Domain Names

Introduction To Domain Names

If you want to have any kind of presence on the web, you really must have a website with a distinct domain name that you'll have to renew annually, ranging in price from $8 to $20.

Usually that's a .com for an American or a website that considers itself international ir there are country-specific domains, such as .co.uk for English sites with each country having it's own suffix. There are others, including:

.biz, .info, .org
.name for individuals & families
.gov for government
.mil for military
.us for American-only sites
.edu for educational institutes
.mobi for websites that want to be accessed via mobile devices such as cell phones or PDA
.aero for the aerospace industry
.tv the domain name suffix for the pacific island of Tuvalu, used mainly by television-related websites

Must-Know Info About Domain Names

When the web first started, websites were just IP addresses. They soon evolved into domain names which were locked onto specific IP addresses. This process obviously needed strict monitoring as two websites couldn't have the same name.

A small technology company called Network Solutions and in 1992 it was the sole bidder for the right to develop domain name registration for the internet. Sold again in 1995, it went on the NASDAQ in 1995 and was sold for $21 billion at the height of the dotcom boom.

With deregulation of the domain name industry, a regulatory body was set up and soon all American domain name registration was monitored by ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). ICANN presently also functions in that position globally but every country's domain name registration is controlled by the individual country's governments.

So, the situation is that each country must monitor its own domain name-selling companies (known as registrars) and is solely responsible for them, although ICANN will consult with individual domain name registrars if requested.

If you purchase a domain name, ensure that it is from a reputable company because:

Advice On Choosing a Domain Name

1 Some hints on choosing your domain name...

1.1 make it memorable e.g. Google, Yahoo, Amazon, the shorter, the better.

1.2 avoid crazy spellings and misspellings, they make getting return traffic difficult

1.3 personally, I find hypehenated names like

make-money-with-Google.com

...an abomination. They became acceptable a few years ago when SEO gurus found that Google was kosher about keywords-with-hyphens domain names but I think those sites are now finding Google isn't so happy with them and the trend seems to have abated.

2 Never use a trademarked name e.g make-money-with-Google.com as the firm may well be able to legally wrangle it off you (see articles below)

3 always purchase a .com domain unless you have good reason not to...

Domain Names & Branding

One thing I'd add to the page I linked to just above, though, is about "branding". If you'll notice, this is a .INFO site, an upopular choice, when anything but a .COM is considered commercial suicide.

However, I own all the main andrewgoulding domain names with which I'm presenting myself as a brand:

Andrew Goulding.com: Reviews of music, books etc., my writing & artwork

Andrew Goulding.net: TBA

Andrew Goulding.info: Intelligent INFO & reviews about creating websites & internet marketing

Andrew Goulding.biz TBA

It's obviously a long-term strategy and not for everyone...but right for me.

Out of interest, you may care to check out a fascinating short page on the health supplement Xango's (see my review) home site about their particular ideas on their own corporate branding. A brand name should STAND for something and hopefully my name will, too.

4 You may consider purchasing a used domain, which is an industry unto itself, with many names autioned for outrageous sums, even on eBay.

5 Always ensure that you're registering with an ICANN-certified domain name registrar, like any of my Top 5 Web Hosting Sites, which have all been around for a few years and are very reliable. After it's registered, you should always check WHOIS to see that it's your name listed as the owner.

6 That WHOIS status leads to another problem, though. If you find your personal details, including your email address, so can the whole world, so ask your domain name registrar about their Whois Privacy Service.

While it might seem logical, even wise, to keep your details private but Google is increasingly drifting towards favoring websites that have a general internet accountability. Consequently, it may be in your interest to think very carefully about what WHOIS choice you make.

Matt Cutts, Google's unofficial spokesman said:

"...Having lots of sites isn’t automatically bad, and having PPC sites* isn’t automatically bad, and having WHOIS privacy turned on isn’t automatically bad, but once you get several of these factors all together, you’re often talking about a very different type of webmaster than the fellow who just maintains a single site or so..."

Matt Cutts Blog Nov. 2006

*I presume Matt means Niche Marketing Adsense content sites.

Q: What do two attractive women with large breasts, a funky midget, a biker and an old dude have to do with buying a domain name?

A: See my review for Godaddy Domain Names