Everyone likes a bargain. It’s even wise to keep one’s costs down. On the other hand, you can be so cheap that you cut your own throat.

Here are two ways to register a domain name for free and some reasons why you might not want to.

1. You Must Have Your Own Top Level Domain (TLD) Name

Your business website should definitely have its own top level domain (TLD) name. This means a name like yourcompany.com. It doesn’t mean a subdomain of someone else’s domain name, such as yourcompany.someisp.net.

Sometimes persons hesitate to register a proper domain name because of cost, lack of knowledge, or indecision. However, paying the nominal fee charged by the domain registrar for your own domain name can reap rich dividends.

A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or Internet address like (ignoring the http part) someisp.net/hosting-accounts/yourco/, or yourcompany.someisp.net, just doesn’t look as professional as yourcompany.com. It might be free (as in included with your web space) but it just doesn’t cut it.

Consider: If you put your URL on your letterheads, business cards, signs, et cetera, which Internet address looks more professional?

If you mention your URL on your radio advertising or to a customer over the phone, which one will be easier to remember?

As well, what if your web host goes out of business or you decide that you want to change to another provider. Now, you need to notify everyone that you have now changed to yourcompany.someotherisp.net. You will also need to change all your stationery, signs, and advertising to reflect the change.

On the other hand, the domain name yourcompany.com, could be transferred from one web host to another simply by informing your domain name registrar of the change.

So, to avoid losing business and incurring unnecessary additional costs, be sure you have your own top level domain name.

2. Should You Get a Free Top Level Domain?

It is possible to get a free top level domain from Dot TK (@www.dot.tk). (You may also get paid dot tk (.tk) domains from them.) However, there can be disadvantages to using a free top level domain name.

Here are some of the restrictions noted on the Dot TK website.

You may register no more than three free domain names.

The ownership of the free domain remains with Dot TK. This means that you can’t sell it. (Of course, if you pay for the domain you do own it and can transfer it to a new owner.)

Also, if you don’t have 25 visitors come to your home page within a ninety day period, your free domain name registration is cancelled.

You need to have existing web content somewhere so that your dot tk name can be forwarded to it.

There may well be other disadvantages.

Apparently, Dot TK uses frames to show your website. This being the case, you may have issues with navigation (bookmarking or finding specific pages) and search engine friendliness.

Therefore, for serious business use, consider carefully the true cost of free domain names.

About the author:
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc., has been helping clients to earn maximum business profits for over twenty-five years. For more information about domain names and other
Work at Home Small Business Ideas

By Clare Lawrence 3rd November 2003 Clare is the CEO of Discount Domains Ltd a leading UK Domain name registration service.

Before purchaseing your domain name, give some thought to the followng:-

1) If possible use your sites name as the basis of your domain name e.g www.discountdomainsuk.com for Discount Domains UK. This might seem common sense but not every site follows the convention. If you use your name in your URL it will be much easier for your customers to find you.

2) Generic names – if you can register a generic domain such as toys.com that’s great, but most of these have already gone. Also getting ranked in the search engines is likely to be harder. Selected a domain closer to your market segment will cut down the competition. E.g toyplanes.com

3) Hyphenated Names – Its easy to forget the hyphen! Which is the problem, particularly if your customer remembers your name but not your URL. Though on a positive note hyphenated names are less likely to be registered already.

4) If the .com or .co.uk extension is not available then consider the alternative TLD ( Top level domain types) such as .net or .biz. If your domain name has already been registered then approach the owner and ask if they’ll sell. They may accept a £100. If you ask, they can only say no.

5) Plurals. Very often a domain name will be free in the plural but not in the singular form. It’s a personal choice, but if your prefered choice of domain name is not available you might be stuck.

6) Short or Long domains – A short domain name is more memorable, but less likely to be available. A longer domain is harder to remember, but can contain more keywords which is important as some of the search engines, use keywords in a domain name as part of the search algorithm.

7) Which Top Level Domain Type – .com, .co.uk , .net etc This is a question I am often asked. There is no evidence that any domain name type is given preference by the search engines. However some search engines such as Google, have local searches e.g www.google.co.uk which do select local content. Customer often get re-assurance from seeing a local TLD as they know they are dealing with a local company etc. You can, of course, register all of them!

Variations – If your prefered domain name is not available then its always worth trying a prefix my e.g mydomains.com or suffix e.g domains4U.com etc

About the author:
Clare Lawrence is CEO of Discount Domains Ltd

A professional or business site is one where the primary purpose of the site is to facilitate business transactions. You can sell items directly online or exclusively offline, but the result is the same. You want customers to purchase products and/or service directly from you.

To create a domain name for this type of website here are a few guidelines:
1. Shorter is better
2. Make the name easy to pronounce
3. Think long term
4. Stick to Categories and Topics
5. Do a trademark search
6. Always have a tag line

Shorter is better
If you want to make real money online, try to keep your domain name as short as possible. In the online world, the choices of where to shop and get information is overwhelming. A shorter name will instantly be memorable. It is always easier to remember short words and phrases.

A shorter name is good for word of mouth advertising online and offline. Customers can easily remember the the URL and therefore they’re more likely to pass it on and return to the website. The name will also stand out when it is printed on brochures, business cards and other business collateral. Liz, Dick, Kate, Feds are all examples of our incessant need to reduce every term in the English language to three syllables or less.

Easy to Pronounce
If you want a short name, you must be very creative. To be creative and strategic make sure that your domain name is easy to pronounce. It is perfectly acceptable to create a name from scratch, but it must sound like a real word when you try to say out loud. Any three or four syllable term will do a long as it easily rolls off the tongue. If you are at a loss for words, try writing a description of your product or service on paper.

This is a very easy way to come up with those little words that you can use without losing the meaning of what you’re trying to say. You can also use a dictionary and a thesaurus to come up with additional words. You can also choose a longer word but shorten it or use acronyms only. When you decide on a domain name, say it out loud a few times. If it doesn’t sound right, go back to the dictionary and try again.

Think long term
You want a domain name that will last a very long time. If you pick a name that is a slang term or too cutesy, you could find yourself looking for a new name in a year or two. This is not the best way to proceed. Once you build a certain level of online success, the traffic will follow the domain name. You don’t want to mess with your brand and your online reputation with redirects and ‘we have moved’ notices. Online customer will purchase, but only if your site makes it convenient for them to do so. If you don’t see yourself using the same domain name three to four years from now, get a new name before you set up your website.

Trademark Searches
Do a trademark search. If you build up your online business and domain name, you don’t want to find a court order ordering you to give it up because it belongs to another company. Remember, the traffic and therefore your sales will follow the domain name to the new company.

To do a quick trademark search go to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov) for domestic searches and the International Trademark Association (http://www.inta.org) for international searches. If your name is cleared, then consider getting a trademark to protect your business.

Tag line
Tag lines are the work horses of the marketing industry. An interesting, professional tag line can bring you more word of mouth advertising than you can ever purchase from a search engine company. It will bring your name into random conversations in newsgroups, newsletters and casual conversations. This can help you save money on paid advertising and create the ultimate viral marketing campaign without very little effort.

Keep these six tips handy to brand your domain name and bring in more site traffic.

About the author:
Syd Johnson is the Executive Editor of RapidLingo.com, a Financial Solutions Website. This article may be freely distributed as long as the author’s bio is included with an active link to http://www.rapidlingo.com