Website Design Guide

Website Domain Names

 

The Domain Name
A Domain Name is a websites unique identity, when an Internet user types a domain name into a website browser a request is sent out to the local Internet Service Provider (ISP) asking where it can find that website. The ISP checks with the relevant master domain name server for the country then the server points the browser to the location of the website. The browser then displays the websites landing or Home page.


Own your domain name
When planning a website it is important to remember that a proper Domain name is essential. These days, sub-domains and free hosting Domain names are just not taken seriously and many of the search engines will not even index pages on them, let alone give their pages a good ranking. Do not use the ‘free’ domain names that are offered by some websites.  You can register a Domain name for as little as .99 cents to as much as $35.00 per year(shop around for the best deal). You should think carefully about the name as this can be crucially important to the success of your site. For example, if your site is about web design then consider keyword friendly names like 'bestwebdesign.com'.  This will give your site a flying start with the search engines because it will enable them to focus on the relevance of the content of the site from the outset. A secondary advantage of having your own Domain name is that both your Website and Email addresses become transportable. This means that you can change your ISP or your Web Hosting provider as often as you like with little disruption to your Website or email accounts.


Choosing a Domain Name
Select a domain name that describes the content of your website as closely as possible, you may find it desirable to obtain a domain name before even naming your company or business. Do not select domain names that are intentionally misspelled because the correct spelling is not available. This is especially true for e-commerce websites or any website that depends on potential visitors directly entering the domains URL into a browser. Most of your business will go to the correctly spelled domain. Do not use hyphens or any other form of punctuation between words for the same reason. If your target market or your future target market is an international one, a domain name ending in ‘.com’ should be your first choice. Unfortunately, a ‘.com’ domain name is difficult to find these days. There are now over 24 million ‘.com’ names registered so the chances of finding the name you want will be difficult. Other international alternatives to a domain ending in ‘.com’ is a domain name ending in ‘.net’ or ‘.biz’. These domain names are not as good as a domain name ending in ‘.com’ but can be used successfully with careful marketing and branding. Search engines do not index websites differently based upon their domain names "." extension.