Domain Names Room

By John Motson

Over the past few months I have received many emails from frustrated readers asking for ways to find available domain names for their new websites.

They don't have the time to look for or wait for domains to expire. They also don't have the startup cash to fork out for a pricey domain. They just want a cool, fresh, new domain name to start working on their website.

The tool I use to brainstorm available domain names is called Domain Name Analyzer. It is made by DomainPunch and is free to download. It is an amazing tool and does the job perfectly.

Well, let's say I am looking to get an available domain for a "golf tips and equipment" website I want to make. I first come up with word combinations that I would like to use if possible. A great way to find words that could go well with search terms is to use a keyword suggestion tool like Wordze.

This way you can combine your target word with words which are actually searched for by people - which means there is demand for your target word from the start. (In addition to this, I use Wordze to find keywords for my AdWords campaigns - so I kill two birds with one stone).

For my example term "golf", I found the words "tips, accessories, equipment, clubs, wedges, putters, irons, instructions" which seem to be pretty popular in the Wordze search results. Wordze tells me people have extensively searched for the above words in combination with the word "golf" in recent days.

I also decide to throw in a set of other generic terms which can always go well in a domain name "ideas, point, place, world, site, news, ways, heaven, haven".

Ok, so we have our target words, now what?

Fire up your Domain Name Analyzer!

Once you have Domain Name Analyzers turned on, look in the top toolbar. You will see an option called "Domain List". Click it and go to "Create Domain Names From Keywords". This launches the Create
Domain Names from Keywords box:

Enter your prefix terms in the left box, and your suffix terms in the right box. For best effect I entered golf, golfing and golfer in the left box. Also, in order to avoid pointless checking of words which are usually registered, you can click the No suffix padding and No prefix padding checkboxes. Also, make sure you select which Tlds you want to search in. I selected .com, .net, .org and .us.

After you have completed all this, you are ready to search.

So, click ok!

You will find that after you click ok, Domain Name Analyzer populates it's lookup queue with your keyword combinations. Thanks to your check in Wordze, you have the right keywords for the job. The look-up queue will look something like the above. As you see, the words have been combined with your selected TLD's for a list of all possible combinations.

Use the search button in the toolbar to start up the search. The Domain Name Analyzer does the entire job for you in a few minutes.

Obviously, this is just an example of the power of this cool free tool. It has a lot more functionality and allows you to do a lot more.

You might find that popular word combinations are taken, but don't be discouraged. Find the right keyword combinations and combine them with Domain Name Analyzer to find the next domain name for your new website.

John Motson provides regular free expired domain lists at his domain news blog http://www.dnxpert.com

By Patrice Rhoades-Baum

Having a hardworking domain name for your website helps you clearly communicate with your prospects and clients. A great domain name makes it easy for prospects and clients to find your website, says something specific about you and your business, and helps protect your brand.

Here are 10 rules of thumb to select a great domain name:

1. It's easy to say.

This also means your domain name must be easy for teleclass, workshop, and radio show listeners to accurately hear.

Poor: TeamSpecialists.com

Better: TeamExperts.com

2. It's easy to spell.

Poor: PhenomenalMnemonicDevices.com

Better: GreatMemoryDevices.com

Best: MemoryDevices.com

3. It's easy to read, even when all letters are lowercase.

Poor: theenglishpoets.com

Better: englishpoets.com

Note: Make it easy for readers by capitalizing each word in your printed materials.

4. It's catchy and easy to remember.

Example (one of Taco Bell's actual domain names): FourthMeal.com

This example comes with a caveat; I don't advocate eating a fourth meal of fast food late at night!

5. It's clear, not cryptic.

Do you have a favorite phrase or industry jargon that's meaningful to you? Put yourself in your prospects' shoes: Would they have a clue what your clever domain name means?

6. It's only 1 or 2 words long (3 words is acceptable; 4 is generally too long unless the words are short).

Acceptable: WritingTipsForKids.com

Acceptable, but confusing when stated verbally: WritingTips4Kids.com

7. It has the fewest syllables possible.

Poor: ExperiencedCareerAdvisors.com

Better: CareerExperts.com

8. It communicates your business or brand.

Acceptable: JaniceJones.com

Better: JonesCPA.com

9. It ends with .com.

Let's say you want to purchase LeadershipStrategies.com, but it's already taken. Don't buy LeadershipStrategies.net. This will just confuse your clients and website visitors. Keep researching-you'll come up with a domain name that fits these criteria. Also, let's say you live in Canada; your best choices would be .com and .ca.

10. It may use hyphens but not underscores.

Poor: Janice_Jones_CPA.com

Better: Jones-CPA.com

Note: In this example, Janice Jones is wise to own at least two domain names: JonesCPA.com (her main website) and Jones-CPA.com. The latter helps protect her brand and is easier to read in printed materials. However, she must be sure to "redirect" visitors from Jones-CPA.com to her main site, JonesCPA.com.

More tips to select and purchase domain names:

When selecting a great domain name, explore lots of possibilities, think about what various domain names might communicate to prospects and clients, and have fun!

If you own a business, your website is your most powerful marketing and sales tool. Marketing consultant and copywriter Patrice Rhoades-Baum teams with entrepreneurs and small-business owners to make their websites DELIVER: clients, income, credibility, results, and success. A Colorado resident and avid outdoorswoman, Patrice is renowned for her down-to-earth website strategies. Visit http://www.WebsitesDeliver.com for a free audio workshop: "10 Strategies to Make Your Website Deliver!"

This article copyrighted ฉ 2008 by Patrice Rhoades-Baum. All rights reserved.

By Trevor Johnson

Have you ever thought of anything to buy without knowing exactly where to go and get it? I honestly believe there is no such thing. In this century anything on earth can be sold and purchased, even Earth itself. If you like competition and bargaining, auctions can give you that kind of pleasure no matter which hamlet you live it; online auctions are open 24 hours a day for anyone willing to take a chance.

Domain auctions are very fashionable nowadays; after all, domains sound like the real estate of the internet. People buy domains to drive traffic to their sites and for many other reasons, and you don't have to search for long if there is a certain name you have in mind. Domains expire every other minute because people forget about them or just don't need them anymore so you have a good chance to find what you are looking for in a very short time by only creating an account on one of those websites which organise expired domain auctions.

The procedure is piece of cake. As soon as you have created an account in one of these 'marketplaces', you may start searching for thousands of domains available. Most of these sites offer a very good advanced search option so you won't waste much time to get to the name that meets your needs. You will be able to see and monitor a significant number of current and future auctions. You may use the automated bidding system that most of these websites provide if you set the system properly, according to your bid limits. In this way, you won't even have to follow the updates; the system will do it for you. However, it is wiser to sit in front of the computer and personally monitor the auction in its final quarter of an hour. Relying on email notification is not recommendable as we all know sometimes emails do not reach their destination because of errors beyond control.

Some websites feature not only available auctions, but also auctions that will soon be available, so you may increase the chance to find the very domain you desire. As soon as you have chosen the domain names that you want to purchase, you will add them to your cart and select the bidding limits that you find appropriate. It is as simple as that; no time wasted, sweat or headaches.

Sometimes you may be surprised to see that you are the only bidder. In that case, you will automatically win the auction and, what is more, you will get it for the minimum bid price listed. Yet, there are many people who prefer the challenge of tight competition and will not take much delight in winning automatically for lack of competitors.

So, what you need is a valid card to pay in case you win the auction. Sometimes there is an imposed time limit within which to pay for the domain but that doesn't sound like a problem; if you have decided to place a bid for a domain name it means you are willing to pay.

The best part for auctions fans is the three-day period in which the auction is open. You get email notifications if you are outbid so that you can place a better bid and not lose the domain you are after. Besides the fun that expired domain auctions offers, you are likely to obtain exactly what you need in the most comfortable manner, sitting in your computer chair.

Find out more about how to find expired domains for sale and see whether expired domain lists can help you.

By Jim Eberle

Getting business opportunity leads start right here. You've decided to start your own home business or you've signed up as an affiliate into a nutritional company or whatever. Either way, you "must" get a domain name.

