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It’s all in the Name

The domain you use for a particular site can have a huge impact in the way that humans and search engine spiders perceive it. Domain names were once so expensive that only those wanting to protect a brand or who could afford them owned them, now they are commonplace and if you know where to look, you can pick up a domain name for free.

Now that they are much easier to obtain, it is hard to take any site that does not have it’s own domain name very seriously. Without a domain name, a company is likely to be passed off as amateurish or seen to want to cut corners to save money. If you have a company site and you still haven’t got a domain name for your website, then you might want to think about getting one!

Make it Memorable

The best domain names are those that people can remember, because if your visitors can remember it, they are more likely to come back. If you do not already have a company or other name selected for your site, then it is often a good idea to make your domain name the brand for the site. Tying your site name to the domain is just one way you can help your visitors remember how to find you again.

Tips for choosing the most memorable domain name.
keep it short and easy to spell.

make use of keywords or popular search terms whenever possible.

generic terms are like gold dust if you can get them.

the more unusual but familiar sounding a domain, the better.

add a twist, some domain names are remembered for being different to what you would expect to find there (e.g. monster.co.uk)

One of the major problems of trying to promote a specific domain name is that in general, people (or sometimes browsers) assume that they end in a .com. If your site uses a domain other than a .com, then you may want to make the domain your site identity, otherwise you could have your visitors remembering the domain name but not the extension and going to related site that isn’t your own!

Domain Branding

If you purchase your domain with the intention that it will become the brand that you promote, then it is worth taking into account the specifics of the domain. Keywords can play an important part in your brand, particularly if it is specific to your industry, as they will help to make your domain name memorable while improving your search engine rankings.
In the case of directories such as Yahoo and DMOZ sites are usually listed in alphabetical order, so anything starting with A, B or C has a much better chance of being higher on the list than those starting with X, Y or Z, and so is more likely to be noticed. Don’t however be tempted to use a domain that has been “padded out” to get a high position in an alphabetically sorted list; not only will it look tacky and amateurish, but most directories use human editors who would pick up this obvious trick and either correct it or ignore the site altogether.

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Your web site is located by an IP (Internet Protocol) address such as 67.15.4.94 and is accessible on the Internet by typing http://67.15.4.94. Instead of typing a series of numbers which are difficult to remember, you can register an easier to remember domain name which becomes associated with your IP address. Visitors typing an easy to remember domain name will be pointed to your IP address. Similar to a 1-800 vanity phone number, some domain names pertain to the subject of the web site, while others may simply be the name or an abbreviation of your firm.

Lawyer-Advertising-Blog.com is the primary domain name for my blog, which is instantly obvious that it is a blog concerning lawyer advertising. When you type that domain name into the address bar of your browser, the domain name servers on the Internet know that you’re looking for http://67.15.4.94 and take you there. You can have multiple domain names pointing to the same web site. For instance, I also registered LawyerAdvertisingBlog.com (without hyphens) which is used for branding because people never type hyphens. Because some people may remember the name incorrectly, I also registered many other domain names such as AttorneyAdvertisingBlog.com, LawFirmAdvertisingBlog.com and others, all of which will bring the visitor to Lawyer-Advertising-Blog.com.

Tips to help you pick a domain name:

1) Choosing: Choosing a domain name is a lot like choosing a name for your company or law firm. Ideally the name should be consistent with your branding. Determine whether you are branding the name of your company, product or service. Your domain name should be good for branding - short, easy to remember, and has a “ring” to it or creates an image in the mind of the consumer.

2) Trademark: Before registering your domain name, be sure to check the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to make sure that the name has not been trademarked. You can check at www.uspto.gov, click on Search under Trademarks. Assuming that your choice has not been trademarked and you have now registered a non-generic domain name, you may want to protect your name by filing a Trademark or Service mark application.

3) Ownership: When you register a domain name, make sure that you are the registrant of your domain name. Some web site design firms will register your domain name with their name as the registrant. This will give them ownership of your name keeping you hostage. You can easily register your domain name yourself for $8.95 per year at 8.95Domains.com or GoDaddy.com.

