Tips on Picking Domain Names

Before you register thefirstideathatcametoyourmind.com, consider a domain name that helps your website and business flourish:

1. Is easy for Web users to remember and find
2. Suggests the nature of your product or service
3. Serves as a strong trademark so competitors won’t be able to use a business name or domain name similar to it, and is free of legal conflicts with trademarks belonging to other businesses.

A good domain name must be as short as possible, easy to say, easy to remember and easy to spell.

Shorter is good, but easy and memorable is better. Here’s a list of badly named domains to give you an idea how not to name yours:

• expertsexchange.com (a database for agencies to the rich and famous)
• whorepresents.com (a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views)
• penisland.net (buy a pen at Pen Island)
• therapistfinder.com (need a therapist?)
• molestationnursery.com (Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales)
• powergenitalia.com (on-line with Power-Gen)
• cummingfirst.com (The First Cumming Methodist Church)
• gotahoe.com (the website of Lake Tahoe)

Useful Tips: Every registered domain name has one to four contact names. To save everybody’s time, if you have someone else manage and run the site, list them as the Technical Contact.