I was browsing the internet the other day (and i've seen this often), if you go do a search on one of the search engines for a keyword phrase, you will notice that many of the URL's (Web sites) have some kind of weird URL that doesn't directly reflect what their web site is all about. Those particular web site addresses not having specific keywords in them make them more difficult to get to the top of the search engines. This is basic level SEO! To get your business opportunity leads, how hard is it going to be if your web site address doesn't contain any of the keywords you need to get to the top of the search engines? Yet, as I was doing my browsing, it's apparent that not some, but a bulk of the web sites I was scanning through didn't have anything remotely close to what they need. To make matters worse, I noticed that by looking at the source codes on some of these sites, they really didn't have "any" plan to use search engine optimization. They didn't know what they are doing! These people are struggling with their internet business and I can point it out because I've been there, not knowing what to do.

By the way, you can go to any web site, right click with your mouse on the home page, and click on source code to find out what keywords that particular web site is going for.

The best way to go about selecting a domain name should begin using pencil and paper and writing down keywords and then keyword phrases. Just think about what you want your web site to accomplish and what is your general theme. Brainstorm and write everything down. Your goal would be to get two keywords at least in your domain name (if you can), one will suffice but make it a main keyword that you can associate with other keywords. You do this now and it will help later on going after other keyword phrases in the search engines.

Go do a search in Google for "domain name availability" or go to a hosting site for example, Godaddy.com. You can then type in a domain name that you've come up with. If the domain name isn't available, it will come up with suggestions of domain names that you "can" get. Remember, while you are doing all of this, you would like the name to be on the short side but if that can't happen, you are wanting keywords in your domain name for your particular niche. To get business opportunity leads for your own niche, you want one or more keywords in your web site address. By the way, you will need hosting. Many, if not all, can sell you domain names.

Choosing the right domain name is very important and you should be very deliberate about this. It's the first step in getting business opportunity leads for your niche.

A good place you can go to learn about all of this is http://www.businessopportunitycoop.com

Jim Eberle is an independent marketer who does affiliate marketing as well as uses the Veretekk marketing system to generate leads for his own personal business opportunities. He is also affiliated with http://www.businessopportunitycoop.com in which, as a team of like minded network marketers, are combining their efforts to obtain high positions in the search engines for high level keyword phrases. Membership is free and a great place to be whether you are new or experienced in network marketing. Leads are distributed through a rotary group into a downline builder. People who join can get free links and obtain leads while they learn at their own pace. The goal is for many people doing a little instead of several people doing a lot for search engine optimization in obtaining high level keyword phrases.

http://www.leads.businessopportunitycoop.com

By Kenny Tan

As you maybe knowing or do not know at all that your domain name could be easily stolen or be given up to the vicious entity that are known as the Cyber squatters whose main objective is to steal your internet identity and this is how they act on it. They could just register a domain name as YourDomainName dot org, and get along the same thing with YourDomainName dot biz, consequently they will be contacting you and attempt to sell you those names at higher prices. If they found that doesn't work, then the following consequences could happen:

They will permit your competitor to get a domain that appears similar to yours, and allowing them to make more confusion or try to steal your hard-earned traffic, business and customers.

So, in order to avoid that bad consequences to happen on you, please do take these steps right now to prevent the bad intention of cyber squatters:

Make sure all your customers through you for authorization:

This mean you will have to go through your domain name registrar either by using a script integration or you may fill in a form manually that can allow you to lock in domain transfer authorization, so that the your customer domains are not easily get transferred out by anyone else.

You can also purchase these domain names and keep them under your roof. From the domain registrar information, you can includes information such as contact information, and the name of the registrant of who should be contacted if someone wishes to register your domain, the character string you are claiming (this must be an EXACT match), description of your current products/services, as you began using that domain name.

If you are using an automated system to handle the domain registration, you will have a small window on the browser to execute on filling out an authorized entry form and then send the request to your registrar. Always be sure to check your domain registrar settings if there is any time frame been program to allow a time limit on filling out the authorized entry form.

Failure to enter the requested details during a certain time frame means the registering entities will not check to see if there is an equivalent .com, .net or .org name. They also will not check the IP Claim Service database. Meaning, you could lose your .info or net-version of your domain name.

At last, don't let cyber squatters shake you down and ruin what you have built up on the net. Protect your main domain name by securing and authorizing all possible means of domain names similar to yours!

Are you looking for an affordable, cheap and reliable shared web hosting, reseller web hosting or master reseller web hosting? Please visit http://www.hosting4wealth.net now to read more details or you can also visit the author hosting blog at http://www.hosting4wealth.com/blog for new educative articles on web hosting.

By Dee Buteland

In the early days of the web, many services offered free or paid web space, for your business of hobby site.

When you signed up, you would get a URL like

Fast-forward to today, and such a web presence seems amateurish and ridiculous. Particularly for online business enterprises, it is taken for granted that if you don't operate under your own domain names (or several), then you can't be a serious or legitimate business or service. The old system still persists, but mainly for bloggers, who are mostly not interested in selling anything, but just want to throw up a travel journal or some family photos on blogger.com or a similar blogging site.

So, the first thing you can do with a domain and the reason you should buy one is that is suggests to the world that you are a real business. The domain itself can be used to give your online enterprise, whatever it may be, a unique identity. Normal offline marketing is based on branding, as we all know, and the web is rapidly going the same way.

This branding is not necessarily based on a company name. You would easily guess the business of web sites called shoes.com, cars.com or books.com, and you would also get a lot of type-in traffic if you were lucky enough to own such a domain. These are what are known as generic names, and though the best ones are long gone, you could create a name for your online store or business based on two-word or three-word combinations.

The other major thing you can do with a good domain is to make money from it.

One option is to snap up a good name then offer it for sale by auction. Or, you can develop a web site for the domain name, and make money by placing ads and getting a cut of the sale - this is known as affiliate marketing. Another option would be to place pay-per-click ads on the domain, where you are paid for the clickthroughs. Having established a site, and got regular traffic to it (at least in the range of hundreds of visitors a day) it becomes a valuable commodity, which can be sold to other online marketers for a lot more than the cost of the domain and the development of the pages.

Since domain names are now so cheap (about $10 a year to register) you can simply use a domain name to give yourself a unique, relevant and permanent email address, even if you do not make a web site. Most good domain registrars will let you set up an address like you@yoursite.com which can be forwarded to any other address, such as the one you already use from your Internet Service provider.

If you don't already own a domain, it's time to think about it seriously.

Dee Buteland writes about domain names and how to make money from them. To find out how to get your first domain name registration, and see everything you need to know about domains, check buteland.com

By Mark Shin

It seems everyone is trying to give you some free advice on how to register a domain name. That's because registering domain names is big business and we all want a slice of the pie.

But, make sure you do your homework before you register that domain name because once you've signed up, you can't get a refund. (Registrars may give you a refund on the web hosting package, but you'll never get the price of the domain name back.)

If you understand a little bit about how people make money selling domain names, you'll be able to take our information with a grain of salt. Here are three levels of people who make money off of domain names:

1. Large companies like GoDaddy or NetWork Solutions are Domain Name Registrars. They make money by registering the domain name for you. (You can't register a domain name by yourself. It has to be done through a registrar.) Domain names cost anywhere between $2.99 to $34.99 per year. If someone tells you it doesn't matter where you buy your domain name from, don't believe it. Different registrars offer different features and you need to find out what you get before you buy.
2. Smaller domain registrars might be domain name resellers. If you've ever seen a domain name registrar website that looked an awful lot like another company, it might be because one is a domain name resellers. You can make big bucks as a domain name reseller. Basically, they buy a whole bunch of domain names from the big companies at wholesale cost and then they resell the domain names to you.
3. People like me. We make money on commission by referring people to the big companies. It doesn't affect the price that you have to pay - that's set by the registrars. Our business model is to give out advice based on our personal experiences. People check out the registrars that we recommend, and if they decide to buy, then we get a cut of the action.

So, now you know. The reason why everyone is offering you free advice about registering a domain name is because, ultimately, we want you to use our links when you go to the registrar so that we get a referral fee.

Bottom Line: Search through the internet for information and reviews about domain name registrars and web hosts. Read things with a critical eye. Don't believe everything at face value. And, make sure you check out a few different sources.

When you're ready to register a domain name, just click on one of those companies that you've been reading about and buy your online property.

But, don't forget - you can't get a refund on a domain name registration. Buyer Beware!

If you're ready to register domain names for your website or blog, we're here to help at http://domainnames.webdiggin.com where you'll find this information and more detailed information about why we switched to BlueHost and WordPress.

