Domain Selection

Domain Selection

After defining your website’s objective, your next step is to select a domain name. Contrary to what most people think, this is not an easy task. Probably the biggest decision you face here is to choose between a Company Name Domain and a Keyword Domain.

Company Name as Domain Name

If we assume that, for example, you own a web design company located in Boston called Praxis Inc., you may want to register your company name as your domain name (praxis.com). One advantage is that your customers already know your company name and it will be easy for them to remember how to get to your website. Another advantage is that a company name domain looks professional when printed in collateral material. The main disadvantage of using your company name as a domain, especially if you are a small business, is that it will probably not help you very much with the search engines if it doesn’t include some generic terms related to your field.


Find out if your domain name is available:






Keyword Domain
If search engine marketing is pivotal to your overall marketing and customer acquisition strategy, you may want to use what is called a “keyword domain”. Keywords are generic terms related to your field, that you believe search engine users will most likely type in the search box to conduct a query. If those keywords are part of your domain name, the search engines will tend to give your site better rankings for those keywords. The disadvantages of a keyword domain are that the good ones are almost always taken, and that they tend to be long and look awkward when printed in company collateral. For example: boston-web-design-company.com may very well give you an edge over praxis.com when it comes to search engine placement, however, it won’t look very good (or fit very well) on a business card!

A good compromise can be achieved by adding one or two keywords to your company name, provided that the end result is not too long, for example: praxiswebdesign.com .

Tip: If you are just opening a small business, choose your domain name before you choose your company name. Many times, people have registered their company and then found out that their company name is not available as a domain name.

Domain Name Extensions (.com vs. others)

A domain name extension (also known as a Top Level Domain) is the letter combination to the right of the domain name, after the dot. Therefore, a domain name like yahoo.com has what we call a "dot com extension". You will also find .net, and .org extensions, along with a host of newly popularized extensions like .biz, .name, .tv, .info, etc., as well as country level domains (.us for the US, .br for Brazil, .it for Italy, and so on.)

Originally, .com extensions were intended for commercial ventures, while .net's were intended for use by Internet Service Providers and .org's by non-profit organizations or groups. Right now, this orignal classification is no longer accurate, and anybody can register a domain name with those extensions for any purpose.

You should, however, try to secure a .com domain. Most users will type it automatically when trying to guess a company’s domain name, and most web browsers use it as the default extension when somebody types an incomplete domain in the address bar. A useful trick if your .com domain is already taken, is to add dashes to separate the words, (for example your-company.com). You must try to register at least the three most common variations of your domain name: .com, .net and .org, to prevent unscrupulous competitors to benefit from your hard earned traffic by registering your domain name with other extensions hoping that a percentage of your intended visitors will mistype your domain using the wrong extension. If you operate a content site, I suggest that you register the .info variation of your domain name as well.

How can I know if a domain name is available?

To see if a domain name is available, you can go to the webpage of any accredited domain registrar, for example http://www.godaddy.com or http://www.dotster.com, and use the domain availability search box. The search tool will immediately tell you if the domain name you want is available. If your domain name is not available with a .com extension, it will give you the option to check for several other extensions. The search tool also offers you the possibility of accessing the Whois function, which tells you who owns the domain name you want, in case it is already taken.

How do I register a domain name?

Domain names are registered on-line through accredited domain registrars. There are thousands of companies that offer domain registration services. However, some of them are more reputable than others. I have always used Godaddy.com, since it is one of the largest, has a good reputation, offers great customer service, and rock bottom prices. Once you have checked that your domain name is available, you can register it by following the instructions on the screen and using your credit card.