Most businesses that try to add a website to supplement their offline efforts make a mistake of using their business name as their domain name. Here is why.

My Business Name is My Domain Name?

Logic is often considered a universal concept that applies in all situations. Alas, the web has a logical basis, but it is different than anything in the world. Two plus two does not equal four on the web, it equals six. If it is any comfort, at least it always equals six. In practical terms, this means there are uniform rules that apply to sites, but not the ones you might expect.
In traditional marketing, you are told to plaster your business name in front of people as much as humanly possible. This brand marketing effort, so the saying goes, will eventually lead people to your business where they will gladly hand over their hard earned money to you. Logically, this makes sense. On the web, it does not.

Unless you are a large company, your business name means nothing on the web. Sorry to deflate your ambitions, but there are millions of sites and you simply do not stick out. Using your business name for your domain is a mistake in this regard. Your domain is a powerful tool to bring in business. Why would you waste it on your business name? If people want to find you, they will not type your business name in as domain name. They will do a search on Google, Yahoo, MSN or whatever to find you. Yes, they will find you so long as your name is on the site, but you don’t need to have it in your domain.

Your domain name should either be catchy or incorporate a keyword phrase you want to be ranked under in search results. You can read more here. Whatever you do, don’t use your business name. It is just a waste of a potentially huge marketing tool.

When picking your domain name, you can go with catchy domain names or keyword domains. What does this mean and what is the best choice? Read on, my friend.

Catchy Domain Names vs Keyword Domains

When it is time to buy a domain name, the tendency is to run out and purchase a domain incorporating your business name. This is a mistake. Unless you have a very popular business, you business name is not going to help you pull traffic to your site. Whether it is buying a domain name or designing your site, you should always be thinking about pulling traffic to the site. It is by far the most important aspect of your marketing.
A better way to select a domain name is to focus on one of two strategies. The first is to pick a catch name that people will remember. Examples of this include Google, EBay and Amazon. A second approach is to pick a keyword domain name. This is accomplished by doing keyword research for your niche and then using one of the keyword phrases as your domain name. So, should you choose catchy domain names or keyword domains? The answer depends on your intent.

Keyword domain names are the best way to go if you intend to pursue search engine optimization at some point. The reason for this is the search engine give a lot of weight to the domain name. If your domain matches a keyword phrase that has traffic, you have an excellent chance of getting high rankings under that phrase. For example, we have a site called solarcompanies.com. With a nominal amount of effort, we are now ranked in the top 10 of MSN, Google and Yahoo for this phrase. Since the phrase gets a couple hundred searches a day, we immediately have free traffic coming onto the site. Free traffic is the way to make a great return on investment for your time and money.

Catchy domain names are appropriate where your marketing efforts are not going to focus on search engine optimization. If your marketing plan involves viral marketing, word of mouth or advertising in more traditional media, you need a name that people will remember. Google is a classic example of this, to wit, a name you can’t help remember. Importantly, you can still do search engine optimization with a catchy domain name, but you will not have high rankings as quickly and easily for your home page.

At the end of the day, the answer to catchy domain names versus keyword domains depends almost entirely on how you intend to market. Give some thought to your marketing plan and the choice should be obvious.

When you start working on the web, you will quickly realize it has a language of its own. In this case, we are talking about abbreviations. So, what are domain name TLDs?

What are Domain Name TLDs?

Domain names are much like the address for your home. The sections of a domain can be broken down into a name, which is indicated by the words between the www and com. The street address is also present, but more difficult to see. It is the numbers that the word, marketingtitan, mask. The end of the domain name is the zip code, and is represented by .com, .org and so on.
Domain name TLDs refer to the zip code on domain names. TLD specifically means top level domains. The phrase is a euphemism meant to distinguish between the common domain endings and the bizarre stuff you see one the web. Top level domain names are considered to be .com, .org and .net. Yes, there are other domain names such as .us, .tv and so on. You should steer clear of these whenever possible for a very simple reason.

