How Do I Register A Domain Name?

By Donald Lim

You can register a domain name by going to any of the worldwide domain name registrars. As long as the domain name is still available, anyone will be able to register a domain name for himself under normal circumstances.

Some of the popular domain name registrars are as follows:

http://www.godaddy.com

http://www.namesecure.com

http://www.hostway.com

Generally, you can register a domain for under USD$10 per year! Do not pay more than that for a domain name! There are some very established domain name registrars that provides domain name registration at rates which are 3oo% to 400% more expensive than the other popular registrars!

If you need to register a country specific domain name such as donaldlim.com.sg or donald.sg, you can go to any of the local registrars based in Singapore to submit your request for a localised domain name registration. Some of the registrars that offer Singapore-specific domain names registration are as follows:

http://www.webvisions.com

http://www.pacific.net.sg/business

http://business.singtel.com

If you are registering a Singapore specific domain name. you will need to have a company or business registration number with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore, also known as the A.C.R.A. This is a governing unit of the Singapore government. The mission of ACRA is to provide a responsive and forward looking regulatory environment for companies, businesses and public accountants, conducive to enterprise and growth in Singapore. You are required to have a business presence in Singapore before you can register a Singapore specific domain name. More details about A.C.R.A can be found at http://www.acra.gov.sg

About The Author: To get more time and money saving tips while striking out online, you can subscribe to his newsletter at http://www.donaldlim.com.

Donald Lim is an Internet Business Coach that teaches individuals on how to create new Internet Businesses on a tight budget. He knows exactly how to leverage on the Internet to help individuals and busineses market their products and services. Armed with the valuable knowledge on the most cost effective and proven ways to generate publicity and revenue online, he can help anyone start an online presence or leverage on an existing one to increase profits generated online. He is also the founder and owner of Nu Edge Technologies (http://www.nuedgetech.com), a leading IT and web services provider based in Singapore.

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Domain Name Strategies

By Paul McGillivary

What's in a name? Just ask Coke, Procter and Gamble, or Honda. And yet, many people simply choose a domain name that is available. That is a big mistake. This is especially the case if you are buying the domain name for a business. But it's also important if you are wanting to build traffic and gain presence on the internet.

Let's start with some basics about domain names. Once we have established the basics, we can move on to some more advanced topics around domain names. First, a domain name is your internet real estate. Would you just grab any piece of land to build your house or business on? Of course you wouldn't! Think carefully about the name. It's best if you can find a name that is memorable. I remember the first time I heard the name Google. I had to ask the person to repeat the name because it was so strange. That made the name stick in my head. Get the idea? And please don't select a long domain name. For example, if your web address is www.topfinancialbrokerslimited.com, people won't remember it.

Your domain name should contain your targeted keywords. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, you should step back and review your web strategy. Keywords mean everything on the internet. People find things on the internet by searching for them. And they search for them using keywords. Having a keyword in your name will help in the long term.

Now let's talk about extensions a little. Domain extensions are the end of the domain name, like .com, .net, or .biz. The premier and default names end in .com. You will be surprised to find that a ton of names are already taken. You may have to buy the name off a domain broker. Yes, folks actually buy and sell domain names now. If at all possible, buy a .com name. You may even want to consider buying the same name in other extensions like .net. Then you could forward that web address to your .com. This would capture any folks looking in the .net space. It may also be advantageous to get misspelled names. This can also capture more traffic.

One of the first things you will notice as you start to search for a domain name is that a lot of them are taken. The logical next step is to start utilizing hyphens in names. This retains keywords but makes them unique. For example, if redcorvettes.com is taken, you could try red-corvettes.com. The main problem with this approach is that it is harder for people to remember a hyphenated web address. Also, spammers have tended to utilize longer, hyphenated domain names in their web sites.

What's in a name? A whole lot! Take your time and settle on a domain name that is short, memorable, and keyword oriented. Remember that a .com domain is going to be a lot more effective. Don't back peddle after buying your domain name, start off on a good foot and choose well.

Paul McGillivary has been a technologist for 15 years. In that time, Paul has experienced thousands of technology problems, challenges, and products. He brings this experience to bear in the articles that he presents.

Paul is also the owner of Loud Sign Internet Services. Loud Sign provides domain name register services for individuals and businesses. If you need a domain for your website, LoudSign can help you cheaply and quickly hone in on a good domain name.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_McGillivary

Domain Name Registration Do Keywords Matter?

By Michael Shield

How to select

The most important part of the web site concept is the domain name. Get it wrong and your site may never show its full potential. What makes a good domain name you ask? Unless you are going to the trouble and expense of establishing a new trade name business where you will have thousands of domain choices with a new word or new words added to your industries strongest keyword, for example "chameleonpaint.com" or "giraffedomain.com" you are going to have to buy or register the best keyword name that you can afford.

Keywords

The most searched keywords for this site are domain name, so in the ideal world you would choose "domainname" with .com or .co.uk, but as you have properly realized these names have long gone. Some are being used for web sites, but most are parked with one page adverts which can produce revenue and with the hope making a sale and profit in the future. Domain can be combined with the next most important keyword which is "domainregistration" or "cheapdomain" or you can add a descriptive word which will sound nice, "wonderfuldomain" or "insantdomain" but this may be an existing trade name you will need to check. The main point is that these are not good keywords, not many people search for a wonderful domain. It is still better to combine the top keyword with a lesser one to make the name, we had to settle for "domainweb" which are both keywords to this industry.

Are keywords really that important?

There are three main reasons why keywords are paramount.
1, Some of the major search engines add weight to web sites that have keywords in their domain names. Search on msn Windows Live, using your industries keywords and a large proportion of the results contain domain names as keywords. For new sites this may be the only organic traffic you will receive for many months.
2, When people search, organic or ppc the click rate is significantly higher if the domain name is the same or very similar to their search word or words.
3, The sale conversion rate is much higher, customers trust short keyword impressive domain names.

