1. Pick a Domain Name

You will probably pay between $12-$20 annually for your domain name. You can buy it through the Web hosting company you use. It's just easier that way. You can only buy a domain name if it's not already owned by someone else.

Branding your Business

What does it mean to have a brand? It's a distinction. You're well aware of brands that exist in the marketplace like Kleenex or Pepsi. The words themselves mean nothing, but you know what they represent. Ideally, you can do the same for your business or property. An Internet search of your unique brand should likely always result in first page results -- the best place to be!

Note: I don't claim that I've done well with branding my properties because I wasn't really thinking about branding my properties when I named them or when I created my Web sites. However, my sites have been around for a while and I've managed some Search Engine Optimization (SEO) over the years so my sites will show up nearer the top of related searches.

Tools to Help in Branding

If you haven't named your property or business yet, there are Web sites that can help you come up with "words" that you can brand. Here are two Web sites that can help you come up with a brand name:

Domain Name Tips

Do your research and have a few domain names that you'd like ready when you start your new Web Hosting registration. Do a search on your intended domain names.

Do they already exist?
What other pages are returned on the search?
Do you want to be associated with these other pages?
Is your name unique enough? For example, if there are both plural and singular options, could one already exist and yours would just be confusing?
Is the name easy enough to remember and to type? Putting two words together where the last letter of the first word matches the first letter of the second word could lead to confusion. ex. barccabin.com

Internet Domain Suffixes

You're well aware of the ".com" Internet Domain Suffix indicating this Web site is a US commercial business. When you sign up for your domain, you may be told that the ".com" version isn't available, but the ".net" and other suffixes are available. Don't bother with these others.

Choose Domain with .com Suffix

I would suggest picking a domain with the ".com" suffix for your Web site because it's well known and trusted. However, if any of the other suffixes for your domain are in use already, there could be confusion if you choose the ".com" version when it's still available. It's best to pick a domain where none of the suffixes are owned by others. If you're wary that someone may buy the ".net" version of your domain, go ahead and buy it yourself. You can redirect users to your ".com" Web site. However, it's probably unlikely that someone will pick up the ".net" version to avoid their users getting confused with your ".com" site.

There are lesser known suffixes that would seem like a great idea, like ".rentals". But because they are lesser known, it's likely that they will not be remembered or may be more suspect in the eyes of your intended customers.

Domain Privacy

When purchasing your domain name, you'll want to consider purchasing Domain Privacy as well. Domain Name Registration Data is publicly available. You can read the FAQs (https://lookup.icann.org/faq) about that here. But, basically, anyone can do a search on your domain name and find out your name and contact information. Generally, this leads to a lot of unwanted communication from those selling Web site building tools and management. (i.e. You'll become a telemarketer target.)

When you purchase Domain Privacy, your Web Hosting provider will provide their information instead. It makes it a little tougher for you to be found by these incessant marketers.

On to the Next Step

With your list of potential domain names, it's time to purchase one and sign up with your Web Host service. From here, go to the next story, "2. Web Site Hosting" in this Houfy Guidebook.