Web Design: 10 Steps to Web Design:
8. Do you have a domain name?
Obviously, if you are to appear on the world wide web, you are going to need an address - a domain name.
Sometimes it will be clear what your name should be. If you are the BBC then bbc.co.uk makes sense!
However, even there the choice was not that simple. Why not bbc.com? There will be those who tell you .com is more 'prestigious" than .co.uk - but sometimes, for us and for the BBC for instance! - .co.uk is the better option.
Why? Because we only work in the UK, and the BBC is funded by UK taxpayers and is a flagship for the UK abroad - so it wants its roots showing.
Sometimes you don't have a choice - if Mr Amazon wants to promote his Somerset-based chain of Amazon Tea Shop online, he's going to find Amazon.com and .co.uk are already gone!
So think laterally - somersetteashops.com, for instance - then make sure everyone associates that domain name with your business.
Your domain name is the key to your webste. Stick it on your cards, your letterheads, the back of you car, your business cards, your paper doilies - get it out there whenever and wherever you can. It needs to be easy to remember, and it needs to be identified with your business. When people think of Amazon Tea Shops, they need to be thinking somersetteashops.com. There are other options outside of .com and .co.uk. For instance, if you are a non-profit making company or organisation, a .org address might be worth considering.
.net, .tv and many more are also available. They tend to be less memorable, as most people assume an address is .com or .co.uk, but used well can be effective (del.icio.us is an example of very clever, and successful, use of the .us top-level domain). Avoid using a variation of a well-known name with a different top-level domain - amazon.tv, for instance would just confuse Mr Amazon's customers.
Get your web company to check if the domain name you want is available - and if so, they can buy it for you. You can buy it for set amount of time - but try to buy it for at least two years. The major search engines don't look kindly on domains bought for only one year, as this is common practice among unscrupulous sorts setting up sites for phishing or spam.
<< Previous Step | 10 Steps to Web Design | Next Step >>
Bookmark this page with:
|
|
|
|