By Dominic Dat

There are two main ways that you can make money from domain names - you can either use a domain name that means something (eg business.com) or you can use a domain that gets a lot of visitors. It may surprise you to learn that these domain names are not necessarily the same thing.

Most of the domains which are a word or phrase are already taken. To get a domain that means something you need to think latterly, think ahead and register a domain name before anyone else thinks of it. For example, in the boating world there were yachts, then super yachts, and perhaps now mega yachts - so if you can think of what the next term will be, then it may be worth your while registering the domain and waiting for a few years until the term becomes widely used. If you get it right then you may well be the owner of a domain name worth a lot of money.

The other way of making money with domains is to get a domain name that already has a lot of visitors, and then monetizing the domain - normally through advertising. This can be a lucrative business for those with the knowledge of how to find well visited domains and I will now try to explain how these domains come about, and how you can find them.

It is important to realize the distinction between a domain name, and a website. A good analogy is to think of the domain name like a telephone number, and the website as a company. When you call the telephone number you get to talk to someone at the company, which is similar to when you enter a domain in an internet browser you get to see the underlying website.

Imagine a sales company starts up, promotes its telephone number, and then at a later date the company ceases to trade. People will still be calling the telephone number even though there will be no one to answer it. If you were in competition with the original company, it could prove lucrative to have their old telephone number redirected to your company.

Domains and websites work in a similar way. A domain name gets registered, a website gets built, and then the domain/website is promoted all over the internet, sometimes with thousands of links pointing to it, which results in thousands of visitors. But a domain name can only be registered for a set period of time and at the end of this period the owner can chose to renew the registration. However, domains don't always get renewed, so the domain becomes available again to be registered by anyone else.

These domains are called expiring domains (or expired after they become available to register again). If you can find an expiring domain that has been well promoted then you will have the opportunity of registering that domain, and making money from it. So the trick is to find these valuable domains. You need to find domains which are about to become available again, and then figure out how many links are pointing at each domain - in general the more links pointing at a domain, the more visitors a domain, and hence website, is going to get. This can be a lot of work, but there are websites that can provide you with this information.

For more information about expired domains visit http://www.domdat.com

By Roger Fry

Domain names are special, self-sufficient part of WWW and a profit-making kind of business in the Internet. There is a huge number of IT companies that sale/purchase/estimate domain names. The times when You could get an exclusive free domain name from Your hosting-provider had passed. Now, in order to purchase a good domain You may visit some of the websites that specialize in domain names sale (for example Sedo.com) and buy the domain You liked (of course, if You are ready to pay about $10.000 for it, though, many of domain names are much more expensive). If You are not - You will have to select domain name from those, which are being sold as vacant. Here is what You should take into consideration while choosing a domain name:

1. Domain level.

It's preferably to have a second-level domain name. For example, in "www.design.com" the "www" prefix means World Wide Web; "design" is the domain basis (see below how to select it); "com" is the domain zone. Third-level domain name is a little bit different - "www.logo.design.com", forth-level domain will look like "www.pixel.logo.design.com" - the number of domain components increases depending on its level. Domain components imply words that affiliate domain name and are separated by dots. The more components are in a domain name, the higher is its level and the less valuable it is. The third and higher level domains are being often distributed cost free. When purchasing a domain name for Your company (or Yourself), make sure it is a second-level domain.

2. Domain zone.

There is a huge amount of domain zones, each of them having its own meaning, and it is important to choose the most appropriate one. There are Generic Domains and Country Code Domains. Among Generic Domains are: "com" - commercial project; "net" - network, related to WWW; "org" - organization; "biz" - business project; "info" - informational project; "TV" - television channel; and many others. Country Code Domains are domains that reveal ownership of a particular domain (website) by a country. Each country (including those that don't already exist) has its own domain zone. For example "us" means USA site; "de" is German; "co.uk" stands for Great Britain","ru" refers to Russia; "fr" denotes France. So, what domain zone would give the best fit for Your domain? If Your Internet project is going to have regional restrictions (for example e-shop meant for sale in USA only) - do not hesitate to choose the domain zone of Your region.

If Your project isn't attached to a particular country, You will have to choose from the "Great Five" of domain zones: com/net/org/biz/info. These zones are the most valuable and popular in the Internet. "Com" is one of the best, being a universal domain zone. "Net" matches with IT forums and sites related to domain names. "Org" suits perfectly to web directories. Almost all of the best great directories have domains in "org" zone (dmoz.org; lii.org; vlib.org; botw.org). "Biz"- will be a brilliant solution for e-shops and projects that have to do with online sale. "Info" is right for blogs and personal pages. But You don't have to be consistent with these meanings - they are conventional. Though, there are domains which You can't purchase without having a competent authority: "gov" - government establishment; "mil" - military department; "edu" - educational establishment; "int" - international organization; "museum" - museums and so on.

3. Domain name basis.

Domain name basis is the most important domain component. Let's emphasize 2 completely different methods of selecting a successful domain name basis:

1) As a basis for a domain they use euphonic, well-remembered word that isn't associated with company's

activity, products or services. Such domains are often being called by company's name. For example Google.com and GoDaddy.com are remarkable, short domains that don't have terms characterizing their

activities, like "search", "host", "domain", "web". They are figured on exclusiveness, brevity and memorability.

2) The second method comprises that domain name will consist of a term/terms relating to company's (project) activity. The terms here serve as keywords of a given site. For example "www.design.com" contains a keyword - design. It is counted on to promote the domain in search engines. Some search engines (e.g. Google.com) take domain name into account while giving search results. Domains of this kind stick to the memory without being unique and may be easily found by entering them in a browser's line. Such domain names are typical for purely Internet projects.

4. Number of words in a domain.

The more words are in a domain name, the less valuable it is. And vice-versa - the less words it contains (ideally one) the more value it represents. For example, "www.design.com" has one word - design. This word is polysemantic to the maximum, because it can denote landscape design, interior design, web design, 3D design and other notions relevant to design. Such domains are appreciated highly. "www.webdesign.com" consists of 2 words - web and design. The value of this domain is a little lower than that of the previous one, because it has more narrow meaning that bounds its scope. "www.customwebdesign.com" includes 3 words - custom web design, and is therefore still less valuable.

5. Brevity and memorability.

It doesn't make sense to include more than 3 words in a domain name - its value and ability to stick to the

memory will decrease owing to the length. The shorter is a domain, the more precious it is. Short domains are easily remembered, You can dictate them by telephone without difficulty, have them displayed as an

advertisement in public transport and be sure they will be noticed, etc.

6. No hyphens and digits.

Hyphens and digits degrade domain's value. Exception to the rule are the cases when digits form an integral part of a domain concept. For example "3D", "mp3", "formula1".

7. Logical abbreviations.

Sometimes, in order to insert multipartite expression into a domain, they use abbreviations. But as far as

domains are concerned, they often do this incorrectly. For example, it's necessary to apply

"full flash web sites" notion to a domain. To do this, they often abbreviate the expression, leaving only the initial letters of each word. Based upon the received "ffws", it's impossible to understand what this domain means. It's not being "read" by search engines and is poorly remembered in spite of its brevity. That is to say, the given domain has more drawbacks than advantages. How to correctly abbreviate the expression like this? We should define its main idea/concept, which will serve as a keyword of the future site. In our case it will be "full flash". The rest of it -"web sites" is of minor importance, so we can abbreviate it as "ws". As the result, we have "www.FullFlashWs.com" domain. This domain has obvious advantages when being promoted in search engines at "full flash" query, reasonably long and is not hard to remember.

8. Domain's first letter.

In itself the first letter of a domain name is of minor importance. But there are nuances that may have a beneficial effect on popularization of a future site. The fact is that many of web directories have option to sort websites alphabetically, and some of the directories have this option dissembled. Thus, the sites whose domain names start with the first letters of alphabet are being visited much more frequently than the rest in a directory. This factor should be taken into account when inventing a proper and brief domain name.

Finally, if You purchase a domain which is not new and has been displayed in the Internet for some time, consideration

must be given to:

-Age of the domain name.

-Domain's history, its scope in the past.

-Make sure that this domain doesn't have punitive sanctions in search engines and its e-mail is not recognized as a spam.

-Make sure that other companies/persons don't make claims on this domain.

-PR and Alexa statistics of this domain.

http://www.AtixMedia.com
ฉ Copying, printing and distribution of this article is allowed as long as it includes attribution and all the links mentioned in the text.

