How to Register a Domain Name
A short, memorable domain can be better than using a proper name. In choosing your domain name, keep in mind domains may contain letters, numbers, periods, and hyphens, but no spaces, underscores, or other punctuation; you cannot begin or end with hyphens and domain names are not case sensitive.
Here are some tips that you can use in picking your domain name:
- Watch out for potential confusion. Try a contraction of your name.
- Use a name that contains an important keyword that people will use when searching.
- Beware of deliberate misspellings.
Catchy Names: Another avenue is the fanciful name. Like Yahoo dotcom, or eBay dotcom. These are great sites with memorable, nonsensical names. Also remember that the name you choose will be on all your letterheads, business cards, in your email address, and in newspaper articles about you. Make it a good one.
Beware of the Squatter! Anyone may buy domain names and set them to point to one website. Be careful that you do not buy a domain that could be an infringement of someone else’s trademark. This could lead to costly legal action and loss of the domain. Also you should beware of squatters. There are people who buy domains that infringe on you and offer to sell it to you for far more than face value, but less than the cost of litigation, so people usually pay the ransom rather than sue.