Common Domain Extensions

Most of us, when thinking of the web in general and websites in particular, .com is what first comes to mind. This .com at the end of a website address is what is known as a domain extension – these have a particular function in the structure of the internet as a global construct and for that reason, there is more than one extension. In fact, there are quite a few possible extensions, but there are a few which are the most common among them.

While of course .com is the best known of these extensions, there are a few other common domain extensions – .net and .org are the most common other than .com. All three of these common domain extensions are known as top level domain extensions. These are the most commonly chosen extensions for websites.

.com is meant for use by commercially oriented websites, while .net was originally intended for non-commercial (generally speaking, personal) websites. .org was originally meant for use by non-profit organizations. However, there are no hard and fast rules governing the use of these common domain extensions. There are for-profit websites which use the .net and .org extensions, and non-profit organizations which use the .com extension.

The reason for this is that when registering a website, you may often find that the domain name you would like has already been registered by someone else in the domain extension of your choice. Since there are no actual regulations governing the use of these common domain extensions, you can use any of them that are available for your website. If you want to register your new website and find that the .com extension for the domain name is already taken, you may then try to register the domain name with the .net or .org extensions instead.

So which of these common domain extensions is right for your website? That all depends. While most people prefer the popular .com extension, at least if it is available, it is perfectly fine to use the .net and .org extensions as well. Just make sure that when telling people about your website that you remember to include the extension. Even though the other common domain extensions are growing more widely used as the number of sites on the web grows, it is still a habit for many to simply assume the extension will be .com.

There are plenty of other possible domain extensions; these are largely meant for specialized purposes and are best saved for another day. You can look into these less common domain extensions if you have a specific purpose for doing so. However, the vast majority of websites continue to use the big three domain extensions as they always have.

Should I use a .com, .org, or .net?

When you think of domain names, most people readily assume that your domain ends in a .com.

After all .com was one of the original domain name extensions first implemented in the internet in 1985. Also included in that original line – up were .net and .org but .com remains to be the most widely used domain name extension today.

With that said, always go for a .com when it is available.

In some cases, you may find that the .com is taken but when you go to the site, it only appears as a parking page full of links. That means someone has bought this domain either intending to use it in the future or to sell it to people like you who may be wanting to have it.

You can try contacting the owner and buying it, but most of them command high prices for these $9 domains.

Otherwise you can go for a .net or .org which are still considered top level domain names.

In cases when a site is already built in the .com domain of your choice, you may want to consider choosing another domain or adding some modifying affixes or words such as the, a, pro, or blog. If you use the same domain name with let’s say a .net or .org, your site might look like a copy cat.

Other ideas to help you choose a domain

Stumped for words? Use a thesaurus to find similar terms for your domain.
 Think of combining related words that have the same first letter or syllable.
Use words that rhyme. A domain name that rhymes nicely can help make it more memorable.
Ready to brainstorm?

Here’s a simple three –  step process to brainstorm a domain name for your new blog:

List keywords and ideas that represent your blog and your brand.
Combine the words and evaluate them based on the guidelines above.
Find out if the domain names on your list are available. My favorite tool to research available domain names is bustaname.com.
When you’ve chosen the domain name you want, it’s time to register!

How to register your domain name

Namecheap is the one I use to register my domains and I highly recommend it.

They regularly offer discount coupons and they give free Whoisguard protection to protect your contact details on the web. Their user interface is also easy to navigate and they are constantly improving their site to be more user friendly.

Registering is pretty straightforward. Simply type in the domain you want, click on your chosen domain extension, enter your registration details and pay for your domain.

And you’re done! Once your domain is registered, you’ll need to get webhosting which we’ll discuss in greater detail in the next post. For now, when you type your domain, you’re going to see what’s called a “domain parking page” with links. This is the temporary page for your domain before you get hosting and filling your site with content.

How to Brainstorm and Register a Great Domain Name for Your New Blog

Passionate and positive were two of my most favorite words.

When I was thinking about my first ever domain name, I thought I made a smart choice by combining both words into one name.

I didn’t know a thing about domain name registry so I went ahead and agreed to have my web hosting provider purchase my domain name for me.

“Passiotive.com? Well what does it mean?” A friend asked as I told her about my new site.

And right then and there, I got my first real lesson in choosing a domain name:

It’s okay to be unique but choose something that’s easy to understand from the beginning.

Needless to say, I abandoned that domain name and chalked up the $13 I spent to my wallet and to experience. Imagine how I slapped my head when I found other domain registrars that only charged $10 or even less for a domain.

I went on to register other domain names but this time I was more careful about the names I chose and where I registered them.

If you’ve made a mistake in choosing a domain name, take heart. Ten dollars is a relatively low price to pay to correct it.

If you’re in the process of getting a domain, read this. You may pick up something useful that would help you choose the right one for you.

When choosing a domain, make it easy

You can choose to do this test yourself or you can try running your domain name through a few trusted friends and see how they respond based on the points below. If you answer “No” to any of these points, then you may want to consider changing your domain or choosing another one.

Remember though that these are just guidelines. You can choose to follow them or not, ultimately you have to trust your judgment about what domain is best for you.

Is it easy to understand? You’ll want a domain name that represents what your blog is about and people will “get it” right away or with very little explanation.

For example: SimpleMom.net is a blog aimed for moms who want to live simply.

Is it easy to remember? You’ll want a domain name that’s memorable or catchy. One word domain names are best and they take quite a bit of a brainstorm. Otherwise, a domain with three words are still good, two words are better.

For example: You’d be lucky to find a one word domain name like shopping site Motherhood.com. But if you play around a little or add a few adjectives or words you can go with fulfillingmotherhood.com or motherhoodjournals.com (these two are actually available.)

