Multimedia Designs .NET

Selecting a Domain Names

Do you really need one?

If you own a business you can probably remember the thinking process you went through in selecting a name for your new company. You wanted it to be something unique, yet common enough that anyone seeing your company name could probably determine what type of products you sell or service you provide.  This was the first step you took in "branding" your business. But before you could start advertising your company name you had to register it to make sure it wasn't being used by another company. The same process is required on the internet. 

Once your website is built, you will publish the files to a web server.  In order for someone to locate your web site on this server, they would need to know the exact IP Address of where the files are located. Technically, a domain name is used to translate that IP address (a series of numbers) into a more easier to remember name.  People can then view your web site by typing in the domain name. It is important to advertise your domain name so that people learn of your web site. These visitors are referred to as "Direct Traffic".

How to Select A Name For Your Web Site

You do not have to use the actual name of your company for your domain name, but your decision not to leaves it available for anyone else to register it as their own.  Imagine the potential sales you could loose if a competitor purchased your company name as their domain name.  But one important thing that might be of interest to you is that you can purchase more than one domain name and have them all point to the same web site.

In most cases, the largest percentage of your web site visitors will come from people searching for your products or services on line and your web site being returned in the results list.  For this reason, you need to think of a domain name that consists of a few choice words that best describes your company products or services or the type of information your web site will provide. These words are called "keywords".

So when selecting a domain name consider a combination of the following options:

• your company name
• the products you sell
• the services you provide
• the information you provide

Check Availability of a Domain Name

Since domain name selection has been available for several years now you may not get to register your first choice. Most commonly used names are already taken. You may have to get pretty creative but just try to select something that you think your customers will remember and that includes keywords that will show up in search engine results.

Once you have made the decision on a domain name, you need to register it and pay for the length of time you want to use it.  Use the form below to check the availability of your desired domain name. You can then purchase the domain name through MultimediaDesigns.NET or from another domain name reseller.