Domain & Hosting
Your domain hosting name is not something to be chosen lightly. Your domain hosting name is your front line in your branding campaign for your online business (or your offline business's online presence). Careful consideration needs to go into choosing just the right domain hosting name to represent your business. The following are some key points to consider:
The Right Extension for the Right Site
Each type of site you want domain hosting for may serve a different market. Make sure the extension you use -- .com, .net, .org, .biz, etc. -- is the right extension for your market. If you are a business and there is no reason you cannot do it, get domain hosting for a .com. If you are a non-profit organization, consider .org. If you are building a personal website and are on a budget, consider .us or some of the other lesser-known extensions. When in doubt, however, go for .com. The part of a URL people most often first forget is the extension. And when they're in doubt, .com's what they type in: .biz and .net should only be considered if you're completely attached to a particular domain hosting name and the .com variant isn't available. But our best suggestion for that scenario is to vary the domain hosting name and get the .com extension.
The Shorter the Better
When picking domain hosting names for your website consider that people have to remember it to visit it. Not everyone is going to get to your website by clicking on a listing or an ad or a reciprocal link. Word of mouth leads increase when your domain hosting site's name is short and sweet. And people make less spelling mistakes and typos when trying to type in your URL directly.
Stay Away from What Doesn't Belong to You
Big companies with trademarked names seem like tempting targets for domain hosting names that generate loads of free (albeit unintentional) traffic. Heck, you could even sell the domain hosting name back to them for a hefty sum. More than likely, however, you'll just get sued. And chances are, if you're reading this article, they have better lawyers than you.
The More the Merrier
Admittedly this catchy tag line is a little misleading. Considering registering a group of domain hosting names in order to cover yourself for the inevitably of interested visitors typing in the wrong URL is an excellent idea. Try, if possible, to get the .com and .net variant of your domain hosting name, or a variant with hyphens as well as the one without (always go for without hyphens first). But don't buy more than you can afford or more than you need. Once you own the domain hosting names, whatever they are and of whatever number, you still have to get people to visit them.
U R a *, but Your Domain Name Can't Be
You can use neither symbols nor spaces in your domain hosting name (our apologies to "the artist formerly known as Prince"). And URLs are not case sensitive. So don't waste your time.
Do it Now
Have you ever heard the concept that if you have an idea then at least one other someone else somewhere else in the world is having or has had the same idea? Well that's certainly the case with domain hosting names, which is why you need to make all due haste in nabbing your ideal domain hosting name. Otherwise, you may wind up compromising with an alternate far inferior.