People are creates of habit. When it comes to domain names, they almost always follow the teachings of Pavlov. As you may remember, Pavlov did experiments with dogs in which repeated sensory input created an automated reacting in the dogs. Specifically, the ringing of a bell resulted in the pups involuntarily salivating because they associated the ringing noise with the delivery of food. On the web, the same process applies.

When a person learns of the name of a site they want to visit, they automatically add .com to the end of the name. They could literally be staring at a business card or flyer that has a different extension, but they will still type in .com. They have been condition over time to do as much. If you every hope to have people type in your domain, you must use .com. If you do not, someone will register the .com equivalent of your domain and many of your visitors will end up on their site instead of yours!

Domain name TLDs are a fairly simple subject once you understand them. Now you do. Stick to .com variations and you will be fine.

If you are going to start an internet site, whether for business purposes or just for fun, you need a domain name. So, what is a domain?

What is a Domain?

When you finally make the decision to jump on the internet revolution, one of your first steps is to pick a domain name. Most people rush into this process without really giving it the though the subject deserves. They might pick something they think is catchy or they might just use the name of their offline business. Both steps can be a mistake. So, what is a domain really?

In technical terms, a domain name is your address on the Internet. Much like the physical world, a person finds you buy going to your address. In the case of this site, they simply type in marketingtitan.com and they come to our virtual business. You will note that the domain is represented as words and letters. In truth, computers do not read words or letters. Instead, your domain is really a numerical sequence. The working of it are really beyond what you need to know, but the fact numbers are used make your domain more like a street address than most people realize.

When considering what a domain is, however, it is important to think in broader concepts. First and foremost, picking your domain is like getting married. People will come to know your site by the domain name. If you start switching domain names, they are going to have problems finding you. Further, the time you own your domain for is a factor in getting the site ranked in search engines. It can take up to a year for Google, for instance, to rank a domain with a new owner. If your goal is to get your site ranked highly to draw traffic, you absolutely must commit to it for the long term.

You domain is also an identifier in relation to where you are located. Going back to our physical address analogy mentioned above, the domain tells the visitor what part of the net you are located on. As with any city, there are good spots and bad spots. In practical terms, this refers to the extension use for your domain. You always want to use the “.com” designation. Yes, there are others, but people are hardwired to type in .com when they try to find a site. If you register anything other than this, you risk someone registering .com and getting your traffic.

So, what is a domain? In technical terms, it is your numerical address on the web where people can find you. In practical terms, it is a marriage and you want to make sure you marry the right guy or girl!

If you are going to start a site, you are going to need to consider domain names. Here is an introduction to domain names to get you started.

Introduction to Domain Names

At first glance, domain names may seem a rather simple subject. Choosing one may seem even easier. In truth, both subjects are much more complex. Get the process wrong and you can regret it for years.

What is a domain name? It is simply your web address. Much like the address for an office or home, it tells people how to find you on the web. The domain is actually a URL, which stands for uniform resource locator. It is a hypertext linking device that points to a particular part of the web where your server is located. In relation to an office address in the physical world, the home page domain is the equivalent of pointing to a particular office building.

Most people think the words comprising a domain are the fundamental elements of it. This is incorrect. A domain is really a set of numbers that look something like .338599.com. When a domain is created, set words are assigned to the number. The reason for this, of course, is nobody would be able to remember a bunch of numbers if words were not used. For instance, it is easier to remember “google” instead of .392842829!

If a domain points to the equivalent of an office building, how does one find the right suite on the web? The answer is file names. If you look at any page on the web, you will note that there are numbers or words after the initial domain, to wit, marketingtitan.com/file_name. The file name corresponds to one web page on a web server that is part of all the files on said server for that domain name. This is how individual pages are found and produced on a site when someone clicks a link.

When it comes to domain names, there are all kinds of issues you need to take into account. Click back to our domain names section to read more.