How To Pick A Domain Name That Works

One of the first things that you will need to do when you set up your first web site is to choose the domain name. You should spend enough time on this critical process to get it right. It should be simple to remember, easy to say, and easy to hear over the phone. It should include keywords, as you'll want to use search engines to find your site.

The best domain names are dot com. Your customers tend to assume the dot com at the end of domain names. If you pick a different type such as .org, .tv, .us, or .net, you will lose customers to the other sites who have the dot com version of the name you pick. If you like a name well enough to use the version other than dot com, you will need to be sure that a competitor in your field does not own the dot com. That can really spell disaster.

We usually start with a dot com name and if the others are available, we will purchase them as well to diversify our project. If you use a different domain name for email, for example, you can sometimes simplify the development of your website.

A domain name should be as short as possible. You'll find that two words for a name is usually possible to find with some effort. One-word names are mostly gone. Availability of three word domain names is common; and if the words are small, the name will not be too large. An example of this would be...

cybermarketingpro.com

You can use dashes in a domain name. This will separate the keywords for the search engines. Then, every time you use your name in a link, the search engines will pick up the keywords that you are targeting. A good example is:

your-internet-business-opportunities.com

Many domain registrars have tools available to help you search for unused domain names and find different combinations for those names.

Keep your domain names as short as possible, and make sure they are easy to say over the phone. Names that you have to spell, or differentiate between spelled out numbers, or numerals will cause confusion. The domain, domains4you.com is an example. To communicate this domain name over the phone, you will need to make sure the customer knows you mean "4", not "four". You will also have to tell them that it is "u", not "you". This will become a frustrating waste of time if you are handling sales over the phone.

Stay away from words that are spelled different for different meanings, such as "To", "too, "two", and "2". Another is with our successful website, royaltyware.com. Though it is not a serious problem, we do have to deal with ware vs. wear in our telephone support with this site. We didn't even see this one coming.

When I pick a domain name, I will usually look at a two word definition of what I am trying to market, or the mental image I am trying to present. I will run these two words through an online thesaurus. Then, when I have a list of each, I will try different combinations until I find one that flows well, sounds nice when spoken, is not terribly confusing, and doesn't need to be spelled out 50 times a day. You will be amazed at how many really excellent dot com names, using two words, are still available.

Sometimes when I am looking for a domain, I will end up buying two or three for later use, or resale. In fact, you may even want to purchase domain names that are close misspellings of your original name. Many companies make use of search engine misspellings to sell their products on pages developed just to get the traffic from misspelled searches.

When we name a new software product, we name the product with available domain names in mind. Our soon to be released affiliate organizer is called Affiliate File Cabinet. We chose the name and purchased affiliatefilecabinet.com at the same time. That not only puts critical keywords in the domain name, it also ties the domain name directly to it's product.

Rusty Campbell has been involved in internet marketing and software development since 1996. He also makes marketing reviews at http://www.reviewopportunity.com An excellent domain registrar is http://www.cyberspaceregister.com The tools available on their web site are powerful and easy-to-use. They provide good technical support, and the domain names sell for rock bottom prices.

The Most Valuable, Premium Domain Names

With all the headlines, and news coverage, about the record sales prices being paid, for generic domain names. One might think, these traffic favorites are the most valuable of all, the classes of domain names. In actuality though, the sales prices of almost all of the top domain names ever sold have been secretly withheld from the public. The fact is, many of the most valuable domain names never reach public auctions.

So why are we, the public, not privy to the highest prices being paid for these premium domain names? Actually it is because of a little known fact, that many of the largest corporate investors, prefer to make their purchases, of premium domain names, in strictly private transactions. These private transactions are used, to deliberately hide prices being paid for domain names. For this reason, many of the largest dollar values being paid for premium domain names, never hit the headlines, and are never reported!.

Why is this so? Why do these corporate buyers and speculators not want it publicized, how truly valuable, some top domain names are? In a nutshell, they know increased competition, will inflate the market prices they pay for the names they covet. They do not want to draw any more attention to domain names, and their values, than necessary.

The last thing they want to do is compete for names they truly want and then possibly lose them to higher bidders. To avoid this they choose to operate in closed non public transactions, that are far removed from the public eye. In this cloak of secrecy, these corporate buyers, do not have to competitively bid for a rapidly disappearing pool of top domain names. This explains why they are clearly absent from most public auctions where sales prices are competitively bid and disclosed to the press and public.

In this controlled market place these professional buyers look for unique names that stand out in the crowd and signify an image that differentiates their company from the rest of the pack. They also search for names that are short, that are easy to spell and remember and at the same time describe their particular market niche with Clarity and professionalism. In short, they look for a name that makes a statement about them and their company.

Most of the qualities these professional buyers look for in a top name can be clarified by understanding, what a premium domain name is. So lets take a look at, the actual definition, of a premium domain name. "Premium domain names are often valuable and have particular characterizations: The names are short and memorable, may contain words that are regularly searched on search engines or keywords that help the name gain a higher ranking on search engines. They may contain generic words, so the word has more than one meaning, and they may contain typos". An excellent example of a Top premium domain name, is USeBiz.com It fits the definition of a premium domain name perfectly, makes a statement, and in many experts opinion is truly a most unique and valuable six letter domain name.

Another good example of a previously undiscovered and unknown gem is Android.com. Google bought this name in the secondary market, from a previous owner. This name is now being developed as their flagship address, for an open source software Alliance, for the wireless industry. Now that this name, is under Google's development, we would really have a tough time valuing it as its sales price was not revealed to the public. But we are sure its market value would be in the millions of dollars. The competition for good quality names, such as these, are increasing at a frenetic pace.

Due to this growing competition, there is an ever increasing demand for premium domain names. The catalyst, that's driving this demand, is the explosive growth of new business start ups, on the

With all this expansion, the worlds major corporations, are in competition with thousands of new start up companies, who are feverishly positioning themselves to master, this thing they call e-Biz!.It's no wonder that as a result of all this expansion. There is a huge pent up demand, being created for well branded, easy to spell, and remember domain names. This highly competitive market place has created an exponential increase in the values of good domain names. In fact, some premium domain names are commanding six and seven figure price tags!

The most encouraging aspect of this business, is that there are many undiscovered names that are destined to become internet powerhouse that are still available in the secondary market! This is what makes investing in the domain name business, so exciting! There quite simply is no glass ceiling here, and the sky truly is the limit. Now more than ever, the visionary leaders who keep their focus on investing in the secondary market for domain names will be a part of the futures most successful investors!