Is it easy to type? Generally, domains with numbers and hyphens are harder to type than straight words. Avoid putting numbers in your domain name unless they are an integral part of your brand or blog like 5MinutesforMom.com. Also avoid hyphens but if you must absolutely use it (for example, to get a .com), try to limit it to one.

For example: Entrepreneurs-journey.com is an established blog about entrepreneurship and marketing. His domain is quite difficult to type but since he has worked smart to build his blog since 2005, his domain has become a household name in his niche despite the hyphen.

Is it easy to spell? Playing around with words to get a unique domain name is a good idea. Make sure though that the one you come up with is still easy to pronounce and spell.

For example: Gizmodo.com is one of the top gadget blogs on the web. Even if they played around with the word gizmo, the domain is still easy to spell.

Domain Name Brand Protection

Registering a domain name is one of the most important steps in taking your business online. Registering a domain name will give you and your business an online presence. Selecting a poor domain name could be disastrous.

INTRODUCTION

Domain Names – Definition:

A domain name makes up the part of the Uniform Resource Locater or “URL” as it has become known. For example, http://www.yourwebsite.ws. The URL is the address one types into the address bar of your favorite web browser, such as Netscape or Internet Explorer.

The ‘http://’ stands for hypertext transfer protocol’, which represents a set of rules defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that allows web servers and web browsers communicate and exchange data.

The ‘www’ within the URL indicates the server or host name within a company and distinguishes it from a companies main Internet or non-web-related servers, such as a local intranet.

A domain name (i.e. ‘yourwebsite’) is identifier for an Internet or web server from a single company or institution. For example, the ‘yourwebsite’ aspect of the URL is considered the Server’s name and the ‘.com’ is called the top level domain for the website.

Since the ‘http://’ and the ‘www.’ portions of the URL are placed in the address bar of the browser by convention – and are not generally required – this article will not discuss this further. Thus, the most important aspects of selecting a domain name are the domain name server and the top level for the website.

Domain Name

Here are the most important components of a good domain name:

Short – a good domain name should be short, concise and memorable, especially if the reader has to remember it and return back to his or her web browser some time later; too long, and the reader may forget it or misspell it and land on an error page.

Thematic – your domain name should reflect what your site is all about; let the viewer know what to expect.

Keywords – ideally your domain name should contain keyword-rich which describe your general website theme. It should be general and allow for more specific genres through your menus and navigation system. Keyword-rich domain names make for an excellent search engine optimization strategy too, which is beyond the scope of this article.

Branding – why not brand yourself and use your own name if you are an expert in a field of expertise. You could even make your company name your domain name. Your product line or brand could make your domain name.

Hyphenated – with so many good existing domain names already taken, the pressure to start adding extra words or hyphens increases. The problem with hyphens and extra words (like computing.com vs thecomputing.com) are that users may even forget to put them in or even misspell the domain name when attempting to type them in.

Easy Spelling – a good domain name should be easy to spell – best between the fourth and eighth grade level. For example, bestfriends.com could easily be typed in as bestfreinds.com for those who cannot remember ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’ rule. And avoiding double consonants too like besttrampolines.com the the double ‘t’ could easily be typed in three times instead of two.

Dot Com or Not?

Not all website end in the dot com extension. If your company is situated in Canada, the the dot ca or ‘.ca’ extension would be appropriate. most experts would agree that if you are doing business online, the most reputable top level domain name is still the .com extension – not to mention the most memorable extension used by web users. It is not uncommon for web surfers to type in a keyword like shoppingonline and then just add the .com extension. If your website concerns a non-profit organization the .org extension would be better as it is less likely to convey a commercial feel to any potential surfers or users.

Selecting a good domain name is a cinch when adhering to these basic steps. Following these basic tenets of domain name selection criteria will ensure your online success.

Domain Extension Meanings

Forming a domain strategy is an integral part of anyone’s online marketing campaign. To have your domain name work for you and your business from a branding and search engine optimisation point of view, which results in increased traffic and business visibility for your site, isn’t just as straight forward as picking a name out of a hat. So how do you form a good strategy and how do you monitor it to ensure it is achieving the desired results?

Its all about your business objectives; what do you want out of your business? What services or products do you offer? What perception do you want to convey? Do you want to remain generic or build a brand. Asking yourself questions like these will form the basis of a strong domain strategy.

Say you sell umbrellas…Lets ask the question: Do you want to become a brand, or stay generic? If it is the latter, then umbrellas(dot)com would be the ideal domain, it is, in a nutshell THE domain for umbrellas. If you want a brand then keepdry(dot)com could be a cool name to use. The beauty of domain names is that it is completely irrelevant what your business is called offline. Your domain name is the key to what you want your business to become ONLINE.

Geographical location of your business and your target audience is also a very important factor to consider when choosing a good domain name. Search engines place certain “weighting” on geographical domains if the end user is from the same location; in their attempt to provide the most relevant search results to the customer. For example if your target audience is solely in the UK it would be more beneficial to register a .co.uk domain name as consumers will feel your website is more relevant to them than a .net or .us domain. This isn’t just an assumption either, if you search for the Nominet 2008 industry report in any good search engine you will be able to see some extremely useful demographics and reports on the domain name industry and how consumers relate to different top level domains or TLDs.

Search engine optimisation and online marketing should also be considered before choosing a domain. It is always worth speaking to an SEO or online marketing company prior to jumping in at the deep end and developing any old website on the first domain name that comes into your mind. You will be surprised the difference it can make. They may even suggest registered several domain names depending on your business objectives.

As far as I am concerned, planning a good domain strategy should be considered as a primary, not secondary part of any online marketing campaign. It should integrate smoothly with your offline marketing efforts, online marketing and search engine optimisation, your business objectives, search engines themselves and ultimately your end users.