I have to be honest. So far, I have not really had any difficulty getting clients of ours to get their own domain. In fact, in many cases, they already had a domain. But I have heard of others having to describe the benefits of having your own domain.

First off, let’s start out with a question. What is a domain? When we’re talking about a domain, we’re actually talking about what is technically a top-level domain (TLD). In Google’s website, the TLD is google . com. In hometown.aol.com/catspawpress/Dzine.html, the TLD is aol.com.

So when I say that as a business or organization, you should have your own domain, I’m really saying you should have your own top-level domain.

Let’s go through some of the reasons now that you should have your own domain:

1. It demonstrates permanency. Regardless of the nature of your business, having a site hosted by AngelFire or AOL or any of the free hosts makes web surfers cringe. If you’re not willing to spring for the domain name, are you really going to be around that long?

It’s the same thing as having a permanent office. Whether it’s actually true or not, it causes people to attribute more permanency to your business.

2. It’s affordable. Really affordable. If you bought a website address in the late 90’s or so, you had to pay $75 or more per year for a domain. While this was still reasonable for many organizations, for smaller businesses, it simply wasn’t worth the money.

Now, however, domains can be purchased for much less. As little as $7 a year, in fact. Some places charge a little bit more for the convenience of having your domain name and hosting with the same company, but it’s still a fraction of what it used to be. (And I’ve found having the domain name and hosting with the same company is well worth the few extra dollars.)

3. You can use the domain for your email address. Let’s face it, webdesigner165768 @ yahoo.com (not a real address) does not look nearly as professional as tim @ tandswebdesign . com. And while free web based email is certainly useful for many things, it should not be used for businesses. To a certain degree, this goes back to the issue of perceived permanency.

In fact, there is more permanency in that your email address will never have to change. Even if you switch hosts, your domain name stays the same.

4. It’s easier to remember. www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/7116 is a lot harder to remember than something like www.google.com

5. It will rank a lot higher in search engines. A lot higher.

6. No one else can claim it. I’ve talked to a realtor who had this problem. Another realtor in her area actually had the same name as her, and purchased a domain with that name. The realtor I spoke with lost several clients who mistakenly went to the other realtor, then ended up just using her.

Even if you’re not quite ready to get a website, you should go ahead and buy a domain for your business. It’s really easy to do, and you can “park” your domain. This means a temporary page will be displayed that says something like “website coming soon.” Then, at least no one else can stake their claim on it.

About the author:

Tim is the owner and senior web designer at T&S Web Design. His company has developed and maintained website for dozens of small businesses and organizations. Tim also maintains a blog with free website advice for small business owners, GetASiteOnline.com.
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On the World Wide Web your domain name is your own unique identity. No two parties can ever hold the same domain name simultaneously; therefore your Internet identity is totally unique. If you have a business site on the Internet your domain name is your own online brand and in a sense you can use your domain name as your online business card. With your own domain name your web site, and e-mail addresses for example will have that professional look, being unique to your business. Many people often miss the importance of having and then keeping their domain name until they lose it. Once this happens they soon realize that they have lost their whole online identity.

How does a domain name work?
To understand why you need a domain name you first need to know how a domain name works.

A domain name is an addressing construct, used for finding and identifying computers on the Internet. Computers use Internet Protocol (IP) Addresses, which are a series of numbers used to identify each other on the Internet; however, many people find it hard to remember IP Addresses. Because of this, domain names were developed so that easily remembered names and phrases could be used to identify entities in the Internet instead of using an IP Address.

For example, the domain name M6.net identifies the company M6.net. When a user types the domain name M6.net in their browser or sends an email to M6.net, the Domain Name System (DNS) will translate the domain name into IP numbers. These are then used by the Internet to connect the user to M6.net s web presence.

What should I use as a domain name?
You can use a word or phrase as a domain name. When thinking of a domain name, think of catchy words or phrases that are easy to remember and that will bring more traffic to your site. Try to use a domain name that is relevant to your web site. If your web site is a business site, it is a good idea to use the companies name as the domain name or if your site is a personal site try to think of a domain name that is related to the topic of your web site.

Also try to keep your domain name as short as possible, around 5 to 20 characters is fine. The shorter the domain name the easier it will be to remember.