For all these reasons and more the secondary market place for domain names is the fastest growing investors asset class on the planet! My advice for any interested investors, is to start collecting and controlling the letters of the alphabet today!One word of advice though. Look for hidden values within the secondary market and do not bother with any other extension other than the .com extension, it's the Predominant choice for most of the worlds top corporations. That's where the real money is!

Jeffrey A. Schneider
Former Marketing Analyst / Rockefeller Foundation

Owner/Founder , USeBiz.com
http://domainlair.blogspot.com

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The Pros And Cons Of Inserting Your Most Desired Keyword In Your Domain Name

The old school of thinking largely advocated one incorporating their most (desired) targeted keyword in their domain name. Of course if you were a little on the late side to the internet marketing fiesta then your choices in selecting a domain name which incorporated a highly competitive keyword were naturally going to be somewhat diminished. So for example if you were one of the early adopters of the internet and recognized its immense potential and duly embraced online marketing while the rest of us were still just figuring out how to surf, you may well have chosen a domain name incorporating either of the following keywords within your URL: 1. "internet business" or 2. "internet marketing."

However with the somewhat basic search engine algorithms of the time it would have been advisable to separate double or triple-worded domain names with hyphens to help the search engine spiders better understand that your domain name was composed of a keyphrase as opposed to a non-existent amalgamated keyword.

However be that as it may, these days the search engines are quite savvy and can pretty much differentiate the different words incorporated in a domain name that has more than one word in squeezed-together fashion. However given a choice, I believe the best practice is to hyphenate the separate words in a multi-word URL!

Okay, high time we tackled the issue at hand: why and what should determine whether you ought to incorporate your most desired keyword in your domain name?

Cons of Incorporating Keyword In Your Domain Name

You may or you may not be aware that quite recently (Oct 2007) the search engine deity (Google) pretty much gave the online marketing community at large a resounding Google Slap of disapproval which manifested as significant decrease of page rank for most marketing-related websites (not that PR (page rank) has really ever been of much significance except as a tool to sell links if you were into that sort of thing).

This widespread Google Slap was not restricted to the internet marketing community alone but also targeted websites that were selling links, even well established SEO sites. The distinguishing difference between the mainstream Google Slap and the one directed against internet marketing sites was that for online marketing websites it didn't matter whether they were selling links or not, Google pretty much lopped off a chunk of page rank here and there. Few survived the slaughter unscathed!

So it's not unreasonable to surmise that it appears as if Google is sending a loud and clear message to the online marketing community that they are fed up with the proliferation of marketing sites, many of which are little more than affiliate squeeze pages adding no new value to the internet but rather are platforms for disseminating largely duplicitous material...definitely a big No-No in Google's Brave New Web Paradise!

So what does this really have to do with whether you should incorporate a keyword in your domain name or not? In a word...EVERYTHING! In an effort to better control the internet (Oops - did I say control? Mybad! I meant manage) Google has developed a substantial number of filters and algorithmic checks and balances to curb the proliferation of sites targeting the same keyword and thereby largely displaying duplicitous content.

The Google Keyword Suppressor Filter

Google currently appears to have in place keyword filters whose purpose is to restrict the wanton proliferation of duplicative sites and control the maturation and advancement of new sites. These filters operate in conjunction with the so-called Google Sandbox working in concert for a greater synergistic filtering effect. The following description illustrates how the Keyword Suppressor Filter functions:

Let's consider an example of two webmasters respectively titled Webmaster A and Webmaster B who are developing two brand new sites from scratch. Webmaster A is so excited with the idea of making huge sums of money from online marketing (he just stumbled upon a particularly well-written promotional piece of copy) he decides to set up a domain named internet-marketing-success-tips.com. Webmaster B is into frogs and toads (don't ask me why, she just is) and is captivated by the African Clawed Toad (Xenopus Laevis) and respectively names her website african-clawed-toad.com.

Unfortunately for Webmaster A he has made 2 glaring mistakes:

1. He has dived into a fiercely competitive and already oversaturated industry; not only does his most desired keyword (in this case internet marketing) boast a difficulty level of about 84% (where 100% is the highest difficulty level), there are approximately 360 million websites listed for that term in the Google index!

2. He has incorporated such a highly competitive keyword "internet marketing" in his domain name; never mind the fact that it is hyphenated and associated with two other words (success and tips). The damage is already done and his inclusion of the words "internet marketing" in his URL will automatically trigger the Google Keyword Suppressor Filter. What this means is that his site is going to languish in search engine limbo (also known as search engine never never land) for a considerable length of time!

In a nutshell it is going to be extra hard to get that site out of the Google Sandbox unless Webmaster A is a wiz at amassing a ton of traffic from different (independent) IP addresses to his site. Furthermore Google is almost certainly going to take its sweet ole time before recognizing and accrediting any link strength to such a site!

So what of Webmaster B and her band of princes...Oops I mean frogs and toads? Her site is about Xenopus Laevis, otherwise known as the African Clawed Toad. The good news for Webmaster B is that there only 101,000 listings for her most desired keyword (or phrase) which in this case is "african clawed toad." One hundred thousand listings may sound a lot, but believe me it is nothing in the realm of online search! More good news for Webmaster B is that the keyword (phrase) african clawed toad has a difficulty level of just 35.57%. The one drawback in this case is that not many people look up this term, but since commercial viability is not really a concern here (Webmaster B is truly passionate about her toads and frogs) there is no real downside.

Altogether the limited number of web listings for the African Clawed Toad (101,000; at time of writing) signifies that there is less material on the subject circulating the internet which means that any new website focusing on the topic of the African Clawed Toad is going to have a far warmer search engine reception. Put simply, the URL african-clawed-toad.com is going to ascend the Google Index far quicker and easier than internet-marketing-success-tips.com in the face of good SEO application by both webmasters.

To ease the effect of the Keyword Suppressor Filter, Webmaster A could alternatively have named his domain name with a term totally unrelated to online marketing, such as his name. In fact of late, this appears to be the favored technique of veteran marketers because not only does it resolve the suppressor effect (to a certain degree but not completely), when you use your name or some catchy phrase, it could well end up as your brand identity in the future.

Note that I stated that not incorporating a competitive keyword in your URL will only negate the keyword suppressor effect to a certain degree and not completely neutralize it. That is so because today's search engine scripts are intelligent enough to determine the central focus of any web page via the content displayed on that web page. So if your site is about marketing but your URL doesn't incorporate any keywords associated with marketing the search engines will still be able to figure it out and then guess what...the Keyword Suppressor Filter will kick in!

