Domain Nameless?

So...you're feeling like the king of the world! Captain of your universe! Except without a domain, the WWW just calls you "Hey You!" and that doesn't bode well for business. Well, as a web developer and entrepreneur - perhaps I can help you in your quest to become master of your domain.

Your domain name is an extension of your business, in some cases your domain IS your business. Either way, your first choice should be the name of your business. An important fact to remember is that you are going for brand recognition. You need a name that is unique to your own venture. An important concept to notice is that the popular web sites like eBay and Google didn't name their web sites auction.com and searchengine.com. Yet, everyone now associates eBay with auction and Google with search-engine. Although, there is an auction.com and a searchengine.com when was that last time you visited either of those?

It is important to brand your business and your web site with a unique name that is all your own. However, there are ways to increase your traffic without compromising recognition. For instance, if your domain name is Splishker.com and you sell rabbits. You could brand your business as Splishker, but also buy rabbits.com and have it point to splishker.com - eventually those people looking for rabbits will start typing in splishker.com because that is how you branded your site. So you don't need to give up creativity for recognition. You can have your snake and feed it too. Or something to that effect.

So really - in the web world you have a little more leeway than in the brick and mortar world. It would be impossible for a business to change their sign based on what you are looking for as you drive your car down the road. But on the web, you can do just that. So choose the name of your business! Get the domain name! Even if its spixlapat and then hide all of the generic stuff. You see, "A toe's the same by any other domain name." Congratulations! You are now the master!

Learn more about this author, Joe Polo.
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