I am a SEO marketer in Atix Media company that specializes in custom web design. I like devoting myself to promotion and popularization of our clients' sites, and thus ensuring remarkable and profitable IT presence for their businesses. Your website won't be of noticeable benefit without a competent SEO. And a correctly built promo- strategy means 60% success of Your IT project.

By Mark Shin

Where do you get your domain name ideas from? Your friends? Your family? Your dog?

We've launched several sites, and coming up with a good domain name is always difficult. It seems all of the good ones are taken. There are two basic strategies that people use.

1. Come up with a new domain name that isn't already registered.
2. Go after a domain name that was previously owned. (This is always the more expensive option because you are either buying a premium domain name, or buying an expired domain name on auction.)

Right now, we're going to focus on the first method and try to come up with a new domain name that isn't already registered.

This is the cheapest option, but it involves trial and error. There are a lot of free online tools out there that can help suggest good domain name ideas. Some of these tools are run by the registrars (i.e. GoDaddy, NetWork Solutions, etc) and some of these tools are run by independent websites (i.e. MakeWords.com). But they're all free.

Basically, you type in the domain name you want. The online tool will tell you if the domain name is available, or it will suggest a list of other domain names that you might be interested in. They come up with the list by adding words before (prefix) or after (suffix) your search term.

• For example, Google.com is taken, but hotGooglestore.com is not.

Some of the better domain name idea tools will use a thesaurus to come up with similar but different words. Although we probably wouldn't buy a domain name from Yahoo, we did like their domain name tool.

• For example, redcafe.com is taken, but RedDiner.com is not.

MakeWords.com is a neat tool because they have an advanced keyword tool search that lets you choose different themes of words to try before or after your search term.

• So, for example, their "action" theme tries different combinations of your search term and words like jump, shout, cut, etc.
• Their colors theme adds words like red, blue, yellow... You get the idea.

The best part of MakeWords is that you can create your own list of words to add to your search term. Just click on "list of affixes" at the bottom of the webpage and enter in a custom list of words that you like. The website will spit out a bunch of domain name ideas with your custom words added before and after your search term.

The worst part of MakeWords is that sometimes it'll tell you a domain name is available, but when you go to a registrar and try to buy it, it turns out that it's not available after all. Because this tool wasn't always reliable, we tended to stick with domain name generators run by the registrars.

How These Sites Make Money:

Domain Name Suggestion sites are free because they make their money when you decide to register a domain name with them.

• Chances are, if you used GoDaddy's domain name tool, then when you find your dream domain name, you'll just buy it from them.
• If you used MakeWords, you can choose which registrar company that you want to buy from, and they'll send you there with the click of a link. (If you buy from that company, then MakeWords.com will make a commission from the sale.)

Bottom Line: Use any site that you like to come up with domain name ideas. But, when you're ready to buy, choose the registrar that offers the best domain name package and price, not the registrar that has the best domain name suggestions.

Why? Because with domain names, the price ranges from $1.99 to $34.99 per year. And, not all registrars offer the same quality of service. What's worse is there are no refunds on domain names. Once you pay, the money is gone. So, buyer beware.

If you're ready to register domain names for your blog or website, we're here to help at http://domainnames.webdiggin.com where you'll find this information and more detailed information about why we switched to BlueHost and WordPress.

By Zuberr Nowrung

The most precious tip I can give you is to use common sense when registering a domain name for your business because your domain name can have an impact in both the online and offline marketing of your website. Domain names that are long or difficult to spell can make people ignore your website(or you lose type-in traffic) and it has to be pretty good for them to stick with it. Short domain names register better with people's memory and are easy to remember.

You must get a domain name that will help you in your marketing niche and strategy, and also in branding your business name. As I said before, you can use your business name as your website URL. If your business name you want to register is already taken by someone else then get a URL name close to what you do, or if it's a 2-word name, try a dash in between the words. Purchasing a business name domain name isn't the only way to go. A keyword-focused domain name is also good, it helps in SEO (search engine optimization).

If you are planning to use the .net domain extension instead, you may want to wait on deciding your name should be until after you have found an available domain name that is suitable to your business. Follow the steps below and you should be okay in identifying your name brand to the internet community.

Structure The Brand Name - That is, put your domain name on your business card, printed materials; put it on your phone recording, on your company car; and anywhere else you deem right. Don't forget to include it as a signature with your email.

Keep it Short and Memorable - It must be easy for your visitors to remember your URL so they can type it in the address bar another time. Don't get a URL that uses all 26 letters of the alphabet.

Grab a .com domain extension where possible - I strongly recommend purchasing a .com domain name as opposed to a .net, .info, .biz or anything else. If your chosen domain name is not available in a .com, keep searching until you find one that isn't taken and that fits your theme. There is nothing wrong with the other extensions but when you have a .com extension, it sounds like you've been on the net a long time and everyone knows .com!

Remember, your domain name is an extension of your business and your brand of product or service.

By Sam Scribbler

There is no better feeling than earning money while you sleep. Some lucky people have money on deposit; others own buy-to-let property or equities. All very good investments, but you need to start with a lot of money to get a decent return. So what about the man with a thousand dollars? How does he earn money while he sleeps? Well there are plenty of opportunities on the Internet. What about considering Domain Parking? Buy a domain name with either a .com, .net or .co.uk ending and park it with a specialist online company who will give it it's own page on the net filled with advertisements. If a web surfer opens the page and clicks on one of the ads, you earn - sometimes $5 or $10.

Good names are going fast, particularly those with the .com extension and, needless to say, there are "big boys" already controlling large portfolios of desirable names. But, with some hard work and patience you can still find words or combinations of words that will make good, profitable domain names. A friend recently registered oldmalt.com, oldsinglemalt.com, oldmaltwhiskey.com and oldmaltwhisky.com along with the .net and .co.uk extensions of the same names. Proper spelling is not always important - just think about text messaging - our children seem to communicate in a new foreign language using words like: txt, xchg, luv, biz etc. In fact bizetc.co.uk was available while I was writing this article. People often miss-key and may write googlw or foogle in error and don't forget Americans spell many words differently to the Brits. Look for alternative spellings, slang or just common spelling mistakes; they could all be opportunities to make money while you sleep.

Checking for and buying domains could not be simpler. Go to a domain registration company like uk2.net or godaddy.com. You will usually find a domain search box on the home page. Enter a name and press search. You will be able to see your chosen name with all of the possible extensions and their availability. If the name and the extension you desire is available you will be able to buy it with a credit card there and then. Within a couple of hours you can return to the site and begin administering your domain. If you currently use an email account at Hotmail or Gmail you will now be able to change your email address from johndoe67004a @ hotmail.com to john @ oldmalt.com by simply redirecting your mail through your domain to Hotmail or Gmail, where you can view it as normal. You can even change the settings in Gmail to display john @ oldmalt.com as the return address, without changing your original user name.

Once you own a domain name you can begin to earn money while you sleep. Go to a domain-parking specialist, like sedo.com or namedrive.com and park your domain for free. They will give clear, simple, instructions explaining how to redirect you domain to their site and once you've done that everything runs on automatic.

The more adventurous domain entrepreneurs will realize there must be more money to be made somewhere, but they lack the computer skills to build a website. Why Park is a company offering you the opportunity to own a content rich website of your own, with automatically generated and constantly changing articles relevant to subjects and key words chosen by you and you don't need any skills or computer knowledge to get started. You can even add affiliate links and sell other people's products by signing up at clickbank.com where thousands of products are available. By signing up with Why Park you retain 100 percent of your earnings, rather than giving eighty percent to the parking site.

Serious domaineers (not available) are busy buying and selling in the secondary market. So while you earn from your visitors you can also be offering your site for sale or auction and some names have been sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions. You may spot a great name that is due to expire - all names must be renewed on or around their due dates - and purchase it. Some pros use domain-snatching software like Domain Software to buy expiring domains and avoid expensive auctions.

The Internet is getting larger every day and the pool of available names gets smaller, particularly if you want a .com, the most desirable extension. But there are still bargains to be had, if you are patient and creative. Good luck.

Sam Scribbler http://coowl.com

By Terry Taggert

A reverse DNS (domain name server) search is similar to a reverse phone search in that it is designed to find information linked to a group of numbers. However, unlike a reverse phone lookup that searches a telephone number, a reveres DNS lookup conducts a search with an IP address.