That pretty much covers the cons against inserting a highly desirable yet competitive keyword in your domain name but what of the benefits? Click link below to find out:

Keyword Dynamics

Ba Kiwanuka is the webmaster of http://www.internetbusinessmart.com

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Domain Name Registraion - Discover the Basics of Domain Name Registration

Domain name registration is the procedure of registering your chosen domain name for a specific time period. This time frame is generally in years and once that time has lapsed the owner of the domain can either renew or let the it expire, in which they no longer own it.

Any domain names registered through this process have to be unique. Therefore, there can never be two with the same name and extension registered simultaneously. The organization ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) are responsible for the maintaining and controlling the database of unique domain names and also making sure they relate to the relevant IP address.

How Do You Register A Domain Name?

Registering a domain name is performed though a registrar. These registrars are businesses which charge a set fee to register the name. These fees differ at each registrar and you can pick one up for as little as $7.00 for a year.

When completing a domain name registration it is possible to register for a minimum of one year and up to a maximum of ten years. It is a good idea to register for a number of years if you plan on making it a business or maybe a long term web site. This will help rule out the possibility of forgetting to renew the name and therefore, losing it.

Contact Information Required For Your Domain Internet Registration

When registering, part of the process is to provide your contact information. This data can be accessed through the WHOIS database. This means that your personal data is open and can be accessed online by anyone who chooses to use the facility. Many people are reluctant to add there details for all of the world to see so to speak. However, there is a way around this as most of the registrars will provide a facility for a small extra cost to guard this information with that of the registrars.

This is a good option to take as it has been known for some marketing companies to retrieve this information and build lists and target the people through these details. Therefore, having the whois guard can keep your details safe from prying eyes.

Having the Option to transfer your Domain

At sometime in the future it may become necessary to transfer your domain name from one registrar to another. There may be a variety of reasons to do this. Therefore, it is an important factor to look out for when choosing a registrar as some don't offer this facility. This would mean that you would be unable to move your domain and have to stay with the same registrar for the life of the domain.

To Register a Domain is Simple

If you are new to registering domain names it may seem to be a daunting task and you may feel intimidated by the whole process. Nothing could be further from the truth as domain name registration is an easy task and can be fully completed in a matter of minutes.

If you want to know more about Domain Name Registration and other related information concerning domain names then check out www.domainnamedefinition.net

The Complete Guide To Domain Registration

Choosing a domain name is one of the most important steps that you can make for your business. So it is very important that you get this step right. The domain will represent your business and for many prospective customers this will be very important.

The name represents the i.p. address of the computer that your server points to. So for example if you type in a name in your browser it will redirect to the i.p. address where your server is located using a DNS server.

You need to first decide where you are going to register the name. There are several key factors that you need to consider. Look for a competitive price and use a provider that is reputable. Many of the providers charge too much money so try to avoid this common trap. I use Dotster as they are reliable and charge reasonable rates.

When choosing the name make sure that it represents your business identity. If you think about Google's success, much of it is because they chose a very good name that created a very strong brand. A short catchy name that is easy to remember is best.

If you make the terrible mistake of choosing the wrong name it may have a huge impact on your website. For example when you attract a visit they may only click on the url because it has a certain symbolic meaning. When they get to your website and it is not congruent with your business identity it may have a negative effect on the response of your visitor which will decrease your sales.

Once you have found a name that you are satisfied with it is very important that you check to see if it has already been taken. Once verified that it is available you can go ahead and register the domain.

Are you really interested in driving massive traffic to your website?

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Mark Abrahams is a full time internet marketer who has helped others to earn a living online.

Article Source: Free Ezine Articles

Good Registrar - Valuable Guidance to Pick a Good One

Looking for a .com or .net after your name? Search on the internet is quite difficult, as there are number of companies offering .com and .net. So here are the few tips how to pick a good one.

There are numerous registrars they differ from prices, services, support, management, etc. This is the reason that choosing a good registrar is very important.

Further if you are not satisfied with the services of registrar with whom you have register your domain name, then at that time you can transfer your domain to other registrar.

What to look for? Some of the most important aspects that should be considered while choosing the registrar for registering a domain name:

ICANN Accreditation: The domain name registrar should be accredited by ICANN (which stands for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). This ensures you that the domain name which you have registered is legally a part of the internet.

Reliability: The domain registrar must be reliable and solvent, as they are the one who can protect the domain of domain registrants from losing their domains.

Location: Location is the other important factor which states that the domain registrars are subject to the laws of the country where they are located but some have been refuse to grant domain names that are offensive under the laws of their home country.

Contract Agreement: Many of the domain registrants think that, once the domain name registers, is theirs forever including all rights. But it is not like that, the contract which you have sign with the registrar could affect you in a number of ways. Many of the registrars have the right to cancel your domain name for certain reasons, generally when you use the domain for illegal or spamming purposes. So be sure to read the rights and policies carefully before you pay for it.

Price: Prices differs from one registrar to other. Though registering a domain names are much cheaper these days, but still there are many registrars who offer the higher prices. Nowadays, many of the registrars offered "free" domain name services, but make sure that the domain name which you have register is yours or the registrar company's, as some of them buy the domain themselves and allow you to use it as a name only and some of them compel you to place large frames full of advertisements on you site in exchange for the domain name. While comparing prices, you must also look for many other factors that are provided by the registrar, that are customer support, testimonies etc.

Support: While registering a domain name, check whether the registrar is providing a good customer support i.e. it should be 24x7.

Domain Transfer: Check the transfer policy of the registrar before registering your domain name. Normally you can't transfer a name during the first 60 days after registration, but the period could be much longer. Don't expect any registrar to refund money you've paid for months of service you won't use. Sometimes, there may be restrictions on your ability to transfer the domain name that means the registrar must be giving poor service.

Contact Information: One must look for the contact information of the registrar where you can easily get to them without any effort. You might want to test them to confirm whether they are available before you buy from them.

Hosting: Many domain registrar offer hosting services, as two in one package is a very simple and effective for register domain and host you site globally on web.

Management: Domain management method is the most important factor to think about. This normally works after registering the domain name. In other words, once you have registered the domain, how do you manage the information related with it? You may want to change contact information or name servers in the future. Many of them provides a control panel for managing your domains, which allows you to simply log in on the web and update the information you want to change.

Consider these factors when choosing where to register your domain name to come up with the registrar offering the perfect combination of price, service, management and support for you.

What to Avoid? Simply, keep in mind that free domain names are generally free only for one or two years, after which the registrar will charge you for the annual or biennial fee. In such cases the provider of the free domain name pays only for the first billing from the registrar. So you should study the offer carefully while choosing for free domain registrar.

