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8 Rules for your own
Domain.
1. Short and sweet
2. Dot Com
3. In your name and under Your Control
4. Consider the Dot Net and other TLDs
5. Don't forget Plurals and sub-segment domains
6. Don't let it "drop" without thinking
it through
7. Point it properly
8. Advertise it and advertise with it.
Short and
Sweet
Chuck's Garage and Car Wash Dot Com sounds like a
good domain. Bob's Bait Shop LLC Dot Com sounds
like another good one. Bob and Chuck should
probably register those just to keep them out of
"other hands" but........
When Chuck's Garage fixes a car does the car
owner say, "I just got my tranny fixed at
Chuck's Garage and Car Wash"? Nope! They
say, "Chuck's Garage". And nobody ever
says "Bob's Bait Shop LLC" except maybe
when Bob answers the phone and if he's busy he
probably answers with "Bob's" or
"Bob's Bait" and tells the employees to
say "Bob's Bait Shop".
So Chuck should invest in
ChucksGarageandCarwash.com, ChucksGarage.com,
ChucksCarwash.com and any other variations he can
come up with. Chucks Garage should be the main
domain with the web host also answering as the
other names. Or he could have three sites each
with their own unique focus on the business and
content. And all three linking to each other.
Bob should do the same.
Dot Com
If you can't get the name you want in Dot Com get
it in Dot Whatever but never skip the Dot Com.
Shuck's Corn Dot WS (website) is fine. It is a
Website! And the kid that designed Farmer Shuck's
site likes it but Dot Com is king!
Think about the people who try a domain in their
browser's Nav Bar before resorting to a search
engine. They usually type Dot Com. Doesn't matter
that they see and hear Dot Whatever either. Dot
Com is king of the type in crowd, too. And some
other corn salesman will grab the Dot Com domain
version and wind up with Farmer Shuck's traffic.
In your
name and under Your Control
If you're new to this it's okay for someone to
register your domain for you if they're honest,
reliable, and reputable. Do you really want to
take that chance though? Atleast make sure you
don't pay a dime without a contract to get the
name transfered to you within the next several
months. And get that done.
But it's actually easy to register your own
domain at www.MonsterHighway.net.
Consider
the Dot Net and other TLDs
Wonder why MonsterHighway.net is our web hosting
operation? We own MonsterHighway.com but that's
our core business as a Monster Truck Portal site.
We also own the Dot Net as hosting, domains, and
other internet services is a "Net"work
operation. We also own the Dot ORG version as we
do some public service activities through that
site under the Monster Highway Banner!
Don't
forget Plurals and sub-segment domains
If you're selling fishing reels Then fishing reel
and fishing reels dot com both make some sense.
Sub-segmentation would be
having fishing dot com and pointing fishing reels
dot com into the main page pertaining to fishing
reels. Think about it!
Don't let
it "drop" without thinking it through
Don't think you can let a good domain drop for a
season or two and then get it back. Someone will
notice the drop, register your old domain and
suck all the traffic out of it and possibly ruin
it for your use if they do offer to sell it back
to you. And you don't want a competitor getting
ahold of it and your customers.
Finally, "Good Domains Have a Value".
If you think you don't have any use for it
anymore think again. Redirect it to another site
you have or park it and offer it for sale.
"Good Domains Have a Value".
Point it
properly
Your domain needs to point to a site you actually
own, control and run. Don't point your domain at
a Yahoo or Andgelfire or Blog page. Point it at a
server you've contracted for. The above might be
good temporarily but you're actually just
building traffic for another person when you
don't point it at your own site.
And make sure you have both the domain with and
without the www. working.
If you own a domain make sure it appears within
all your advertising. It needs to be on your
business cards, mentioned on your radio ads,
shown on your TV ads, always in your print
materials. Make sure it's in your newspaper ads.
Put it on your cars and trucks. |
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