One thing to keep in mind is assumed spelling issues; if you think up a clever domain name such as 1luv4u.com One Love For You (dating service), people may type in oneloveforyou.com believing this is the domain name; or oneluv4u.com, or 1love4you.com etc. This leads to brand problems. In this case the oneloveforyou.com name would be best. Another unfortunate example: Flo Office Supplies flooffice.com?

How do I acquire a domain name?
There are two main ways you can get a domain name. You can either register your domain name yourself or you can get your web host or ISP (Internet Service Provider) to register it for you.

To register a domain name yourself you will need to choose a Registrar. A Registrar is an ICANN accredited domain registration company. There are hundreds of Registrars on the Internet nowadays. The market is becoming increasingly competitive; which means that you can purchase domains names for a low yearly fee.

Most web hosting companies will offer domain registration services to their clients. When you register a domain name through a web host they will register your domain name for you through their own approved registrar. An advantage to having your web host register your domain name for you is that, they have probably done this process many times before; they have all the necessary information ready at hand. This process will save you time and, as long as you give the correct domain name desired, there will be no unfamiliar dealings with Registrars.

Why should I keep my domain name registered?
If you loose your domain name you can loose your whole online identity.

Because you can only register a domain name for a year or so, you will need to make sure that you renew it before the expiry date. Once your domain name expires you will no longer own that domain name. Your Registrar will then own it and be able to sell your domain name to the highest bidder. To make sure you don t loose your domain name you will need to make sure you renew your domain name at least two weeks before it expires.

Also make sure that your information is registered properly, especially if you didn t register your domain name yourself. Ensure that your information is displayed as the registrant, administrative and billing contacts; most importantly make sure that the email addresses for these contacts are ACTIVE. When you receive any information about your domain name, such as renewals, price changes, etc an email will be sent to this email address. If you can t receive any mail from the email addresses listed under the domain names contact then you are at risk of not receiving important notifications about your domain names, which could result in loosing your domain name.

People often miss the importance of having their own unique domain name for their web sites. A domain name represents you, your company and your online presence; as does a business card . If you don t have your own domain name you won t be able to promote your own online identity and web site on the World Wide Web.

By Candice Humbley
Fast, reliable Windows 2000 web farm hosting.
http://www.m6.net

About the Author
M6.net is your No.1 provider of website web hosting on Windows 2000. The
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In today’s business world, a domain name and a web presence are a must. All major businesses have domain names. The Web is now a part of everyday commercial life and your domain name is your identity on the Internet. A business web site without a domain name is difficult to find and looks unprofessional.

The Web is where people and customers around the world find information about you, your products and your services - 24 hours a day. Here online buyers, suppliers and partners come together. Securing a domain name ensures that your company name or product names are on the Internet.

For the amount domain name registration companies charge, it’s a small price to pay for increased credibility in the eyes of potential customers.

Several thousand new domain names a day are registered. However, with a little creative thinking, you can still find a strong domain name that reflects your business or specific interest. Of course, the longer you put off registering a name, the more limited your choices become.

Equal Access

On the Web, everyone has access to a first-rate location to set up a business. No matter how small you are, a good domain name can put your business on equal footing with multimillion-dollar sites such as Yahoo! and IBM. Therein lies the beauty of the Web: nobody knows if your site is run by a large team out of a downtown high-rise or by you from your garage.

If your site is a hobby or personal homepage, you can still benefit from a domain name. Your site will be easier to find, and more importantly, friends and relatives will remember it.

Domain names give you a higher profile on the Web Domain names that include common keywords can improve a site’s ranking in search results returned by major search engines. Many large search directories will not list a site that does not have its own domain name. As well, domain names are easy to remember and customers may not have to search at all to find you.

Easy to Locate

And let’s face it, www.widgets.com is much easier to remember and locate than http://isp/users/widgets/index.html/.

Domain names are portable

Having a domain name means you can change web hosting services without losing customers. Your new web hosting service will point people to the same web site. This way, you can to change hosting services to find a better deal, or receive better service without losing viewers or breaking links. Without a domain name, your web site name (URL) changes each time you move, which is confusing to customers.

About the author:

DomainPurpose.com is a domain name registration company offering all the major domain extensions –.com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .name, .ca, .us, .cn, .eu, .de, .pro and more.
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