Most of the web hosting plans at domain registrars are feature poor and over priced. If you are tempted by one, think twice and check out other hosts before buying web hosting from you domain registrar.

Thus, there are huge numbers of registrars varying from prices and services are available nowadays. You only have to choose the right one which suits your requirements.

Ricky Williams is a media contact of QualiSpace working with them from last four years. QualiSpace is the Reliable Web Hosting and ICANN Accredited Domain Registration Company which provide 24x7 customer support and services.

Domain Name Do's and Don'ts

Domain names are classed as the building blocks of the internet. Having the right domain name is key to your site. It is also important to name your site the same as your domain name. The simple reason behind this is that people will remember your site by its domain name, not by its URL.

Domain names can be of any length up to 67 characters, however the shorter the domain name the easier it is for your site to be remembered and the less susceptible it will be to people making mistakes when typing it in to their internet browser.

However it is proving more difficult to get short domain names now as most have already been taken. As well as avoiding long domain names you should also avoid the use of hyphenated names. There are several reasons why hyphenated names should be avoided as domain names that are hyphenated are difficult to remember and hard to type. If someone recommends your site to another person they will only remember the words used, not the fact it is hyphenated so that person would then search for your site based on the words and end up at another site, which could possibly be your competitor.

If you are in the business of selling pens you can rest assure that the domain name pens.com has already been taken. You have to be imaginative when it comes to choosing your domain name. If you are selling pens why not try the domain name pensworld.com or worldofpens.com. You should always make sure that your key word, i.e. the item you are selling is featured in your domain name this way if someone search's for your site via a search engine, such as Google, msn or yahoo, your site has more of a chance of showing up.

As well as featuring your keyword in your domain name it is important to remember that the more your keyword appears in the text on your site, the more of a chance your site has of being listed in search engine results. Being listed in search engine results means that your site has more of a chance of people choosing to buy off you as oppose to your competitors.

If your website is focused on providing an accident claim service then the keywords that you need to include throughout the text on your site are things such as accidents, claims, personal injury, no win no fee and compensation. By including a range of keywords throughout your site you are increasing your search engine ranking and your site will have more of a chance of appearing on several different search engine results.

Another aspect that has to be taken into consideration when deciding on your domain name is whether you are going to have a dot com or a dot co dot UK. The answer to this really lies with whether you want international business branding or just UK business branding. If you want to focus your business internationally then a dot com domain will work best for you as you can appeal to a global market. However if you want UK business branding then a dot co dot UK will work best.

If you are hoping to register a domain then hurry or your idea will be snapped up by someone else and all the good names will be taken.

Helen Cox is the web master of Article Alley, home of all of your Domain Name needs.

Please feel free to republish this article provided a working hyperlink remains to our site

Exploring Domain Expired Name Register To Find Best Domain Names

Before dealing with expired domains, you will need to learn and understand how you can use a domain expired name register to find the best and profitable domain names. A domain expired name register is a powerful tool that helps you in searching for the most meaningful expired domain names. It will also make the process of finding such names easier and flexible.

The domain expired name register shows thousands of expired domain names belonging to .COM, .NET, .ORG, .BIZ, and .INFO domain names categories. This register will also display those domains that are pending renewal or deletion. Domains that are listed in a domain expired name register keep changing almost daily, as they are facing constant renewal, deletion or back-ordering. The expired domain register is well organized, easy to scan and search and it comes with a user friendly interface. Its advanced search and sort ability will help you easily find the expired domain name of your choice.

A domain expired name register is a truly dynamic tool that never remains idle, even for a second; its database keeps changing and adjusting itself to accommodate new expired domain names. A typical register usually contains over 100,000 expired domain names at any given point of time. The register will monitor every available expired domain possible, and it will also sort them into a well organized category depending on its status, whether it is pending expiry or deletion.

In life, finding a good expired name is very difficult, and it is almost like seeking out a small needle in a bag of haystacks. But, a domain expired name register will enable you to search efficiently through the entire list of expired names directory without wasting much time.

Here is how a typical domain expired name register works and operates in the real sense:

a) You will need to enter the search keyword based on your preference.
b) Search keywords could be anything in nature. It could the name of a flower or a dictionary word.
c) You can also search through a readymade expired domain names list to find the desired name.
d) When you enter a keyword and hit enter, the domain expired name register will soon return with a number of names. Then, you can pick up a name and register it in your name.
e) A typical expired name register will also allow you to place a backorder without paying an upfront fee.

Apart from the above, a domain expired name register will also assist you in knowing the "whois" database of the domain, about the domain registrar who registered the domain and a brief history of past registration data. There are a number of domain expired name registers that operate online to help people find their expired domains. Some of them offer bare minimum services, by allowing to simply searching expired domain names, while many others operate on a small subscription fee basis. Before you use a domain expired name register, ensure that you choose the best of the lot that offers a host of services related to expired domain names and their registration.

John Khu is the well-known author of a new e-book titled "Expired Domain Secret". He is also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is also the owner of the path breaking web site called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.

5 Keys to Get Started with Domain Names

Your domain name is your cyber-address. If your prospective customers have no idea about it, then most likely you will never be found, and nobody gets to purchase your products and services.

Choosing a domain name can be very hard, though, as you can hardly ever change it, especially if you already have solid traffic. To make sure that you won't have to change your mind later on, here are 5 keys to get started with domain names:

1. Make your business name your domain name. What better way to promote your business than having it as your domain name. You can also focus on the nature of your products and select them as your domain name.

2. Add some dashes. Dashes will basically allow you to include keywords in your domain name. This way, even if your target customers are not familiar with your business name, you can still be searched and clicked by appearing in search engine results pages.

3. Make use of the best keywords. Always get the best one, the most relevant to your chosen niche. If you aren't sure what it is, you can simply use keyword suggestion tools like Yahoo! Overture and even Google Adwords. If this doesn't work, you can ask help from keyword experts.

4. Purchase domain names sharing the same spelling as yours. You can't certainly afford to drive your prospective customers to other similarly spelled domain names. Thus, to ensure that this doesn't happen, spend a portion of your budget to purchasing these domain names. You can simply park them, or if you want, you can create mini-websites and use them as their domain names.

5. Short is better. Avoid complicated and long domain names. They don't get remembered easily, and Internet users are prone to misspelling them. In the end, you won't still be able to achieve the kind of traffic for your website.

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Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

A Domain Is What Makes The Website

To host a website on the Internet, you will have to first register the domain. This use to be a very costly affair, it is very cheap now. It can be done for reasonable prices, and almost anyone can afford to register their sites.

