Whether you want to come up with your own original name or
wish to buy someone else”s, here are some strategies for
obtaining a profitable domain name.
1. Do It Now!
If you do think of or find a good domain name, don”t
procrastinate. Register or buy it now!
I”ve thought of a good name, checked it for availability,
and then slept on it. When I went to register, the name
was gone.
Years ago, one of my clients delayed in registering his
company name and within a month someone else registered
it.
The situation is even worse now. There is a lot of domain
name speculation going on. Many simply register a name in
the hope of selling it later to someone who desperately
wants the domain.
It”s really true in the domain name registration world: If
you snooze, you lose.
2. Register Dot Com
There are practical reasons why you should consider
registering a dot com name if at all possible.
When you go to sell, dot coms generally seem to go for
more money than other Top Level Domains. Why is that?
It has been suggested that dot org or dot net are perceived
to be second-rate because the owner either couldn”t
afford to buy the dot com name or their competitor had
the foresight to register it first. (Obviously, an ISP
having a dot net or a non-profit organization having a
dot org would not necessarily be perceived in this way.)
Additionally, dot coms are easier for people to remember.
If you have a dot org or a dot net, it is just one more
thing for people to have to remember. First, people have
to remember your website”s name; then, they have to
remember that your TLD (Top Level Domain) is not the
commonly assumed dot com. You could lose some traffic to
your dot com competitor.
3. Is It Practical?
Do you have a business use for the domain name? Is your
name short and memorable? Does it describe or brand your
business? Does it infringe on any trademarks? Is it free
of hyphens, numbers, and other extraneous or confusing
elements?
Give some careful thought to the above factors before
registering or buying your domain name. It could be one
of the best investments you ever made.