An IP (internet protocol) address is a computer's numeric address (I.E. 1.127.240.18) that is converted into a domain name (I.E. Google.com) by a domain name server. Every server that is connected to the internet is given a unique IP address. Therefore, a reverse DNS search queries domain name servers in an attempt to discover a match.

Why is a reverse DNS search used? A reverse DNS lookup can be utilized for a number of reasons, but the most common reasons are:

� Network troubleshooting assistance - Reverse DNS search was very useful for SMTP e-mail, and website tools used to track users, for instance, in the case of internet forums. Essentially, reverse domain name searches provided assistance in the same manner that tracerouting and pinging is helpful in regards to network support.

� Anti-spam - This service is often used by individuals to check up on the domain name of a certain sender of spam emails, so that it can be determined whether the spammer is likely connected to dialup customers, home-based broadband customers, or if the individual has dynamically assigned addresses. Many, but not all, spam emails start off from servers that have missing "generic" reverse domain name server lookup names.

� Verifying the Forward Confirmed reverse DNS (FCrDNS) format - This verification in FCrDNS format permits a style of authentication that is connected between the server owner, IP address provider, and the domain name owner. Even though this technique is not completely thorough, it is accurate enough in validation that it is often utilized for white-listing, as a lot of spammers and phishers use "zombie computers" that cannot escape this type of a test.

Thus, if you would like to match an IP address with a domain name server, all you will require is the IP address, which you will enter into the search box provided on a reverse DNS search site. With any luck you'll achieve successful results.

Terry Taggert writes informational articles about people search, privacy, reverse phone lookups, and other similar topics.

By Mark Shin

The domain name owner is the person who currently owns a domain name. Sure, that was obvious. But here are some things that you might not know about that domain name you registered.

1. When you register for a domain name, your contact information is publicly listed in the WHOIS database. Your registrar may provide domain name privacy services where they list their corporate information as the contact to hide your personal address, telephone number and email. (You still retain full control over the domain name.) Depending on the backbone of the registrar, they will protect your personal information from prying eyes and spam harvesters, but probably not law enforcement agencies.

2. If you use domain name privacy to register your domain name and your registrar goes out of business, you may have difficulty proving your rights. Some registrars protect their customer's privacy by storing customer data with a third party in escrow in case the registrar goes bankrupt.

3. The legal owner of the domain is whoever controls the domain's username and passwords, email address, and administrative features.

4. The domain name owner (in most cases) has control over the domain name for as long as they keep on renewing their registration and paying the fees. If they let the domain name expire, the domain name owner gets a grace period to buy back the domain name. The domain name may get sold on auction by the registrar, but the domain name owner still has first rights to reclaim their domain name. (But, of course, they'll have to pay an additional penalty to the domain name registrar for waiting so long to renew it.) Once the domain name is dropped by the registrar and released from the ICANN/Verisign databases, then the previous domain name owner has to line up with everyone else to fight for that domain name.

5. A domain name owner may lose control of the domain name if there is a trademark-based domain name dispute. Most trademark issues have to be resolved by agreement, court action or arbitration before a registrar will cancel, suspend or transfer a domain name.

ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers governs and .biz, .info, .name, .net, .org and .com domain names. Their uniform domain name dispute resolution policy (www.icann.org/udrp/udrp.htm) is followed by all registrars. If you have a complaint against a domain name owner (like cybersquatting), check out the ICANN website for a list of Dispute Resolution Service Providers.

6. Domain name registrations are non refundable. A registrar might give you a refund on a webhosting package, but they'll usually deduct the cost of the domain name registration from your refund.

If you're ready to register domain names for your website or blog, we're here to help at http://domainnames.webdiggin.com where you'll find this information and more detailed information about why we switched to BlueHost and WordPress.

By Mark Shin

We're starting a few more blogs and websites, so we're in the market for some decent domain names. This time, we thought we'd check out some of the lists of domain names for sale, instead of trying to coming up with new domain names.

The problem with domain names that are on sale is that they're more expensive than buying a regular, new domain name.

If you can come up with a good, new domain name that hasn't been registered yet, it should cost you around $10 per year. If you need to buy a domain name that someone else is re-selling, then the initial asking price can be considerably higher. (But, after you buy the domain name, it will only cost $10 per year, or whatever your domain registrar charges.)

What does Domain Names for Sale mean?

When you see lists of domain names that are on sale, it means that either

1. Someone owns the domain name and is now trying to re-sell it (premium domain name)
2. Someone bought the domain name, let it expire, and the domain name is now getting re-sold (expired domain name).

If you're the only person trying to buy that domain name on sale, then you're in luck. You just need to meet the minimum (reserve) price and it's yours. But chances are several people are trying to buy that domain name (especially if it's a popular domain name or a one word .com domain name). These domain names usually get sold on auction to the highest bidder.

Where to buy domain names for sale

All of the major registrar websites will have lists of domain names for sale in their aftermarket section. Here are some things you need to know when you try to buy a domain name for sale...

1. You may win the auction bid for an expired domain name, but if at the last moment the previous domain owner decides they want their name back, they win automatically.
2. You may see premium domain names listed on several registrar sites. That's because the domain owner has signed up with several domain registrars to sell it for them. They pay a cost upfront to open an account, and then they pay a yearly fee to renew their account.
3. If the domain name you are looking for is taken, but you see the option to buy it on backorder, think very carefully. Usually the deal with backordered domain names is if the name expires or is cancelled by the registrant, then the registrar will try to grab it the instant it becomes available.

You've got 3 things going against you in a backorder.

1. The domain owner might not let the domain name expire. They always have first shot at renewing it.
2. If the domain name expires, your registrar might not managed to get hold of the expired domain name. (Remember, every registrar and company specializing in dropped domain names may be fighting to get that expired domain name when it is released into the public again.)
3. If the registrar does get hold of the domain name, then you have to outbid anyone else interested in buying that domain name.
   

Bottom Line: Read the fine print before you sign up to buy a domain name on sale. It may be more trouble and money than it's worth.

If you're ready to register domain names for your website or blog, we're here to help at http://domainnames.webdiggin.com where you'll find this information and more detailed information about why we switched to BlueHost and WordPress.

By Ken Kachope

Do you have a domain name yet? If no, this is your chance to acquire a .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz address free of charge.

The cost of domain or web hosting has become economical and it is crucial that we take advantage of this by acquiring and registering domain names for our businesses and individual use.

Compared to Mobile Telecommunication; to make a call from your cell phone, you acquire a SIM card and pay for credit or airtime to your preferred cell phone company. With domain or web hosting, you register your domain name and only pay for hosting it on a reliable server where it can been reached when visitors type in your website address in their web browser or when they send you an email message.

To register your domain name, you need to approach a domain name registrar and check the availability of your preferred domain name. If it is available, you need to register it ASAP lest it be taken by some one else. In case it is unavailable, you will have to modify it and maybe include dots or hyphens and again check to see whether it is available. Once registered, you can then upload your website or configure your email addresses etc.

A .com address is the most popular and is usually registered for commercial entities.

A .net address could be for a business or for individual use.

A .org address is usually for non-profit organizations.

A .info address is usually for information purposes.

A .biz address is usually for businesses.

For example, if your business were called Malynne Cosmetics; you would register your domain name as malynee.com and have an email address say info@malynne.com.

You could also have a personal domain name registered in your names e.g. If your names were Todd Martins; you would register your domain name as toddmartins.com and have a unique email address like mail@toddmartins.com.

Ken Kachope writes about Web Hosting and Domain name registration. For more information, visit http://www.reliable-domain-hosting.com

By Joseph Nyamache

There are three main reasons why you need to buy your own domain names.

Crazy as it may sound; some small businesses still do not see the value of owning their own generic domain names. There maybe a thousand reasons why any business regardless of its size should own their business name or for that matter a domain.

Today I am not going to list the qualities of a good name or how to make money selling domains. No I will not do any of that. Rather I am going to give you three reasons why you as a businessman/woman need to register a good name for your business.

Build Future Online Investment.

It is a proven fact! That is where the future is going. What future am I talking about here? Your customers! Each and every passing day more and more people are discarding that extra trip to their regular pizza place or pick their prescription from that local pharmacy or movie from that store around the corner.

