Domains

If you do a Google search for the word “domains”, Google will return 94,700,000 results! The subject of “domains” is as interesting, as it is complicated.  But most business owners will choose a domain name, not realizing that there is a difference between a domain name, a URL, and a registered domain name. For a technical discussion on this topic, we invite you to read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name

Webconsuls will work with you and your current domain name or we can help guide you through the process of searching and securing the best domain name for your marketing purposes. Here are some basic tips:

• In today’s world, experts will advise that you try to purchase a domain name that includes your business name, even if you do not intend to market this domain. For example, from 1986-1997 Dennis and Judy Helfand owned a country inn in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and they served breakfast year round, but dinners, as well, in the winter months. The name of the inn was Cranmore Mt. Lodge and it was physically located in the Village of Kearsarge, in the Town of Conway, with a P.O. Box address in North Conway, NH.  In early 1997, Dennis and Judy purchased their first domain name:  www.cml1.com  To Dennis and Judy this made perfect sense: it was short, sweet, cml.com was already owned by someone else, and CML was our term of endearment for our property.  By 2000, the new owners also purchased www.cranmoremtlodge.com and www.cranmoremountainlodge.com , but to this day www.cml1.com is still alive, well, and aging beautifully with the search engines.   
• Geo-marketing experts will have you consider including your geographical location in your domain name. For example, www.lodgeatmooseheadlake.com (in this case the name of the business happens to be Lodge at Moosehead Lake and fortunately Moosehead Lake is a great geo-target.)
• Include a keyword or keyword phrase in your domain, if possible. For example, www.stockbridgeinn.com  (In this case the name of the business is The Inn at Stockbridge, but the owners went with a simpler domain for users to remember, but kept the operative keyword, inn, in the domain name.) 
• Try to avoid using hyphens or numbers in the domain name, as web site users may forget the hyphen or may be confused whether to use a numeral 1 or the word “one”.
• Purchase (for a minimum of five years and free-park) a variety of Domains relating to your name. For example, mycompany.com, should also consider registering the following: mycompany.org and /or mycompany.mobi
• There is such a thing as “Domain Hijacking”. Firms will buy up similar domain names and thereafter launch their own web sites. Subsequently, persons searching perhaps for your domain may land on a fictitious site, an advertising site or site with malicious intent. A good example of this is to compare: www.whitehouse.gov with www.whitehouse.com/ or www.whitehouse.net  

If you have any questions about domains, what they cost, how to buy them, create redirects, free-park, etc…feel free to call us or write info@webconsuls.com