4) Hyphens: There have been misunderstandings about whether to use hyphens in a domain name. First of all, the domain name you give out to the public must not have hyphens. The domain name without hyphens is the domain name that everyone will type in the address bar of their Internet browser.

The reason that some people say that you should have a domain name with hyphens is to force the search engines to see keywords in your domain name so that your web site does better in search engine results. The bigger search engines can now see individual words without hyphens, however, smaller search engines may not and even the bigger ones may see a word differently than you want.

Thus, the importance of using a hyphenated domain name has diminished. If you wish to use a hyphenated domain name as I did with Lawyer-Advertising-Blog.com, you should also register the unhyphenated domain name which you will forward to the hyphenated domain name. Use the unhyphenated domain name in print and advertising.

5) Extensions: Domain names are available with various extensions, such as .com, .net, .org and many other extensions. If it’s really important to you, you can register domain names in several extensions, however, for most firms only the .com extension is important. If you feel that you need to use .org, you should also register your name in the .com extension.

The .com extension is similar to 1-800 for telephone numbers. Most people automatically dial 1-800 even when they see 1-888. Likewise, most people will type
.com even when they see .net or .org. Additionally, many people including myself simply type in the domain name without http://www. or .com and press “Control, Enter”. Pressing “Control, Enter” will type http://www. and .com for you, automatically taking you to a web site with .com.

6) Top Level Domain vs. Sub-Level Domains: A sub level domain is a second level domain under a first level domain name and can look like yourfirm.freehosting.com. You must have your own domain name. Do not under any circumstances use a free hosting service, since free hosting services will only give you a sub level domain. No one will ever remember it and it’s sort of like handwriting your own letterhead.

7) Ethics for Law Firm Domain Names: A website name should be used as an address, not a trade name which is prohibited. Advertise your web site name as an address, a means for people to find your web site, not a trade name. Like a vanity telephone number, some web site domain names can violate legal ethics. Make sure that your web site name avoids use of certain words which could create a potentially incorrect expectation in the mind of the consumer or violate one of the other ethics rules.

Your domain name should not imply that you are better than another lawyer or that you can accomplish something that may not actually occur. Use of words such as “BEST”, “TOP”, “FOREMOST, “LEADING”, “WIN” and similar words in a web site domain name could create a misleading expectation in the mind of the consumer and will violate ethics rules in most states.

For instance, LeadingLawyer.com or BestLawyer.com will likely violate lawyer ethics rules by implying that you are a leading lawyer or the best lawyer. The question is by what standards are you leading or the best and in what? WinningLawyer.com or WinningCase.com may be better for a casino, because it will imply that the person who becomes a client of the firm will win money when, that may not happen and even if it does, it’s an award for just compensation, not gambling.

Laura Hodes in her article for the ABA Journal entitled Vanity Phone Numbers Make Your Firm Less Forgettable, at http://www.hurt911.org/hurt-911-articles/ABAJournal.htm, quoted Will Hornsby, an expert on lawyer advertising and staff counsel in the ABA Division for Legal Services, who said that while there is nothing unethical about vanity numbers, “1-800-I-WIN-CASES would be unethical because it is making an unsubstantiated claim, creating unjustified expectations that can be true but still be misleading.” The same can be said about domain names.

Advertising Your Domain Name: Be sure to include your domain name on your business cards, letterhead, and all advertising. When advertising in off-line media, always advertise your domain name with www. and without http://, such as www.LawyerAdvertisingBlog.com. Note that when publishing your domain name on the Internet, you may sometimes want to use http:// to ensure that you create a link back to your web site. When advertising in off-line media, always advertise a domain name without hyphens.

Philip L. Franckel, Esq., publishes articles on Lawyer Advertising at www.Lawyer-Advertising-Blog.com and created www.HURT911.org an accident and injury research web site for people hurt in an accident and personal injury lawyers.