Instead, more and more people are becoming net savvy. It has now become a norm to order online pizza delivery. It is so comforting and convenient for my grandpa to fill his prescription online. And it feels so lazy and nice to order my favorite movie series from the comfort of my couch.

To stay in business, you must be at the right place where your potential customers are going or are already there. Owning your own domain name is the first step towards investing online. Strategically placing your business where the future is heading if not already there.

Key to Owning a Successful Website.

The next logical step once you secure your domain name is to build a web site. Now for a newcomer that may seem an uphill or impossible task.

Do you not need to learn all that programming language, understand some technical jargon or set up some software before you can be able to build a professional and functioning website?

Worry not my friend:

There exists software programs such as, what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) that can enable anyone with a passion and will to build a professional and successful web site. Or you can hire programmers and designers or outsource to someone to do the dirty work while you concentrate on what you do best.

Now, a professional and functional web site full of great content has unlimited potential. It can attract thousands of visitors worldwide; you can promote different products or sell advertisement space. There are infinite ways you can put it to work.

The key here is to own your own generic name that is identifiable to your customer base and contains all the good qualities of a good name.

It's Cheap and Easy to Buy a Domain Name.

It never ceases to amaze me how some individuals manage to register a given domain name for less than $10 only to sell it a year or so later for thousands or even millions. I'm still not sure if this is mere luck or ingenious...Ah, but that is a story for another time.

For now, while still all over town -- You can be able to grab your own name for less than what it will cost you to put three gallons of gas in your tank, why not grab your domain name before things turn for the worst. Who know maybe the recession talk and madness may spiral over to the domain name industry!

Joseph Nyamache is a proud owner of one of the worst domain names: http://domainnames.your-inforcom.com
You can learn from his mistakes at domain names 101

By Ken Kachope

In today's internet era, it is important that individuals, businesses and organizations have an online presence. A Domain Name is your corporate identity on the internet. It shows your business presence and is recognized worldwide. Transactions will be associated with this domain name once you start to promote your business on the internet.

With a domain name, you can have a website designed and emails sent to you. Many businesses are still using free email addresses at Yahoo and Hotmail. This could impact negatively on your business. Potential clients may turn away when you give them a yahoo address as your contact address. They might think that you are a mediocre company. Claim your own domain name and separate yourself from the crowd.

For example, if your company were Jo Textiles; you could have a domain name for it like; jotextiles.com and an email address like; customerservice@jotextiles.com. You could even have an unlimited number of email accounts created for your staff.

If you wanted to have a domain name for your individual use and your names were John Stone, you could register your domain name as JohnStone.com and have an email address like; info@JohnStone.com.

In signing up for your domain name, ensure that the domain name is short, simple and easy to remember. An easy to recall domain name will increase visitors to your website.
Discuss with your friends and colleagues which domain name suits your business. It is preferable though not a must that your domain name be the same as your company name.

Millions of domain names are sold daily, so register yours as soon as possible before it is taken. When you decide on particular domain name, check to see whether it is available and ensure you have a distinct domain name for your business or individual use.

There are a number of companies on the internet where you could check the availability of your preferred domain name say a .com, .net, or a .org. Some even offer free .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz names and you only pay for hosting of your domain name. Just like you buy a sim card for your cell phone and then air time or credit, you will need to host your domain name with a reliable host company. You could get reliable hosting for as low as 80 USD per year. An inexpensive cost compared to the benefits that you get from having your own domain name. Claim your domain name today!

Ken Kachope writes about Web Hosting and Domain name registration. For more information, visit http://www.reliable-domain-hosting.com

By Chimezirim Chinecherem Odimba

There are many things that affect the quality and quantity of traffic your site gets. But, does a domain name have any effect on these? Yes!

First and foremost, if your domain name is outrageous, unique, memorable and thought-provoking people will remember it more easily. You could also get a lot of direct traffic from the viral effect that such names can have.

Second, it does help to have your domain name on the subject of your site. Yes, there are many successful sites with names that have no bearing whatsoever on their subject. However, you make it easier for people and the search engines.

Making it easier to get people to click...

If you were searching for "high quality computer parts" which of the following sites would you click to (Assuming they are equal on all other fronts)...

High-quality-computer-parts.com

And...

Ruskeateal.com

Now I just wrote these names from the top of head. But I think the point's been made. Give yourself all the advantage you can.

Furthermore, there's evidence that search engines do score you a little higher if your primary keyword is part of your domain name. But doesn't it make sense?

Even though I recommend that you put a lot more thought into your domain name, do remember that it is NOT the most crucial element in generating free and residual to your site. It's just a little extra that will add its own bit. Don't expect a poor site on all other fronts to get all the traffic in the world just because of a great name.

Therefore, make sure you're getting every bit of the traffic puzzle right. The power is in getting it right in many fronts.

Do you want to learn how to drive massive targeted traffic to your site? Then sign up for my high value ecourse here...

Get Massive Website Traffic

Chimezirim Odimba teaches serious minded entrepreneurs how to succeed online.

By Ken Kachope

In today's world, it is important that you have a domain name either for your business or individual use. Even if you have not yet built a website, ensure that you register a domain name for your business or individual use.

Every day, domain name registrations are made; it is probable that the domain name you would have wished to use has been taken up. It is therefore important that you sign up for yours sooner rather than later. Once you have signed up for your domain name, ensure that you start using it by creating email addresses for yourself or for your colleagues in case it is a business.

Some businesses are still using free email addresses provided by Yahoo and hotmail. They might be free but the disadvantage is that a potential client might have doubts about seeking your service or buying your product if you gave them a Yahoo address as a contact address. So acquire a professional image and build trust with your customers and would-be customers by having your own domain name. Once you have your own domain name, clients should be able to visit your website and email you. For your website to be viewed and for you to receive emails, you need to have your domain name hosted or reachable via a computer server.

It has now become a trend that people and companies host their sites with reliable web hosts because it can be expensive both in terms of equipment costs and maintenance to host your website yourself. So identify a reliable web host and let them host your domain and website. The cost of reliable domain and web hosting is affordable and so you should consider this.

With your domain name, you can design your website as you wish. Is it a php site or an ordinary html site? Do you wish to run a MySQL database? You should customize your site to your satisfaction. There is affordable web hosting that caters for a vast array of website features and capabilities like php, MySQL, password protected directories, email auto responders, etc.

With your own domain name, you can promote your site and optimize it for the search engines. This is advantageous because if you optimize your site well, you will get listed in major search engines. Many search engines and directories shun sites hosted at free hosting servers because they are usually hosted together with many other types of sites. The search engines do not recognize your site as being a unique entity. This wounds your search engine campaigns.
So acquire your domain name and have it hosted with an affordable and reliable web host and upload your website and configure email addresses at your own domain.

Ken Kachope writes about Web Hosting and Domain name registration. For more information, visit http://www.reliable-domain-hosting.com

By John Bj Khu

Just before a particular expired web domain expires and becomes available for open sale, it will undergo several passages of legal procedures. Here is a brief flowchart of the presumed life cycle through which a typical expired web domain traverses its eventful passage:

An active web domain may become redundant, when the buyer of that domain somehow misses renewing the domain name for another term. It is an open marketable commodity that is available and open for all internet surfers. Just before it expires, the concerned authorities will place the said domain under a series of legal procedures. As an expired web domain entrepreneur, you may need to know these simple legal procedures.

Holding period: This is the first of the series of legal procedures through which a said domain traverses through. Holding period is a specific stage that lies within the registrar's exclusive control and hold.

Redemption Period: This is a grace period, when the registrar forwards a special favor by paying the renewal fees for the domain in question. This facility is available for the first 45 days, soon after the non-receipt of renewal fees. The registrar will pay the fees in the real hope that the owner of the domain will pay the renewal charges.

The 2nd Stage of Redemption: Once the said web domain passes its 45 days of grace period, the registrar will soon announce about the non-payment of renewal fees. In essence, this is the end of the waiting period and the owner may soon loose the control over the domain.

The Stage of Expiry: The final stages of expiry and deletion of a web domain lasts to about a month and at this stage the said domain comes back the registrar due to the non-payment of renewal fees.

The Stage of Deletion: This marks the end of the process and the web domain soon turns an expired web domain. This is the most critical stage, the said domain reverts back to the open market when anyone can pay the fees and buy it.

