Hello again

I figured that I’d leave a quick post with some information regarding domain registrations for those of you that are new to domain name registration and give you a few tips. Below you’ll find some of the more common & important tips for registering a domain name. Rather than going on with details of this post let’s get started. They aren’t listed in any particular order but each of them definitely deserves to be read.

1) Don’t register domain names that are too long. Yes, you can register domain names up to 63 characters long, but that doesn’t mean you should use all 63 characters. You want your domain name to be easy to remember. Not everyone will bookmark your page initially so try to think of something that can be easily remembered — although most premium domains have already be registered for quite some time. I personally try to keep every domain name that I register under 15 characters which is still quite a few but these days it’s tough to get a decent domain with less characters.

2) Use of hyphens in your name. Much like the 63 character domain names option above, you should try to avoid registering a domain name with a hyphen. It’s often times difficult for people to remember but it’s still an option. Now I’m by no means a search engine expert but I’ve found that there is no benefit or penalty for registering a domain name with a hypen. As a matter of fact I own a couple of domain names with a hyphen and they rank rather well so don’t let this be a deterrent. It’s actually quite possible to register some keyword dense domain name with hypens so it’s still an option but one that avoid at all costs if possible.

3) Try to reserve a dot com name. .COM is the most recognized domain extension and if it’s available definitely register it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with registering one of the many other domains but again, people first think of .COM when typing in a domain name. I have a competitor that registered a .NET for a domain names that I own, this was before I registered every extension but the point of the story is that if someone is wanting to visit his site they are most likely going to think of the .COM and end up at my site. They may realize that they are at the wrong place but it’s definitely possible that they will stay at my .COM and make a purchase from me rather than the intended .NET. Just something to think about.

4) Protect your name by registering multiple extensions (.net, .org, etc.). This stops people from copying your name and putting up a competitor site based on the brand that you’ve built. For example, if you own JustBirdCages.com you may want to seriously consider registering JustBirdCages.NET, JustBirdCages.ORG, JustBirdCages.US, etc if they are available. This will keep imitation sites from building their brand on your domain name. Try our domain name search tool to search for some domain names that you’re considering and it will show you all of the available extensions.

5) Keyword Dense Domain Names. If you continue to read my blog I’ll get into keywords in regards to search engine optimization (SEO). Obviously you know some of the more common words that someone would type to find a website related to yours so using a domain name with your keywords in it is definitely a plus. With that said, you’ll find that sites that rank well in the search engines without their domain having anything to do with their website but it definitely doesn’t hurt. I tend to search for the main keywords related to my websites topic before anything else and then research from there for alternatives.

6) Domain Privacy.Recently the option for private registration has become a feasible option. You can find the owner of a website on any registered domain names by doing a WhoIs lookup. The information provided would be your name, address, phone number & email address. Adding domain privacy is like an unlisted phone number with the phone company. There is always an additional cost but these days it is almost becoming necessary. Click here to read more on private domain registration.

That’s about it…
You’re ready to check if your domain is available. You can click here to visit www.SiteToad.com which offers domain names for as little as $1.99 for an entire year.

Best regards,
David Lalumendre
www.WebsiteToad.com

I received an email the other day asking me what I thought about the domain names that he was thinking about ordering. It made me think that I’d just put together a post of the types of mistakes that people make when registering domain names. By the way, these are simply my opinions, I’m sure that some people will disagree or would like to add a few mistakes so please feel free to leave comments with your thoughts.

Not Register A .COM

The reason that I think that this is a huge mistake is because people are accustomed to typing in a domain name with the .COM extension. If you register a .NET, .ORG, .US, etc you are just losing out on repeat traffic.

The reason is that people remember the domain name but often times don’t pay attention to the extension. When they attempt to go back to your site they type YourDomain.com which of course belongs to your competitor and thus you’ve lost out on return traffic.

Not Registering Every Extension

With domain prices being so affordable it just makes sense to register every extension during the domain name registration process. There’s no reason to let a competitor or domain squatter register the other extensions of your domain name and possibly put up a website of questionable content or even try to sell you the extension for many times more than you could have paid.

Using Too Many Dashes

I understand the importance of keywords in a domain name for search engine optimization purposes but if you want to brand your website for people to return to the last thing you want to do is register Your-Main-Website-Keywords.com.

It’s difficult to remember and I can’t think of anything that looks more unprofessional.

Not Registering A Domain Name For Multiple Years

The chance of losing a domain name due to it expiring isn’t great considering the number of reminders that are sent but I just don’t see how it’s worth chancing it. You may change your email address and not receive the notices or something like that.

It’s best to register your domains for multiple years so this doesn’t happen, plus you generally receive a discounted rate during domain name registration for registering for multiple years.

Well that’s about it. These are the main mistakes that I can think of during domain name registration. Again, feel free to chime in with anything that you can add or that you may disagree with.

Best regards,
David Lalumendre
www.WebsiteToad.com