Test the domain name before you buy or register

Lets face it we are all so absorbed in the world of our industries and business that we can convince ourselves that we have found a great domain name. Ask people who know absolutely nothing about your industry what the domain name means, the response should be instant without prompting. A good domain name should instantly tell your visitor what you sell or the information or services that you offer. If the name is technical or specialized to your industry you will have to test it on junior members of your organization.

Michael Shield is a writer and web site developer from Essex in the United Kingdom learn more about domain name registration at http://www.domainweb.biz

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Shield

7 Domain Name Tools

By Paul McGillivary

One of the hardest things about getting a domain name is coming up with one. If you haven't tried it, you will be amazed. So many names are already taken. This wasn't always the case. In the early 1990s, people rushed to create websites and online ventures. And as they did, opportunists started buying up domain names. They were hoping that they could speculate in internet real estate. For many in those early days, their work paid off. Fast forward to the present. You will definitely see how good domain names are becoming ever more scarce. So, with that in mind, let's take a look at some tools that may help you.

LoudSign (http://loudsign.com/) - LoudSign incorporates a domain name search tool on the front page. Type in the name that you want and click on search. Most likely, it will be taken. Now, on the second page you will see a small link under the search button labeled "Try Smart Search." If you click this, it will bring up many more options. Some of those options are: add popular prefixes, add popular suffixes, view choices with dashes, and view choices with related keywords.

Random Words (http://unique-name.perceptus.ca/random-word.php) - Sometimes coming up a word is simply way too hard. When that's the case, try this word to get your mental juices flowing.

WordConstructor (http://www.wordconstructor.com) - When you want to make a word from a common one, then this tool hits the spot.

RhymeZone (http://www.rhymezone.com/) - Rhyming a name makes for a memorable one. This little tool helps you find rhyming words for the one you input. It can also find antonyms and synonyms.

Noemata Name Generator (http://noemata.net/nbng/) - When you want a unique name that requires branding, this tool can help.

Random Domain Generator (http://blog.outer-court.com/domaingenerator/) - Here is another tool to help you generate away.

Dislexicon (http://www.robobunny.com/cgi-bin/dislexicon) - A nice tool that puts prefixes and suffixes on names to generate new ones.

If you are lucky, you will find a great name quick. Just remember, the shorter and more memorable the name, the better. Try to go after names that sound similar to something very familiar. And, if at all possible, go after names that contain keywords around your website. Happy searching.

Paul McGillivary has been a technologist for 15 years. In that time, Paul has experienced thousands of technology problems, challenges, and products. He brings this experience to bear in the articles that he presents.

Paul is also the owner of Loud Sign Internet Services. Loud Sign provides domain name register services for individuals and businesses. If you need a domain for your website, LoudSign can help you cheaply and quickly hone in on a good domain name.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_McGillivary

Choosing The Right Domain Name For Irish Businesses

By Alastair McDermott

Choosing the right domain name is important, even critical, in positioning and branding your website. So what are the considerations for an Irish business?

Dot what

.com is still the king of the castle when it comes to generic top level domains (TLDs). .com is the TLD your dad will remember. Highly memorable, inexpensive and easy to register. Sometimes tough to find the right one. Second to .com is .net - still fairly memorable, inexpensive, and easy to register. Third, recommended for charities and non-profits is .org.

Go local - and establish trust

Despite the comparative difficulty of applying for a .ie it is often worthwhile. The local domain establishes trust by making it clear to your audience where you are based. Many people are also familiar with the lower cost of .com - making the slightly bigger investment in .ie could help differentiate you from fly-by-night operators. If you want to expand further afield, registering a .co.uk is inexpensive and allows you to further localise - for example your ecommerce site could have euro and pounds sterling versions... and perhaps you could register for a London-based virtual office to support the latter!

Branding vs Keywords

Your domain should be memorable, short, easy to spell correctly first time and unique. So should you go for a descriptive keyword or brand? Descriptive keyword domains like pets.com, diy.com, jobs.com are valuable for 2 reasons: type-in traffic and anchor text. Type-in traffic is just what it sounds like - Monster get a lot of business from people typing jobs.com straight into their browser. It's common for single keyword domains to get thousands of hits per day from this kind of traffic - which is why they're highly sought after and very expensive.

Anchor text is the text that is used in a link in html, e.g. "online marketing".

Anchor text is a big deal because Google and other search engines weight the text used in these links as very important. So if you have ladies-golf-equipment.ie and that's linked to with "Ladies Golf Equipment Ireland Ltd" then that's receiving more google juice for the search term "ladies golf equipment ireland" than e.g. golfglam.ie with a link of "Golf Glam Ireland Ltd".

The advantage of a brandname, however, is about differentiation and how memorable your domain can be. Amazon, Monster, Google - none of these are descriptive keywords - but they're all strong brands, easy to spell, sort and unique. golfglam.ie is a good example of a brand domain name: it's memorable and creates a picture with two short words.

To hyphenate or not to hyphenate...

In general, hyphens are bad. Stay away from them in domain names unless you really know what you're doing. Unhyphenated names are easier to spell and read aloud and communicate to others. On the flip side, hyphens can add legibility and are reported to have a higher weighting for the keywords with google because they can distinguish between the words: it's clear to Google what ladies-golf-equipment.ie sells, but they don't know what a golfglam is! Maybe some of these guys might have considered using hyphens: PowerGenItalia.com, ExpertsExchange.com, PenIsland.net, TherapistFinder.com!

Log On offers a free online marketing consultation! Contact us right now to discuss creative ways to promote your business online!

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