What
Does A Domain Name Do?
The domain name functions as an alias for
the numerical IP (Internet Protocol) address assigned by your
host provider. Since
people can remember names much better than numbers, a domain name
helps visitors find your web site simply by entering the web name
(e.g. www.dpwenterprises.com ) instead of a hard-to-remember IP
address.
Why Do
I Need A Domain Name?
For a business your domain name serves as
your online brand and in a sense as your online business card.
Many people don't realize the importance of having and then keeping
their domain name until they lose it and realize that they have
lost their unique online identity.
Can I Choose
Any Domain Name?
In theory, you can register any domain
name that is available. In practice, however, there are some restrictions.
You should not register a name that you know to be the registered
trademark, service mark, or copyrighted property of another company
because it violates the copyright or patent laws of the United
States and other countries.
How Should
I Choose A Domain Name?
There are some basic guidelines for choosing a good domain name.
A good domain name should:
-
Be
relevant to your business - the domain name clothes4men.com
would be more recognizable then clothingthedude.com
but both are relevant to a men's clothing store. Just
remember that if the reference is too subtle, the customers
might not understand it.
-
Be
easy to remember - would you remember it accurately if you
heard it on the radio?
-
Be
easy to spell - if you were to register a name such as clothes4men.com,
you might want to buy both clothes4men.com
and clothesformen.com.
Then have your hosting company set it up so that both names
point to your web site so potential customers will end up
at your site no matter how they type in your domain name.
Spelling becomes even more of an issue with international
clients.
-
Register
as .com
if at all possible - the .com
extension is universally recognized and remembered
and is the default extension for most web browsers. That means
if I just type in clothes4men
in the address bar of my web browser, it will automatically
add the .com extension.
The other extensions are all right, it's just the .com
is better for the times when people are just remembering the
domain name.
What About Using Hyphens
In A Domain Name?
There are many opinions about using hyphens. Some search engines
rank sites more highly if your domain name contains keywords,
for example in our clothes4men.com domain we might want to us
the keywords: clothes and men. Without the hyphen, you lose the
benefit of key words for the domain name. But you can include
them in the keywords Meta tag in the home page's HTML code.
Basically, what it comes down to is that search
engines like hyphens, but for short name like clothes4men, humans
prefer the name without hyphens, but for long names like the name
of this domain ecommerce-reference-desk.com, hyphens are more
readable for both humans and search engines. (Would you really
prefer having to type the name ecommercereferencedesk.com?)
How Can I find Out If
A Domain Name Is Available?
To search for a domain name, simply type
the name our domain name search box. Within seconds you will know
if your selection is available! Click
Here to see if your domain name is available.
How Much Does A Domain
Name Cost?
$15 per year for the .com, .net and .org
extensions. Other extensions may or may not cost more.
What If I Misspell My
Domain Name?
Unfortunately, once a domain name has been
registered, it cannot be changed. Please type your domain name
carefully when registering it.
What Happens When My
Domain Name Expires?
You will always have the option of renewing
your domain name before it expires. We have an auto-renew feature
that sends you an e-mail giving you the option to renew 30 days
before your domain name expires.
Can I Change The Owner
Associated With My Domain Name?
Yes, you can change the owner.
Is My Domain Contact
Information Available To Others?
Your domain contact information is available
to anyone who performs a whois search on the Internet. This rule
is set by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers)
who is responsible for overseeing all domain registrars.
You can hide this information but
there is an additional fee for this service.
Why would you want to hide the name of your business?
Where Can I Registrar A Domain Name?
You can register your domain name through us. Click
Here to check availability and to register your domain
name.
Click
Here to read the domain name frequently asked questions. Click
Here for pricing information.
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