It can also be called a host name, as this is what one will refer to when looking for a site. The informal term used for this is web address. This is completely incorrect and has to be referred to as a domain. This is what a website owner will use to replace his IP address, since most people aren't going to remember such numbers.

Different domains are used for various sites, because when one user moves from one to the other, it makes it easier for him. A domain name is allowed to have many IP addresses, and vice versa. You actually do not have to follow any of the industry jargon unless you want to explore further into this field. There will be many restrictions about how you can use the domain names as well.

Certain types of characters are not allowed to be part of the domain name. There are numerous types of domains as well. There are the top-level domains, second level and many more.

You can purchase your domain name from a domain registrar like network solutions or you could even purchase directly from a web-hosting provider. Some web-hosting providers offer a free domain name for signing up for web hosting.

B. Green

http://www.domainextinction.com

Free Internet Domain Names

As I read the various forums on website development and domain names, I am amazed at the number of people who are searching for free internet domain names. There is no such thing as completely free domain names, there is always a catch involved. The internet is no different than the offline world in this regard. How many offline businesses will give you something of value for free?

If you sign up with a host that is offering free domain names, you can be sure your website pages will have advertising that you have no control over, let alone make any money from. There may be other restrictions placed on you as well, like I said, there's no such thing as free internet domains!

The next obvious drawback to using free domain names, more than likely it will be a sub-domain, not an actual domain name. For example; yourname.hostprovider.com or hostprovider.com/yourname. How can you possibly build any type of brand using a name like that? You can't!

Developing a website that generates a decent amount of targeted traffic is quite an undertaking to say the least. What if you have success with your free name and down the road you decide to register your own unique domain name. What will happen to the existing traffic you have worked so hard to generate? What will happen to your search engine indexing and ranking that you have worked hard to achieve? If you change your domain name midstream you will very likely loose everything you have worked so hard to achieve. Does it still sound free?

Now if your website is a hobby site that doesn't rely on income and you dabble with it when you feel like it, a free name will probably work for you. What amazes me though is the number of people that are developing websites for their business and want a free name!

Business and website owners must realize the internet is not a game or passing fad that can be taken lightly. The consumer shift to the internet is real and is here to stay. You need to establish your unique web presence by having your own domain name. Your domain name is what separates you from the 120 million or so websites on the internet today.

When you are doing the do diligence for your website, do not underestimate the importance of your domain name. You may spend several hundred or several thousand dollars to develop your website, don't blow it with a free domain name.

Without a domain name no one can find your website!

Greg Greenamyer is an entrepreneur with 30 years of small business experience including 9 years of internet marketing. Greg founded http://www.DomainNamePotential.com an informational website focusing on the importance of domain names and proper website development.

New Hope For Earning Income With Parked Domain Names

Domain parking has had a bit of a bad reputation, and rightfully so. Most parked domains are setup with a registrar and they are the ones who end up making most of the income from ad clicks on your parked pages, that is, if your parked page gets any clicks at all. In truth, the registrars are likely only interested in making money from your domain name registration.

I have been intrigued with the domain parking concept however was discouraged until recently. It is true, almost all parked pages are shunned by the major search engines because they lack any quality content and are simply filled with ads. Simple logic told me that if the search engines are not interested at all with parked pages filled with ads, and this means the chances of people finding my parked pages is slim to none.

Thankfully there is new hope for parking domains with rich content parking systems. These systems don't just set you up with a page full of ads and forget about you, they provide you with simple tools that let you create rich content websites full of relevant articles that search engines love. This is the most exciting development in domain parking history because it means anyone can create a quality web site containing your own advertisements that you earn all or most of the income from.

This revolution in domain parking opens the doors for anyone interested in creating powerful websites and capitalizing on their income potential. I have spent countless hours studying the many different options available, and personally I feel the clear winner is WhyPark.

While it is possible to invest just twenty minutes of your time setting up a domain with one of these rich content parking systems, the more time and effort you invest in promotion, the more traffic your domain will receive in turn increasing your earning potential.

David Doggett is CEO of Cybernetic Media Inc. a web development firm specializing in high impact flash marketing movies. David personally owns over 100 domain names and experiments with domain monetization when he is not creating marketing movies for his clients.

David is also a licensed recreational sport fishing guide in Nova Scotia Canada where he resides with his wife and son.

Business url: http://www.cyberneticmedia.com
Blog url: http://www.residualdomains.com

Marketing Your Website - Domain Names 101

Any new website venture online will include a domain name. Sometimes the domain is purchased from a domain broker - someone who specializes in reselling them. The majority of the time, however, it will be registered through a domain registrar. No matter how it is purchased, in all cases, the domain name (or names) for a website should be carefully considered. The basis of the marketing for the website will be the domain name chosen.

Having been an appraiser for a few years now, I can tell you that the choice of names for your site is critical to marketing. When I appraise a domain for value (in both dollars and marketability), I use basic criteria for my judgment of the domain. The most important of those criteria is length and readability. If the domain is too long or too hard to read (for a human), its value is very low. If it cannot be spoken and typed correctly (most of the time), it's also of low value. A well-thought-out domain name is the first step in a successful marketing campaign.

When choosing and registering a domain name for a new website, there are three basic steps to follow to ensure a marketable name for your site. Follow them every time and you'll have successful domains every time.

Step 1: The Name

Choosing a name may be as easy as "your business name dot com" or it may be more difficult (especially if you have a common name for your business). In all cases, your business' name should be your number one pick for your domain name. If your business name is difficult to spell easily, try to register misspellings of it as well.

For instance, my business name is "Aaronz WebWorkz," so I obviously own "AaronzWebWorkz.com." Since this is regularly misspelled by potential clients, I also have "AaronsWebWorks.com" registered so that all email and web requests go to the original AaronzWebWorkz.com site. In addition to this, I purchased "dotcom-it.com" as an alternate domain and use that when giving out the URL on the phone or in situations where I can't hand someone a business card with my URL printed on it.

If your business name, as an example, is "Widgets, Inc.," however, you'll have a hard time getting the domain name "widgets.com" or "widgetsinc.com" and will have to find alternatives. I have a simple process I use and recommend when this is the case. Even if your product or product type isn't in your business' name, it's a good idea to purchase domains with that product in the name to use for marketing purposes.

First, make a list of words or short phrases that have something to do with your business. Six to ten of these is good to start off. Once you have the list, remove all of the ones that have more than twenty characters in them (this keeps them short). Then create new additions to your list by replacing empty spaces with "-" and "_" characters. Finally, compress the spaced words into one word (e.g. "widgets galore" becomes "widgetsgalore") to ad to the list.

