 2000Limited (or its directors, officers, or employees) relating tothis article or this agreement will be brought in the courts ofLondon, England, however Answers 2000 Limited reserves right topursue breach of these terms in any jurisdiction. (Please note: The URLs in point 1 of this article are "demo"URLs to illustrate a point, so do NOT need to be clickable).There are 809 words in this article (including title and Aboutthe Author section).-----------------------------------------------------------------Lots of people will tell you that you either don't need a domainname or all the good ones are already taken. I don't agree, Ifind (and register) good domain names on your regular basis,and I think they're more than worth the money (you can registerdomains for less than $20 per year).1.

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.

LONG URLsIf you don't have a domain name for your web site, you'll have along URL, something like http://members.yourisp.com/~yourcompanyor perhaps http://yourcompany.yourisp.com/Now that doesn't look good on a business card! What's more, yourcustomers and prospects probably won't be able to remember it.On the other hand, if you get your own domain name, you'll havean easy to remember URL, that looks professional and is easy forfolks to remember.2. MOVING WEB HOSTWhen you have the type of long URLs I referred to in point 1, your URL is tied to your web host or ISP. What happens if youchange hosting company? What happens if your hosting company goesout of business (it happens)? Answer: Your URL changes, whichmeans you may have to reprint your stationary and any promotionefforts that you've already done and most likely wasted.On the other hand, if you get your own domain name, you can takeit with you (and make it point to your new web host), if youchange hosting companies.3. EMAIL ADDRESSESWhen you get your own domain name, you can set it up so that youhave email addresses containing your domain name. For example,yourname@yourcompany.comDoesn't that look a lot more professional that an ISP, hotmail oryahoo address?4.

SEARCH ENGINE POSITIONINGIf you get a domain name contains keywords that describe yoursite's topic it can help boost your search engine rank (and thushelp you get more visitors).5. SEARCH ENGINE INDEXINGSearch engines can sometimes be sensitive beasts. For example,they don't like being spamdexed with lots of junk pages, and tostop it they either penalise sites which contain junk pages, ormay place limits on the maximum number of pages that can beindexed per domain.If you don't have your own domain name, other people's web siteswho simply share the same hosting service with you, can causeyour site to drop down the search engine results - or evendisappear from search engines completely!On the other hand, if you have your own domain, you won't havethese kinds of problems: you're responsible for and only affectedby your own web site's content.6. DIRECTORIESLots of folks don't consider a site serious, if it doesn't haveits own domain name - and that includes some directory editors.Go look for yourself in Yahoo! and see how many commercial sitesyou can find which don't have a domain name... Answer: Not many.7.

CREDIBILITYWhen new people encounter your business through the web, theyonly know you from what they see. Do you really want to look somefly-by-night who can't afford $20 per year to register their owndomain name? 8. PROTECT YOUR IDENTITYWhen you register a domain name, it identities you (or yourbusiness). Do you really want somebody else grabbing domain namesthat identify you, your business, your products, or (if applicable) your trademarks?Sure, if somebody else does register a domain name that infringesyour rights, you might be able to call the lawyers in, andperhaps get it back... but wouldn't it be easier and cheaper toavoid this hassle in the first place by registering the domainsyourself?9.

TYPOS AND MISSPELLINGSWhen people type in URLs, they sometimes can make typing errorsor misspell the URL. You might consider registering the mostcommon spelling errors of your URL, so that these people stillend-up at your site (ask your web host if you need help withsetting this up).10. INVESTING FOR THE FUTURESome people have made a lot of money registering and trading indomain names. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that providedthat they don't infringe others' trademark or proprietary rights("cybersquatting").So there, exactly as promised, are the 10 good reasons to registera domain name... but I'll add one more, and it's a reason that youshould act today:11.

GET IT FIRSTAs already mentioned, domain names are being registered at atruly incredible rate. You know what that means? If you wait, thedomain name you want could soon be taken - so register it today.This article is Copyright (C) 2005, Answers 2000 Limited.

About the Author

About the Author:This article was written by Sunil Tanna of Answers 2000. For moreinformation about domain names, and several advanced (and free)domain search tools, please visit http://www.domaincavern.com/

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