The first step to getting your business on the Web is establishing your domain name. A domain name is your address, or location, on the Internet, and is your unique identity and brand on the Internet. It's important to remember that your domain name (for example, www.yourbiz.com) affects traffic to your Web site. Below are a few guidelines to consider when choosing the best name for your online business. Select an appropriate name for your site. Choose a domain name that evokes what you want your online presence to accomplish. As a first choice, try to match your business name with your site. Keep the name short, but not too short. Shorter names can be easier to remember, But be careful not to abbreviate your name so much that it becomes unrecognizable as having anything to do with your business. Focus on one or two words in your name that have the most impact, and work your abbreviations around those words. Make it catchy. The most successful companies on the Internet have catchy names that are easy to remember. The easier your domain name is to remember or the more fun it is to say, the more people will talk about it. Word of mouth is still one of the most cost-effective ways to boost site traffic. Consider registering other similar names. Protect your identity! If you are registering a .com address for your business, secure the .net and .org versions as well to keep them out of the hands of competitors. You may also want to consider securing similar-looking addresses that contain alternate spellings of your name or common typos. Those whose sites reach an international audience may want to register their domain with various country code top-level domains. Minimize missed clicks by pointing all of these domains to your site. If possible, put a keyword in your domain name. For an online flower shop, having the word "flowers" in the domain name may help boost your site's rankings on search engines and directories. On the other hand, if squeezing in a keyword causes your domain name to go against tips 1-3 above, you may want to reconsider. Try to register the .com version first. When people look for your site on the Web, they are likely to first try your company name with the .com suffix. "Dot-com" has become almost synonymous with e-commerce, and that is not likely to change soon. Don't forget the other top-level domains. If you have a domain in mind that is immediately recognizable as your company's name, but the .com, .net, or .org versions aren't available, try the new top-level domains .biz and .info. Alternately, you could register it using .cc, .tv, or another country code top-level domain. Hyphens can help you get the name you want. Hyphenating a multi-word domain name can help if the un-hyphenated version is unavailable. Those searching for your site on the Web may find the hyphens less logical, but on the other hand, having the separated keywords in your domain name can help you in the search engines. Before you can use your domain name, you'll need to register it. First, check the availability by visiting Domain Search. Once you verify that your desired domain name is available, the next step is to register your domain name. Ibangla can now handle the registration process internally from start to finish. A domain can be registered for up to ten years. The most important strategy for protecting your registered domain name(s) is to monitor the expiration date. A number of individuals in your business should be aware of the date that your domain is set to expire and vigilantly track that date like any other date that is important to your business. As the expiration date nears, the individual responsible for your business Web site should contact the domain registrar a few weeks prior to the expiration date to begin the renewal process. If you are unsure who registered your domain or need details on your expiration date, simply go to www.nsiregistry.com and use the "Search WHOIS" function. Upon entering your domain name, the "WHOIS" output will display your domain registrar. Another strategy for businesses to protect their online identity is to register multiple domain names. For example, if your business name is Flower Shop, located in San Francisco, a business could register a variety of domain names - such as FlowerShop.com; FlowerShop.biz; FlowerShop-SF.com - and the list goes on. These multiple domains can easily be "pointed" to your primary domain name. Additional information What is Web Hosting? Shared vs. Managed Dedicated Hosting What is a Server Operating System?