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What's in a Name? Picking a Domain
August, 2000

Much is said about the importance of registering some simple, catchy domain name such as flowers.com or company-name.com. And sure, we'd rather have dynamics.com than dynamicsonline.com. With top selling domain names capturing seven figures, let's take a moment to examine the benefits of a catchy domain name.

• Offline Marketing. Without a doubt, the biggest advantage of a catchy domain name is that it's memorable when a customer or prospect sees it on your business card, brochure, or delivery truck, or hears it on a radio or TV ad or through word of mouth. If that is your priority, you should favor names that don't require tricky spelling, hyphens or abbreviations. Better to be atlasmanufacturing.com than atlasmfg.com.
   

• Online Marketing. Surprisingly, this is where your domain name matters least. Web surfers who see your banner ads, page sponsorships, recruited links or search engine listings will simply click on the banner or link to visit your site. They may never see your domain name until they visit your site.

To see if the domain name you want is available, click on the Whois button at http://www.networksolutions.com. If the domain you want is already taken, you may still be able to use it. Here's how:

First, look to see if there is a website at www.the-name-you-want.com. If so, browse around to get a good idea of how much effort has been spent on website construction. If little effort is apparent or if there is no site at all, you might be able to make the domain owner an offer he can't refuse. Use the Whois feature above to find the phone number or e-mail address of the domain owner. There is no established pricing structure for purchasing domains, but always go into any negotiation with two or three alternative domains in mind.

Good Alternatives. With so many domains registered, it is likely that your first, second or third choices may not be available, so consider these alternatives:

1. Don't use dot-com. Anyone can now register a dot-org or dot-net domain name. But dot-org still sounds like an association or research organization, and dot-net is harder to remember. Avoid more exotic or foreign options. And the new endings we've heard about such as dot-firm are not yet available.

2. Throw in a dash. The name atlas-manufacturing.com is not ideal, but it is better than atlasmfg.com, in our opinion.

3. Use a prefix. Precede your desired name with an i or an e for a simple, modern name.

4. Combine words. Combine your name with "central," "world," or "net" for a domain name that's easy to type.

5. Be descriptive. Your domain name does not necessarily need to be your company name. It could describe what you do, such as widget-world.com.

Good domains we've recently registered: sammys.com, health-consultants.com, igiftworks.com, yourlifelines.com, beachwoodohio.com, macsworld.com, questmasters.net

Contact Dynamics Online about finding and registering domain names for current or planned websites.