About Domain Names
The first thing you want to do before launching your website, or even before finalizing a business name, is to find and purchase a domain name. A good domain name can make a big difference in both your branding and search marketing efforts.
If you're completely in the dark about domain names or would just like to know more about them, here is a page that can tell you just about everything you ever wanted to know about domain names.
However, we can make the purchasing decision very easy here is some really simple information that you need to know.
Buying a Domain Name - Domain Registration
Where to buy and register a domain name:
You want to get your domain name from a reputable company. We recommend GoDaddy, who is the #1 seller of domain names in the world. Actually, we resell domain names for GoDaddy through our site TechMark Hosting. Here are three reasons to buy your domains through TechMark Hosting:
- Price - Our .com domains are always on sale for $6.95 per year. Nothing more to buy. No strings attached. GoDaddy usually sells them for $8.95 per year, but sometimes they have them cheaper, although you may have to buy something to get a better deal. Compare our prices with a few other domain registrars. Whatever you do, don't spend 30 bucks for a domain name. If you don't buy through us, no big deal...just don't waste your money. A $6.95 domain name is the exact same thing as a $34.99 domain name.
- Reliability - Our TechMark Hosting site is actually hosted and supported by GoDaddy.com. Since they provide the service, support, etc...basically, the only difference between buying your domain through TechMark Hosting and GoDaddy is that you save $2.00, and instead of going to their website, you go to ours. In case you missed it: TechMark Hosting. If you want to spend more and get your domain straight from GoDaddy...it's a free country.
- FREE STUFF - When you register a domain with TechMark Hosting, you get free e-mail, web hosting, a blog, an online photo filer, and more - a $96 value! Here is a complete list of all the extras.
Why do we sell them so cheap? We want to offer our customers the most inexpensive and reliable domain name service they can get. We also became resellers of domains, so we could buy them cheaper ourselves. Why be greedy?
Full disclosure: We make a whopping 30 cents if you sign up for a 1-yr domain through us. So, please be sure to purchase your domain through the TechMark Hosting Website. It is super easy, and they have 24x7 support via phone, live chat, and e-mail to assist you.
In other words, we've let you in on a great deal for domains. All we ask in return is to make sure to purchase them through that website
and let the professionals who run that service take care of you.
Once again, here's the info:
Website: TechMark Hosting: http://www.techmarkhosting.com
Tips for Selecting a Domain Name
Here are a handful of tips for choosing the right domain name for your company.
- The shorter the better - as long as it is easy to understand, spell, and makes sense.
- .com is better than .net
- .org is the standard for non-profits
- .info is fine for informational sites
The domain name should contain one or more of the following elements:
- your company name or some abbreviated form of it
- be a keyword phrase relative to your company, product, or service
- be a unique, creative, and brandable word or phrase
Examples of Domain Name Logic
Company Name
Gold's Gym's domain name is goldsgym.com. Makes perfect sense. Even better is that it has the word gym in the title, so it works great when people use search engines looking for a "gym." Cisco is cisco.com. Microsoft is microsoft.com. And, so on. Not rocket science. Problem: there's not a lot of domain names left anymore, especially short ones. It may be pretty difficult to find a good one even if your company name is unique. Would we rather be techmark.com than techmarkconsulting.com. You bet. Actually, we'd like to own both. At any rate, Some other company set up shop on techmark.com years ago. We're consultants. We settled for the next best thing.
Brandable Keyword Phrase
A northeastern retailer of fitness equipment, G&G Fitness, has a domain name of livefit.com. It's short, brandable, catchy, and relevant to their operations. A couple other options might have been gandgfitness.com or ggfitness.com. Maybe these names weren't available. Note: you can't use and ampersand (&) in the name.
Flickr isn't even a word, but flickr.com is one of the web's most popular sites. It is a creative twist on the word "flicker," the momentary flash of light a camera bulb makes. Short, catchy, unique, very brandable. Is there anything about the word Yahoo that makes you think world news, stock tickers, e-mail, or about anything else on that site? Takeaway: Domain names are scarce, and you may not be able to get a decent one with your company's name or your product, industry, or service. If you're in this predicament, try the creative approach. Just realize major branding is usually pretty darned expensive.
To visit the American Cancer Society's website, you go to cancer.org. Cancer is their topic. Fighting and curing cancer is their mission. Cancer.org is just plain easier than americancancersociety.org; however, they own both domains, and the latter redirects to the former. Great strategy if you have the option.
Relative Keyword Phrase Domain Names
If you're going to have an informational site or simply can't get the creative juices flowing, a keyword filled domain name works great. If you wanted to start a site about growing pumpkins, growing-pumpkins.com would be just fine. If you want to buy some cheap, suspicious, and probably illegal pharmaceuticals, why not try DiscountPrescriptionMedications.com. Name seems pretty self-explanatory. Note: we don't recommend you buy prescription drugs online. If you need prescription drugs, see a physician.
Transferring a Domain Name - Domain Transfer
If you already own a domain name, you can transfer it (move it around) to another domain registrar. You'd do this for a few different reasons. One, you may have purchased the domain name from the secondary market (a person or a company) and want to transfer it where your other domains are managed. Two, you may need to switch registrars for some reason. Three, it is time to renew your domain, and you want to save money by transferring it to a less expensive domain registrar.
If any of these is the case, we encourage you to transfer your domains to TechMark Hosting. Domain transfers are ALWAYS $6.95. Additionally, if you transfer your domain, you get an additional year of registration. This means if you have a domain name about to expire, you can transfer it to TechMark Hosting and extend your ownership for TWO years (1 year for the transfer plus one year for the extension).
They even have a transfer concierge waiting to do it for you. You can transfer your domains online or just talk to the concierge. Call a Transfer Concierge anytime! 1-480-505-8866.
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