Now that you have this list, prioritize it by numbering the entries from 1 to 10 (or so). Now see if these domains are available (step 2).

Step 2 - Domain Availability

This step is easy and will take just a few minutes to do. Take your list from Step 1 and begin with #1 on that list. Go to any domain registrar (see list below) and enter the domains in the order they are numbered on your list. Usually, you can just enter the domain without a suffix (.com, .net, etc.) and find out if any of the variations are available. Most registrars will also produce a list of alternatives you may want to consider as well.

As you proceed through the list, check off any domains that ".com" is available for. Don't worry about most alternatives since, for business, dot com is where it's at. Cross out any names on your list that aren't available. Once you're finished, you should have a short list of available, good domains for your business.

Step 3 - Register the Domain

Now that you know what's available, begin registering those domains! Domain registrars are all over the Web with varying prices and services. A good registrar is worth any extra money that may be spent since a registrar going out of business could easily cause headaches and nightmares for you. I have used, worked with, and recommend the following registrars:

www.101Domain.com
www.Rwgusa.net
www.bluesit.com

In addition, you may wish to use the international domain tools offered at any of the above. Especially if you register a lot of domains are in need of "extras" that aren't normally offered by a registrar at http://www.101domain.com

Good luck with your new venture!

Quick Domain Names - Important Facts About Domain Names

Domain Names are very important if you are making a business online. Whatever your purpose for buying the name, you are sure to have endless earnings. You can earn from them by selling them or by choosing the right one that would best help your business. And it is for this reason that choosing the right name is very critical.

Here are some tips on how to choose the right domain names:

1. Define your purpose for the domain name. If you are planning to use the name for the website of your company, you need to make sure that you will choose a name that is close to the name your company. If you would be using it for a squeeze or sales letter page site, then you might as well relate it to the content that you are promoting. This then will help you in your internet advertising process.

2. Choose a domain name that clearly indicates what service you offer, what problem you solve, and what products you sell. This will give the readers then a clear idea of what you offer by merely staring on your name.

3. You should also consider search engine optimization ahead of time when choosing a domain name. Make sure that the keyword that you are optimizing will be part of the name you chose. This can help you site fare well in the search engine page ranking.

4. Stick with shorter domain names. If you want people to remember your site, then stop thinking of using very long names. It should be short and catchy - that's all you need.

5. You can buy a domain of your given name. This might be hard to believe but if you have established your name and that many people already know you then it is advisable that you buy such domain name. If people search for your name in the Internet, they would easily be directed to your web site.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

Learn How To Earn With Domain Parking

Have you thought of using domain parking to make some money? This is something that many people are taking advantage of. There are several ways you can make money with the simple task of domain parking.

Some people park a domain and decide to use it to make money while they are working out how to build the site. This is a great way to earn while you plan the site out. Some people also park domains just for the purpose of making money with no further plans to develop the website.

How do you do domain parking?

First of all, you need to know what type of domain to park. If you can think of an up and coming idea and capitalize it by buying domain names this is a great idea. If you know, for instance, that something new is in the works and becoming popular and the .com name isn't yet taken, you can park it an earn from it. You might get approached by someone later who will pay big money for that domain or you might find that people happen upon it while looking for something else. By filling the landing page with relevant advertisements or affiliate marketing ads and banners, you can make a regular stream of income.

If you are waiting until later on to reserve that great domain name you've been thinking about, don't tarry too long otherwise it could be gone and someone else might either build upon it and use it to their advantage or merely park it and wait to charge you big money for it.

It takes a bit of time to get things ready to do things this way. If you don't want to take the time, effort and money to register the domain, sign up for affiliate programs, build a page, maintain and manage a page and fill it with advertisements, you can choose to share the profits by working with a company to do the management for you.

There are several companies that will do domain parking for you and pay you a percentage of the fees. Some offer cheap domain name registrations and other incentives to get you to join up.

Many domain parking options are available and if you cannot come up with a catch phrase, you can often come up with a similar name to another company that may get hits. There are some cheap domain names registrars out there with some great deals to offer you.

Notes Of Caution With Domain Parking

Beware though; some people that are less than ethical and will do things in the domain biz such as redirect people's homepage to their parked domain so that people are more likely to click. Be cautious of hidden fees and black hat tactics and be sure to read the fine print because there are some known scams out there that benefit the domain parking company much more than they benefit you. Some people call some domain parking practices domain squatting or cyber squatting and some companies have been known to press charges if they suspect that someone is cybersquatting on a brand name that it their intellectual property. ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) handles complaints of this nature and looks for motives of bad faith when investigating domain parking scams.

Matthew is the developer of TheWebReviewer: Legitimate Home Based Business Reviews, and NetWebVideo: Mastering SEO, Adwords, and Affiliate Marketing. Matt currently lives in San Diego, CA and is married with two children and has been an online marketer since 2006.

Six Attributes of a Domain Name That Kicks

Domain name or identifier in common dialect is one of the essential areas but more often the most neglected aspect of online business. Since these are important, it is just but right to put some emphasis on how we choose and select a company online identifier - the domain name. Below are some of the ways on how we choose the right one:

1. Choose a domain name that is in between more and least popular. Too popular names are always bounded by copyright and intellectual property rights. However, choosing a more relative one can make your domain surge. So, to make it just right, put it somewhere in between very popular and least popular.

2. Domain names can also include keywords on it. The more relevant keyword that you put in it the better search capability it gets. So, you better take advantage of these keywords.

3. Choose a domain name that is not too long that it becomes difficult to remember. Remember, the shorter the name the better for easier to recall. This is the reason why legal names always have aliases specifically for longer ones.

4. Create a domain name that creates an impact to potential net users. Domains that are highly controversial usually leave a recall to most net users. However, if you are on a business, controversial names usually do not work as they are - so remain, neutral. Just think of a better way to catch public attention.

5. You can study how other sites are naming theirs. You can look at how other well known sites have named theirs and get some ideas.

6. Check on domain sites for domain names that are being sold. These are usually cheaper and were market tested already. So, potentially, they are as good as the working ones.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

Using Expired Domain Scripts To Clinch A Great Expired Domain Name

As an expired domain name entrepreneur, you may face a number of difficulties and hassles, especially while finding a suitable expired domain name from a large inventory of names. In many cases, you may need to register yourself with an expired domain name searching service to find good domains. In the long run, this exercise will not only prove costly, you may also end up wasting precious time and energy. Above all, you may never find one of your choice, as the service that you acquire will not provide the best results for your money. Under such circumstances, the only hope for you is to choose a good expired domain script set, to search for a wonderful domain with your own effort. It is that wonderful tool that will assist you in grabbing best domain names, before your competitor actually clinches them!