Owning your own domain name (.com) is easier than you think. And, if you are in any type of business - even a hobby business, non-profit business or a club/association - having your own identity with a domain name is very important to your professional image.

It is important in:
• Customer recognition
• Easy to find in search engines
• Decrease in the website address length
• Cohesive email address - youremail@yourdomain.com
• Ability to offer additional email addresses to staff/workers/volunteers to keep business issues in a business email
• Personal ownership and pride

Acquiring your domain is really a simple process. All domains must be registered with InterNic. This registration service is offered by a variety of companies, called “registrars”. Registrars have the legal authority to sell the registration of a domain. They each also can set their own prices.

To find a registrar, you can search one of the search engines for “domain name registration” and then evaluate the pricing and what is included. (The company I use is www.TotalWebsitesOnline.com) In today’s market, a registration should not be more than $10 per year. Most are about $8.95 per year. Cheaper offers are there, but watch out for the fine print. More expensive ones are there as well.

Your registration fee should include, at a minimum:
• Complete Email
• Forwarding / Masking
• Starter Web Page (NOT an under-construction page)
• “For Sale” and/or Parked Page (under construction page)
• Domain Name Locking
• Email Forwards or aliases (at least 10)
• Telephone and Email support

Most registrars also offer hosting, marketing and a variety of other internet tools.

Once you find your registrar, you are ready to being the process. Most follow the same basic procedure. They should have a search form or box - “Register Your Domain Name Here” or “Search for Your Domain Name Here”.

Enter your domain name choice - choosing either a “.com” or a “.net”. If you are an organization, you can try for the “.org” as well. I do not recommend any of the other “extensions” such as “.ws”, “.info” or “.biz” as a first choice.

If a domain is already registered by someone else, you are not able to register that domain. Many companies, like TotalWebsitesOnline will offer suggestions that are available if your first choice is not. If your choice is not available, try again.

When you find a domain name that is available, you will have the option to continue with the registration process. You may also have the option to choose the other extensions at a discount. If you have a business, you may want to purchase these, especially if your name is trademarked or you plan on having it trademarked.

Complete the information accurately and be sure to use an email address that you have constant access to. Notices will go this email account.

Many registrars now offer “Privacy Registrations” or “Registrations by Proxy”. If you do not want your information (name, address, phone, email) to be accessible by a search of the InterNic database WHOIS, this is an add-on you might want to consider. Most companies offer this service for about $10 per year.

Once you have made your selections, check-out and the domain is yours!

Marian Brown has been involved with internet marketing since 1997. She has taught courses in website development and marketing online. Visit her site at http://www.totalwebsitesonline.com for more information and to subscribe to the free email newsletter.

Well, it seems we should all be very busy registering new domain name extensions as soon as we can, irregardless of whether we feel this is necessary or not. With ICANN bringing on an additional bevy of new domain name extensions, there are more possibilities to celebrate and party.

With Google now indexing .otherdomainextensions much higher than .com extensions irregardless of relevance to the topics or subject, it seems to be one of the few solutions to attaining top ranking positions.

I guess this is the way the web is going to go at present; at least for the time being - until Google realizes (or maybe not) that it doesn’t help any of us to find top ranking .co.uk, .travel or .other domains with very little relevant information and a lot of affiliate links than to find a really well informed .com domain with tons of useful information (presently ranking much lower than a .otherextension domain with much less useful information).

I assume that Google will find a way to get around this but for the time being, having other domain extensions will put you in a much better position for getting tons of traffic. The newer they are, the better your traffic will be since the quantity of sites on any specific extension seems to also have a considerable impact on placing in Google.

Combined with the newest craze of blogging and RSS feeds, why not get a foreign based blog or RSS instead of a .com blog or equivalent? Your profits are sure to hit the roof.

With each new domain extension, the possibilities for Internet marketing remain boundless. Which reminds me, I got to get up and start building the only two other domain extensions I own other than the (now seemingly becoming useless and defunct) .com domains.

Ann Louison is owner of a few gambling and casino portal sites and is dedicated to providing useful information on various topics.