A domain name is an inexpensive business
essential. Here
are the reasons.
Here's a couple of basic things to consider when choosing
one:
Apply the "Radio Rule". Ideally,
someone should be able to hear your domain name on the
radio and be able to go straight to your website.
Lets say you heard that there was a sale at "carz4u.com.au".
Where would you go to find their website?
carsforyou.com.au or cars-for-you.com.au or
cars4you.com.au or carsforu.com.au, etc.
Maybe you'd find it eventually. More likely, you'd
just give up - and their "cute" domain name
has just lost them another potential client.
Keep It Short. Even though www.JacksonAndAssociatesInsuranceBrokersNorthSydney.com.au
may reflect the name of your business, it would be a
pain in the neck for everyone who has to type it into
a browser, or send you email messages.
Keep the name to a manageable length. Normally, the
shorter and more memorable the better.
Which name would you be more likely to remember?
www.InternetBusinessAdvisor.com.au or WebAngel.com.au?
There's good names still out there - www.NameBoy.com
is a domain name "thesaurus" that will give
you some ideas for domain names for your business.
(And by the way, websites and email addresses are
NOT case sensitive - So you can use capital letters
wherever you like to make your names clearer.)
.com and .com.au - The Main Choices.
For the majority of Australian businesses, your best
choice is either an American based .com name,
or an Australian based .com.au name. For maximum
protection, it's a good idea to get both if possible.
Here are some factors to consider.
|
|
|
| Cheap.
Prices vary a lot. WebAngel charges $33.00 per
year. |
Since deregulation, prices have
fallen.
MelbourneIT charges $140 for 2 years. You
can get the same from WebAngel for $88. (Transfer
your name to us, and renew at a lower price when
your current registration expires.)
|
| No
Restrictions. Anyone, anywhere can register
as many names as they like as long as the name is
available. |
Restricted
to businesses registered in Australia. You can now
have as many names as you like, as long as they
are related to your business. |
| Almost
every word in the dictionary has been "dot-commed"
so it's harder to get the name you want. |
More
likely to get the name you want. |
| Internationally
recognised: .com is the "Standard"
internet extension. Good if you are trading outside
Australia. |
Shows
that you are a business that is formally registered
in Australia. This can give you increased credibility
with Australian clients. |
| It
has recently been determined in the US courts that
any legal actions relating to the use of .com domain
names come under the jurisdiction of the state of
Virginia, USA and that any actions will be decided
by the courts there. This apparently means that
if you have a domain name, a business located in
the US can take it from you under certain circumstances.
See http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/26957.html |
Once
you register this name, it's yours for good t unless
you don't pay the renewals. |
Is The Name I Want Available?
You can only register a domain name if someone else
has not already got it.
You can easily find out if a name is available by
going to our secure
online order form, and typing in
the name you wish to register. If it is available,
you can immediately apply to register it.(WebAngel
domain name pricing)
WARNING: There is time lag in the registration system.
Don't assume that the domain name is yours until you
have verification of acceptance from the domain registrar.
Domain Name Choices - Do you REALLY need to register
everything?
There are many domain name choices available to you,
and there are no shortage of companies telling you that
you need to buy up all of them to "protect your
business".
Each country can apply to have their own naming scheme,
and they can impose their own rules on price, availability
and distribution method. For example, the .tv
domain name was assigned to the South Pacific nation
of Tuvalu, who has entered into an arrangement with
an American company to promote and sell these names.
From time to time, you will probably receive email
and letters urging you to "protect your domain
name" by registering a whole range of alternative
extensions, such as .biz, .info, .tv, .cc, .name, .us
In our opinion, this is a waste of money for the majority
of businesses, unless you have a valuable brand or
trademark to protect. For most businesses, registration
of the .com or .com.au names
is sufficient.
If you can get them both, we suggest
that you do this. They can be connected to the
same website.
Domain Name registration strategies
Registering additional domain names may be justified
if you have a significant investment in branding your
business, and want to protect yourself against loss
of traffic and embarrassment.
Embarrassment? You bet.
In 1994, the president of the Unites States opened
an internet site at www.whitehouse.gov. It's unfortunate
that he didn't also own www.whitehouse.com, which is
now connected to an adult site.
If your business has a high profile, it would be smart
to register alternative domains, and get them connected
to your main website.
For a similar reason, we recommend that you purchase
both the .com and .com.au version of your names if possible,
so that you can avoid the situation where www.yourdomain.com.au
goes to your business website, and www.yourdomain.com
is a porn site. (As is the case for one of our clients)
You may also consider registering other domain names,
and the "sucks" version of your own domain name if
you are concerned about the actions of activists
or competitors.
For example, assume that you are a large company who
has internationally promoted your new product product
with a .com.au name, but have not obtained any other
name. Here's how it could be compromised.
1. A competitor registers .com and .net
and .info which is connected to a competing product.
There's not a lot you could do about it. Recall the
example above, where even the US government has not
been able to do anything about the .com version of the
whitehouse site despite numerous attempts.
2. Someone takes a dislike to your product, and registers
yournamesucks.com. Then they put up
a website with content that is embarrassing to your
company. This
is VERY
common,
and many
businesses
register their
domain name with "sucks" on the end to avoid
In cases like this, it may be worthwile considering
the registration of alternative names as a protective
measure.
Ownership
of Domain Names
You never really "own" a domain
name. What you buy is the right to use it for as long
as you keep paying the fees, subject to the rules set
down by the registration authority.
The
administrative contact for a domain name is regarded
by the registrar as the "owner" of the domain.
Don't
let your web developer, ISP, hosting company,
or anyone else register themselves as the administrator
for your domain name. This is similar to registering
the title deeds of your house in the name of the real
estate agent who sold it to you.
A
good way of finding out complete details about the registration
details for any domain name is to go to www.domainwhitepages.com
and typing in the domain name you want to check.
It
is in your interests that you are registered as the
admin contact, and that your email address is current.
The
person who is listed as the admin contact can sell the
domain name to someone else, and you can lose control
of it. There are several cases in the USA where developers
have sold domain names belonging to their clients after
the websites had become very successful.
Other Website Registration Issues
Before
registering a domain name, you should also check Business
name and Trademark registries to minimise the risk of
being accused of being a "squatter".
A
squatter is someone with no real claim on a domain name,
who registers that name in the hope of selling it to
a business owner or trademark holder. Large companies
and celebrities are quite active in pursuing actual
and perceived infringements.
In
Australia, you can check existing business names and
trademark names by searching the databases at these
government websites:
If
the domain name you are registering comes up, you run
the risk of losing the name if the trademark or business
owner takes action against you. It would be wise to
get legal advice if you are in this situation.
|