An expired domain script gives you several advantages and benefits, when compared to commercial search and seek type of services. Here are some of the notable benefits of using it:

a) Most of the them are usually browser based and you need not use the tool as software.

b) It is very simple and easy to use utility that does not take too much time to install.

c) It is ultra quick and lightening in finding the best looking expired domains.

d) It can integrate and gel with the overall look of your site, by using convenient headers and footers.

e) It can check multiple domain simultaneously, within a few span of minutes.

f) With this tool, you can just paste a set of domain names and check their records.

g) It will also allow you upload a text file of domain names.

h) You can also limit the number of searches to have a sense of flexibility.

i) You can also sort out the results, based on the nature of extension.

j) You can also set search parameters, based on the nature of domain extensions.

k) It is very easy to control and manage.

l) You can also see the whois server and check for the ownership.

m) You can check the expiration date, domain name status and other relevant details.

n) Another unique feature is the ability to check the leap year data, by using the internal calendar.

o) All those domains that expire soon will display themselves in a red color and you can take action on the highlighted items with out wasting any time.

It is easily available in the market; you can either purchase them through a vendor or use the available service by paying a fee. Another alternative is to create the scripts with your own effort, if you know how to deal with the intricacies of software programming.

John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is also the owner of the path breaking web site called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.

Website Basics-Choosing a Domain Name

The first step in building a website is in the choice of a domain name. Whether you are a doctor, lawyer, plumber, aluminum siding salesman, or if you want to start up a website to feature your family dog Spot, the entire endeavor begins with the choice of a domain name.

The next logical question you might ask, is "What is a good domain name?". The answer is, it depends. For example, if you are the person above who wants to build a website devoted to Spot, the family dog, then the answer is that the choice of a domain name really doesn't matter. Why? Because you probably don't really care about gaining a lot of traffic to your website, your site is probably only something you are going to produce for family and friends, to let them know about the latest goings on in Spot's life. In a case like this, it does not matter whatsoever if you find a domain name like "ourdogspot.com" or not, since most likely you will only be giving out the website address to a few friends and family and maybe Aunt Tilly in Toledo.

In fact, in a case like the above, you could call the site anything you wanted to, "dogdiary.com" or even "catsdontlikespot.com" or something even as silly as "lookatthis.com", which really has nothing at all to do with the subject matter of the website itself. The point is that in a case like this, there is no real concern with getting a lot of visitors to the website other than friends and family and Aunt Tilly in Toledo, so there is no real harm in naming the website ANYTHING, because you will be giving out the website address to a select few people. BUT……

What if the website is for business? What if I do want it to attract attention?

The simple answer is, it pays to have a domain name that reflects your site or business. If your website is about car parts for example, do you really expect the average web surfer to remember how to get to your website if it is named "bobsthingsforsale.com" or some other unrelated name? The best strategy is to find a domain name that directly relates to your business, whether it is the business name itself or related to the category of business. For example, a car parts website should have a domain name like carparts.com or bobsautoparts.com, something that immediately associates the domain name with the theme of the site. It's all about branding, and making a lasting impression on the target audience or customers.

You can find domain names by checking the WhoIs database on the internet. While there are any number of places on the net to do this, we have conveniently placed a domain name search engine on www.StartMyWebsiteToday.com for this very purpose. After searching the domain name, the results given will instantly show whether or not the domain name is available, and if so, give you the option to immediately register it. If not, several alternative domain names will be proposed, to help you fine tune your search, or possibly giving you an acceptable alternative domain name to register instead.

In the next article, we discuss strategies for choosing a domain name, long or short, hyphenated or not, and generic or brand names.

 

About The Author

Richard James has been a contributing author for this website and is an acknowledged expert in the field of domain names. He can be found on the internet at this website: http://www.startmywebsitetoday.com This article is copyrighted, please do not alter in any way.

IDN - International Domain Names

 What is an IDN?

IDN stands for Internationalized Domain Name, also known as multilingual domain names. It allows you the possibility to use more characters in domains names, besides letters and numbers. It uses characters available in other alphabets, like accents.

Example of IDN domains:

Chinese IDN – 毒瘤.com which means cancer
If you go to 毒瘤.com you will see the domain is targeted towards cancer but in English.

Romanian IDN – divorţ.com you will see the domain is targeted towards divorce but in English.

Polish IDN – pieniądz.com you will see the domain is targeted towards money/currency but in English.

Greek IDN – βίβλοσ.com you will see the domain is targeted bible/books but in English.

.cn with Chinese results: 例子.cn you will see the domain is samples but in Chinese.

Al these are targeted through http://parkingsite.com and take 5 days to target once a keyword is given.

What browsers support IDN names today?

Only the latest version of Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2 support IDN Names directly entered into the browser.

IE6 and earlier versions will not support IDN's.

What TLD's or ccTLD's support IDN?

First of all what I am saying with that question is what extensions can be registered like and IDN. Can I register毒瘤.com? 毒瘤.net? 毒瘤.org? 毒瘤.cn? 毒瘤.jp? and what others can I register.

Here is a list of the ones that I have registered:

.com
.net
.tv
.cc
.jp = Japan
.cn = China
.de = Germany
.gr = Greece
.tw = Taiwan

Do all Registrars support IDN registrations?

No, as of writing this Enom does and so does Domainsite. There are others that do but mot d not. Please check with your registrar BEFORE you register any or you will get stuck with a long name that has no value whosoever.

What IDN's should you register?

You should use the same principles that you have learnt while registering English domain names. Go after the higher paying ppc terms first. Make sure if there are more than one way to say a word in any language that you get them all as you never know which ones will have the most traffic. I have registered quite a few dual meaning words and it's never the one I think that has the most traffic.

女孩儿 ; 姑娘 ; 女孩子 all mean girl with slight variations in Chinese. In this case and such a major term, unless you speak the language, grab them all.

Google results for all of them:
女孩儿 - 1,870,000 results in Google
姑娘 - 4,460,000 results in Google
女孩子 - 2,840,000 results in Google

Most IDN's with Google over 1 million will have some traffic unless you get ridiculous generic terms like 'the' which have no value whatsoever.

Also, as with English domains, dig a bit deeper. If loans is taken in the language you want go for things like home loans, car loans, boat loans and so on.

How to find and register IDN's?

There are many ways to find and register IDN domain names. The best way is obviously if you speak the language but even then you must be careful. Just like in English some common words will not actually be used and a short form may be used. In English most people know the word automobile but rarely would use it. Most would use the word car.