Here are some more additional details about expired web domain registration and deletion which are as follows:

a) You can register a web domain for a period of one to ten years.

b) If you do not pay renewal fees on time, you will get a series of e mail notices about the nonpayment, with an additional instruction to pay the fees.

c) When you pay up the fees on time, you will never need to worry about your domain becoming an expired web domain.

Learning more on how a domain turns into an expired web domain is very critical and important. Additional information and details on this unique topic will help you enrich your skills and knowledge of acquiring expired web domains in an effective manner.

John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is the owner of the path breaking web site called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.

By Roger Samboer

A name by any other would smell as sweet? Not in the internet world. A name is your identity online. Your domain name can literally make or break you, so choosing a good one is of paramount importance.

There are several key factors you need to keep in mind when choosing your domain name. These days its becoming increasingly harder to match your domain name to your business name. Almost every English word in the dictionary has been taken in the dot com arena.

Everyday a staggering number of domains, running in the several millions, are being registered. As a result it's getting harder to find a good dot com domain that has not been registered. You need to be well informed before choosing a domain name. I believe it's becoming common place to first get the domain name you want online then naming the company after the domain name. Since it's easier to get a traditional company name registered than a domain name, it makes sense to sometimes reverse the order of things.

So, what do you need to know about choosing a domain name?

I believe it boils down to one word. Descriptive. A domain name that best can describe the service that is being offered or product sold will have an advantage over one that does not.

Is the name easy to pronounce and easy to spell and does it match your brand?

Does it match your company name or the brand of product you sell? Some believe that you need to try and keep your domain name and your company or brand name the same if you can. When you market or promote your product you are essentially killing two birds with one stone. It's always a good idea that the name you choose will be easy to spell and easy to repeat. The reason for this is because a lot of promotion of your website gets around by word of mouth and this in itself will build your brand. You certainly want to have your visitor remember your domain name in this instance.

If you are trying to create branding or already have a strong following that are familiar with your brand then getting a name matching your company name or brand of product will be a great idea.(that is if you can get it). Strong branding is usually built over time and can be very expensive for the new business person just starting out, so you may want to consider targeting your domain naming to keyword or service specific terms.

Is a shorter name better?

Not necessarily. A short domain name may be easy to remember if the word is not cryptic. For example: xstl.com would probably be harder to remember than extend.com. You need to remember that people must associate the name with something.

A longer name like extendyourhome.com may also be easy to remember, if your site is about extending homes. The key here is not necessarily how long a name is but how well will people a) Associate it with you b) Remember it

What about hyphened names?

There are many people who will tell you to get a hyphened name because the search engines will treat it better and you'll get better rankings. This is in part (very small part) true but we come back again to the fact that you want the name to be easy to speak and to remember. Trying to say extend hyphen your hyphen home.com may be a little confusing. However for marketing solely online it should not harm you if you kept your hyphenated words to a maximum of 2 and try using related keywords will also help your cause.

The best alternative if you want a hyphened domain name is to get both the hyphened and non-hyphened name. (if you can.) This way you are able to market the one and send customers to the other. A word of caution here though: This could affect you in the search engines because it could be construed as a doorway page. Even though it may not be malicious or intended to spam the search engines. People have abused this by registering a bunch of domain names and redirecting the visitor to another page. Either way, whichever of those domain names they actually type into the browser, they'll end up at the same page. Be careful of duplicating or mirroring sites that refer to each other. This can get you penalized.

Should I use my brand name for the domain name?

If you are building a name around your brand and have spent money in traditional advertising then it would be a good idea to try and get a domain name with your brand name. If people already know your brand through traditional sales and ads then why would you think they will try and search for an unrelated name to get to your website? If I have a sports shoe called "superfine" and it's become well known, then I would expect anyone going online to type "superfine" to find my shoes.

One caveat though, make sure that you will not be infringing on anyone's trademarked name. If your product is not trademarked you may open yourself up to a lawsuit. The technical details of this can be quite daunting so consult a legal professional first.

What about keywords in my domain name?

It is helpful to some extent to have a keyword in your domain name that reflects what you sell. For example. I sell sports shoes and shoes.com is, as you've probably guessed.. taken. If I chose a domain name I would probably want to find out what the most common search phrases are surrounding shoes. (There are web marketing tools out there that will help you with keywords and stats) Once I have those phrases I may decide to incorporate that into my name.

So for example, the word hiking was the most searched for term in relation to shoes, you may want to structure your domain name around that term, and make sure that your website makes use of those phrases also. (providing of course, that you actually sold hiking shoes).

The main objective here is that you want to maintain as much relevance as possible. This obviously does not apply to those names that are named around a brand. In those instances you will want your web pages to have relevant content related to the terms people will be searching for to find your product and products like yours.

Some things to remember about domain names:

You do not own it. Your domain name can expire if you are not careful to renew when your term is up and someone else may snatch it up, so hold onto it.

Make a list of domain names you would like to have first, then go and do a search for them at any domain registration site. Try and get as many variations of your domain as you can afford. I've already mentioned the hyphened example above.

Go for the .com names first and get other extensions like .net and .us if you can too. Do your homework! Research is probably the single most important thing you can do for your website. Absorb as much info as you possibly can and you will be better equipped to make decisions that will benefit your web site.

By Roger Samboer

Roger Samboer is the founder of Dynaweave LLC, a Seattle based web site development company. They create streamlined, professional looking web sites at very competitive prices. The main focus is on providing new start up companies with affordable yet high quality web sites.

Feel free to visit dynaweave at: http://www.dynaweave.com

By Dee Buteland

There are many reasons you might wish to do a domain name lookup. These may include the following -

1. To find out if a name is already taken, if you wish to buy it. You may have a great idea for a site, and need a particular name. (In this case, just type the domain name onto the address field of a browser. You will either get a message that the site can't be found, which implies it is not registered yet; or you will be taken to a web site which uses the domain name already.)

2. To see which individual or company owns a specific domain.

3. To get the contact details for the owner of a domain, so that you could send an offer to buy it.

4. To use the lookup information to contact the domain owner or technical contact to complain about something offensive or inaccurate on the web site, or, for example, because the site has content or images which have been taken from a site you own yourself, breaking copyright. (In this case, the nameserver information may give a clue about the name of the hosting service used by the domain owner, whom you could also complain to.)

5. To contact the owners of a domain who have infringed on a trademark which you own or control.

So, how do you do a domain name lookup anyway? Simply go to whois.net and use their search boxes. This is free. (Apart from whois.net, there are many other domain name search tools too, of course.) Minimum registration data for existing domains which you will be able to see following a lookup includes the registrant's name, who the domain is registered through, and the nameservers. Depending on the registrar's policies and setup, you may also be able to get a contact email address, a physical address and a phone number for the registrant and for the technical contact.

In addition, you may be able to see the date when the registration of the domain expires. This does not mean, of course, that the domain would be available to buy after that. Most domain registration services now have automatic domain renewals when the expiry date arrives, to protect their customers.

In some cases, the owner of a domain will have made a private registration, so that no personal details are available through who is lookups: the registrar's contact details will be available instead.

In addition, most of the good domain registration services will allow you to do a domain name lookup, then buy any available domain there and then.

If you wish to lookup and buy a domain now, see my domain name registration page for tips on exactly how to do it.

Dee Buteland writes about domain names, buying domains, and making money from domains.

By Bryan Hufford

We are always looking for ways to increase traffic to our website for free. Did you know that some of the best, free, targeted search engine traffic can result just from your domain name alone? Domain names that are keyword rich or specific to your niche can result in higher rankings on the search engines. And higher rankings means more targeted traffic to your website, completely free.

How To Use This Method

Let's say your niche is "working at home". You're going to want to find specific keywords that relate to your niche topic. To do this, go to the Google Keyword Tool and type in your niche. Try search several variations of your niche topic, such as "work at home online", "find work at home", etc. )you may also search synonyms of your niche topic as well). Research the average search volume on these keywords, then write down the keywords that are specific to your niche and have the highest search volume. I would say to find around 20-25 keywords that have a high search volume and relate to your niche.

From here, swing over to GoDaddy and go to the "Register Domains in Bulk" option on their menu. Take your entire list of keywords and add ".com" onto the end of each keyword and place them in the area to check the domains for current registrations. Search to see if any domain names are available. If some are available, consider purchasing them. If none are available, try to tighten your search method or be more specific.

