What makes a good domain name?

1. Good extension - When a person is surfing around looking for a website, and they know it's name, most people will try .com. So, for the website owner who wants their website to be found, the rule is: if at all possible, get a .com name.
2. Less than 7 characters. A simple name will look more professional, and have less chance of being mistyped.
3. Easy to spell - be careful about double letters. Two letters together look strange if it is written without capitalization, and a good name will not cause users to speculate anything about the domain name. If you must have a double letter, the best solution is to buy both versions of the domain and use a hyphen.
4. Descriptive - A good website or business name will describe exactly what the website is about. It is important for a user to be able to get some sense what the website is about by just reading the domain name, especially if you do not have a multi-million dollar budget to spend in advertising helping you to brand your name and teach people what it means.
5. Keywords – Include descriptive keywords that describe your business, product, service or mission in your domain name. This will be small part, in increasing your search engine ranking for search phrases that include the keywords used in your domain name.

Domain names are typically categorized by their extension, which is their identifying code. The three most popular types of Top Level Domains (TLDs), which are domains that are not associated with a country, are:

* .COM: Short for .commercial. Domain names with the .com extension are by far the most popular, and can be purchased by any individual or business.
* .NET: Short for .network, this domain extension was originally designed to be used by technical Web websites. However, domains using this extension can be registered by anyone.
* .ORG: Short for .organization. Originally designated for non-profit firms and any other organizations that did not fit under the .com or .net extension, any individual or business may now register a .org domain name.

Country Level Domain Name Extensions

Domain names can also be assigned using country extensions. Each country has its own domain extension; Canada, for example, is .ca, while Japan has been assigned .jp. Most countries have specific rules surrounding exactly who can register domains using their extension and for what purpose; it’s therefore important to look before you leap.
Alternative Domain Name Extensions

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization responsible for the administration of TLDs worldwide, recently approved several new extensions that are not specific to any country. These are:

* .areo
* .biz
* .coop
* .edu
* .gov
* .info
* .int
* .mil
* .museum
* .name
* .pro

Each has been designed for a specific use, and is accompanied by certain restrictions. You can find more information about these TLDs here: http://www.icann.org/tlds/

Spend some time here on this page doing random searches for available domain names.

* Contact us at 407-927-7338 and we will be happy to help you with any domain name questions.

* Once you’ve purchased a domain name and set up your website, or if you'd like our assistance in choosing, purchasing or setting up your domain name, our Web Wizards will help you promote your website, get it listed in the major search engines, and help you make sense of paid search engine listings and keyword bidding.Call 407-927-7338 for more help.

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