This can be illustrated by the two overture scores:

1572 http://automobile.com

18016 http://car.com

Now this does not mean automobile is not a good IDN to register, it just means go after the one that is more likely to be typed in a browser.

Now if you don't know anyone that speaks a language you are going after, your only choice is to use a good translator software, I suggest you use logos.it

When you enter a word it gives you results in multiple languages at one time and makes it really easy to get a keyword in multiple languages.

For example when you search for the word insurance you get:

English
insurance

Italian
assicurazione

Spanish
seguro ; aseguración

French
assurance

German
Versicherung

Russian
cтрахование

Arabic
تأمين ; ضمان ; كفالة

Albanian
sigurim

Asturian
seguru

Basque
aseguru

Bolognese
asicuraziån

Brazilian Portuguese
seguro

Breton
asurañs

Catalan
assegurança

Danish
forsikring

Dutch
verzekering

Esperanto
certigo

Finnish
vakuutus

Flemish
verzekering

Furlan
sigurance

Galician
seguro

Gujarati
વીમો

Hebrew
ביטוח

Hindi
बीमा

Hungarian
biztosítás

Indonesian
asuransi

Irish
árachas

Japanese
保険

Marathi
विमा

Norwegian
forsikring

Piemontese
assicurassion

Polish
ubezpieczenie

Portuguese
seguro

Punjabi
ਬੀਮਾ
Romagnolo
assicuraziòun

Romanian
asigurare

Sanskrit
क्षेमकरणं

Serbian
осигурање

Slovak
poistenie

Swedish
försäkring

Turkish
sigorta ; sigortalama

Ukrainian
страхування

Valencian
segur

Venetian
assicurassion

Welsh
yswiriant

I have found that just like domains, the one I think will get the most traffic, surprisingly won't, but the languages I have never heard of get some traffic.

Now let's see how you go about registering IDN names:

Let's go to logos.it and look up the Russian word for weasel as an example which is ласка, so now I go download the IDN Domain Conversion Tool then open it up and paste ласка into the space unde the heading IDN Domains and hit the ok button. You will get a code called a PUNY code which is: xn--80aa3ac5a , then take that and add a .com on it and you will end up with this http://xn--80aa3ac5a.com. Now check a whois or try to register http://xn--80aa3ac5a.com and see if you get it. To keep it organized and try to keep my domains in one place I register most of my IDN's at Enom. There are other choices if you like. You can take the actual ID code and go to and type in the IDN and it will tell you if it's available without doing the PUNY conversion but you should know how to do it anyways.

When I check now ласка.com is available.
In case you are wondering you cannot register ласка.ru yet as the Russian ccTLD does not support public IDN registrations yet.

If I find an IDN like ਬਿੰਗੋ (xn--f9b5b1c6b7k) should I register .com or .cn or both?

This really depends on how strong the term is, if it's a great term and you have the $, by all mans register them both. If you don't my suggestion is get the .com. You will need to do some research here as every country operates differently. Some countries are big on their ccTLD's while others go for the .com first and only if that's taken will grab their ccTLD after that.

Personally, I have been registering the com's and if it's a great term I get the ccTLD for that country if its available.

To learn more about IDN Names visit the Domain Name Forum where all the domain experts hang out and chat.

Are all the good IDN names taken?

Absolutely not, take your time and do some mining and you will find gold in them mountains.

Remember don't expect miracles from IDN domains now, the miracles will come once most of the world has a browser that can support it.

Should you expect to make $ from your IDN's now?

No, if you are lucky you will have a few that make something., I have registered thousands of these and at least half have traffic so that's good enough for me to know the future will be great for these. Be patient they will be worth it in the long run.

Is there anything else I should know about IDN's?

Yes, there is lots more, please take the time to learn about Domain Names and feel free to ask and post your questions as thre are many IDN experts there and they will usually answer you within a few minutes.

I hope this helps some of you get started in what should be an interesting area of domains

 

About The Author

Adam Dicker has extensive experience and domaining expertise. A well-known figure in the industry, Dicker founded High Impact Sites, Inc., a company that owns thousands of high-profile domains and operates the largest http://www.dnforum.com on the Internet.

Web Address Domain Icons

Want to make your online business look more professional and standout from the rest of the domain names saved in a web browser favorites lists?

Now, adding an image to the URL domain name listed in the address bar is easy and will help your website stand out from the rest. The hardest part of adding a web address icon to your domain name is choosing the image that you want to use.

Many of the most reputable and large web domains use this simple tactic of placing an image in the web address bar to help their sites stand out. Look through your favorites menu you may already have some websites bookmarked that are displaying a nice little image next to the name. Notice how those URLs stand out and draw your attention from the default icons used by all the other sites.

What is a Web Address Icon?

The image you see is a page or URL icon commonly called a favorites icon or "favicon" for short and is commonly associated with a particular website. Many (if not all) of the popular web browsers used today, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 and above and Firefox will display these favicons. The icons will be shown in the browser's address bar next to the URL, next to the page name on the tab (if you are using IE-7) and next to the name of the website if you saved it in your favorites list.

Creating a web address icon and getting it to display is very easy and only takes a few minutes. You can have a web designer create the icon but it is not necessary since the process is very easy, you can do it yourself.

How Do I Create a Favicon?

The process for creating and setting up you very own web address icon is very simple consisting of four main steps:

Create an image to use
Transform the image into an icon
Edit your website pages with a few lines of HTML code
Upload the image and edited web pages to your domain

When you create your very web address icon, the most difficult part you may face is deciding on the image to use. A note of caution here, be sure to avoid using any copyrighted images or logos that are already in use – especially if you are running an online business. For example, sites like Google, CNN, and eBay all use a favicon so using theirs on for your site would be a big no-no.

How Can I Use a Web Address Icon?

Think of a favicon as a form of avatar, similar to one you may use in online forums or chat rooms. If you run a personal web page or blog, you can use a picture of yourself to place alongside your domain name. That way when your friends and family bookmark your site, your picture will be displayed alongside the bookmark to your personal website or blog in the favorites menu. If you are using a "free website", you may not be able to use the favicon feature - check with the site provider first.

If you running an online business, what better way to start promoting your brand or logo than by having your very own web address icon. The image you use can be your business logo, or an image of a particular product or service you are promoting.

Whether you are an individual looking to make your personal website look better, or an online business that wants to look more professional and stand out from the rest, using a web address icon can do that. So, take a few minutes today to create an icon that you can use alongside your domain name to help make your website stand out.

 

About The Author

Larry Waverly is a contributing writer for Computer Internet Resources. Visit http://wwwdomainnames.computerinternetresources.com for free domain name service reviews.

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