Once the domains have been purchased and you begin to lay content on them, you have a very good chance of landing a top ranking on Google and other search engines. Why? The answer is simple - Your domain is a keyword. Each time this keyword is searched via a major search engine, such as Google, you have a high chance of being ranked first. This will bring in targeted traffic specific to your niche, all for the initial cost of the domain and some time to put up some content. So give this method a shot, because you really have nothing to lose.

Bryan Hufford is a former corporate slave turned online entrepreneur. He has successfully launched several businesses online, working directly from home. Find out how you can start working at home and join his newsletter about earning extra income online at his website http://www.workathomecompanies.net

By R Scott Hall

Domain names, when wisely invested can be quite lucrative, just as investing in real estate would be. It's picking the right name, following the registration requirements and selling or trading at the right time. With any investment, you want to be well informed of exactly how and when you can turn a profit and there are important considerations before you want to even make your purchase.

The shortest name is almost always the better option. Phrases are ok, and some of them will get a lot of hits to your site or get you plenty of offers for decent money, but keep in mind when people are doing searches they usually just put one or two words. The less words, the more hits you are likely to get.

Avoid domain names that have hyphens or numbers. People rarely if ever put either of those in their searches.

If you have never purchased a domain name before and want to use one for your business, website or as an investment, you may want to ask around and find someone that has invested in it before and take all the advice you can from them. Find out what hurt them and how they negotiated the value. You may also want to seek advice from a business advisor or domain name appraiser. It may cost you a little bit of money, but a small cost in the beginning could lead to big profits in the end.

Become familiar with ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). ICANN governs extensions i.e. .com, .org, .edu, etc. from around the world, with its headquarters in California. Certain extensions have different rules and regulations, so your location could affect the rules and regulations you are governed by.

Don't just buy a domain name from anyone. Do your research and get the background on the seller. Make sure the seller actually has the name registered and owns it. They should be an accredited owner. There is a website called WHOIs that will tell you exactly who owns what name. In Australia, the name for the WHOIS website is AUda. Australia has some different rules they go by.

People often forget to register their domain name and could therefore think they own it, and did at one point, but if the don't register it every year and pay the $10, the name goes up for grabs again for anyone that wants it. When buying, be sure to notice the registration date and if it is less than 60 days old, it is not a legal sale.

There is no formula in purchasing a domain name, just as there is no formula in purchasing a home. It's about knowing the rules, regulations, registration requirements, etc. and going from there. The most important thing is picking a name that everyone wants. The more people that want it, the more valuable it is and will give you great negotiation power when selling or trading. Always do your research when investing. Look at background on everything as well as consider the future of that name. Will a name that is valuable now be valuable in the future? For example, would VCR's.com be as valuable today as it was 25 years ago? No. Of course we didn't have the internet in the 80's but hybrid cars are going to become more and more popular with the oil issue right now so hybridcars.com is probably a valuable name that will continue gain more and more value as time goes on.

To learn more about buying domain names visit the author's website at http://www.MarketersExpress.com.

By Ed McQuate

The best domain names are easy to spell and remember. This may help.. say your domain name out loud. The best domain names are those that people can remember, because if your visitors can remember it, they are more likely to come back. The best domain names sound professional. People are impressed by quality and value, but above all else, they expect professionalism. The best domain names are short, descriptive (such as your company name or product), and easily memorized. If you do not already have a company or other name selected for your site, then it is often a good idea to make your domain name the brand for the site. The best domain names are based on a recognized brand or a descriptive short word or a well-known acronym. A good way to ensure a short, descriptive and easy to remember name is to register not one but several names.

There are several top-level domains to choose from, including .com, .org, .net, and .biz. Because some people may remember the name incorrectly, I also registered many other domain names such as AttorneyAdvertisingBlog.com, LawFirmAdvertisingBlog.com and others, all of which will bring the visitor to Lawyer-Advertising-Blog.com.

The best domain names still end with .com so pick a domain name with a .com extension or what is considered to be a top level domain. Domains that end with .com are easier to remember. The best domain names are short and catchy. Many good two words combinations have been taken now, so you might have to go for three word combinations. The best Domain names are short, catchy, memorable, and easily roll off the tongue. A name that is descriptive and easy to remember will easily attract hundreds of visitors to your site.

While selecting the domain name care should be taken that it is good. Good for the website and good for people promoting it. Because as we have seen in the selection of a good name, an improper domain name can cause lot of confusion and eventually defeats the very purpose the website.

Search engine optimization, and seo.

Search engine conflicts of interest.. Direct navigation competes with search engine usage. Search engines create new algorithms regularly that give weight to various aspects of a website in different ways. To achieve the most relevant listing of results for their users most online businesses will still be found through the search engines, so this may be a factor to consider.

Search Engines today are a key element to driving traffic to our names and essentially allow certain websites to be discovered. There are vast amounts of information and domain names that are essentially hidden to the world simply because webmasters do not take the steps to publish and promote quality information. Search engines index your site and rank it for relevance against terms people search for online. In order to maximize your sites exposure, consider including a relevant search term in your domain.

Remember, search engines rely heavily on relevance when calculating your link popularity score. Owning the world's longest domain name might be cool, but long and difficult to type names are not a good idea.

Web hosting and domain names.

Web hosting is the company you choose to make your site available to the Internet for viewing. Once your name has been purchased, you have the choice of either keeping it there and letting them host your site or transfer your name to a host you might already be using. How difficult is it to transfer a domain name? It's very easy.

Keywords and domain names.

How many times are these keywords searched? You need to do your home work before you purchase your domain name.

Instead of your brand name or company name you could also use keywords for your domain name. This could land you better search engine results. If you're going to use your domain name for your main business website it's best to pick a domain name that is closest to your brand or company name especially if you've been in the industry for some time. People have already recognized the name of your company. This will greatly help you with your marketing strategies both online and offline since you'll only be promoting one name or brand. Besides it will be easier to familiarize people if you're promoting the same name both in and out of the internet.

You can get more information about domain names at http://edstips.blogspot.comEd is also giving away Free Internet Marketing Training http://edmcquate.com/edstips.html

By Joseph Nyamache

It is a complex world, millions of domain names and thousands of internet users!

But have you ever wondered, how does the internet keeps track of all the millions of domain names that have been registered up to date?

Here is a hint! The way computers transmit information from one, to another is very identical to the way our postal system works to delivers letters and packages. I know! That is a sure subject for another day.

The World Wide Web is just what the name suggests, thousands of computers inter-connected with one another and amongst networks running across the globe. But those networks are meaningless without their end-nodes, otherwise known as computers. But again computers are also meaningless and worthless if they are not put into use by an end user to share information from one computer to another.

As I said earlier, it is indeed a complex world. In a system where there are billions of separate computers, there must be a solution or some kind of organization to harmonize the communication and transfer of information within this system. That is where the DNS, (the Domain Name System) comes in.

With the DNS system in place, every part of a network that is going to send or receive information is assigned an IP address that looks like this 209.131.36.158. Now an IP address is a numeric identifier that uniquely specifies a particular 'node', such as a computer, a router that directs traffic or other component.

For a moment just imagine that you had to memorize such a number each and every time you went online to all the different pages that you are used to surf each day! Of course you will agree that it will be difficult to remember and work with such numbers. Another aspect is that dealing with such numbers is not that attractive from a marketing perspective. Just imagine once more telling your prospective customers to visit 209.131.36.158 to see your latest deal!

So, someone somewhere, came up with a naming system, what we call now domain names.

This development made thing a bit more complicated. Naturally if you have a system that associates a unique IP address to a given name, then obvious you will need some way or a system to keeping track of all of that. Distinct parts of the system comprising of DNS Servers, Registrars, and other components work together to harmonize all transactions.

The Name Registrars.

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and other international bodies are responsible for keeping track of domain names. Once someone registers their name, the information associated with that name eventually makes its way into a number of specialized databases stored inside DNS Servers.

A DNS Server.

A DNS server is the software/hardware that tracks and forwards the IP Address and the Domain Name from one place to the next. Depending on the connection involved there are a number of them between the remote computer that you want to share information with and your browser.

In summary therefore the DNS system is simple yet complex. The DNS server translate your domain name into an IP address and then requests and forwards your data from one computer to another and you the surfer is happy to receive, send and carry out all your internet transaction unaware of all the process taking place in the background.

Joseph Nyamache started his ecommerce hosting site and provides a list of available domain names here