domain online

Where do you get your domain name ideas from? Your friends? Your family? Your dog?

We’ve launched several sites, and coming up with a good domain name is always difficult. It seems all of the good ones are taken. There are two basic strategies that people use.

Come up with a new domain name that isn’t already registered. Go after a domain name that was previously owned. (This is always the more expensive option because you are either buying a premium domain name, or buying an expired domain name on auction.)

Right now, we’re going to focus on the first method and try to come up with a new domain name that isn’t already registered.

This is the cheapest option, but it involves trial and error. There are a lot of free online tools out there that can help suggest good domain name ideas. Some of these tools are run by the registrars (i.e. GoDaddy, NetWork Solutions, etc) and some of these tools are run by independent websites (i.e. MakeWords.com). But they’re all free.

Basically, you type in the domain name you want. The online tool will tell you if the domain name is available, or it will suggest a list of other domain names that you might be interested in. They come up with the list by adding words before (prefix) or after (suffix) your search term.

For example, Google.com is taken, but hotGooglestore.com is not.

Some of the better domain name idea tools will use a thesaurus to come up with similar but different words. Although we probably wouldn’t buy a domain name from Yahoo, we did like their domain name tool.

For example, redcafe.com is taken, but RedDiner.com is not.

MakeWords.com is a neat tool because they have an advanced keyword tool search that lets you choose different themes of words to try before or after your search term.

So, for example, their “action” theme tries different combinations of your search term and words like jump, shout, cut, etc. Their colors theme adds words like red, blue, yellow… You get the idea.

The best part of MakeWords is that you can create your own list of words to add to your search term. Just click on “list of affixes” at the bottom of the webpage and enter in a custom list of words that you like. The website will spit out a bunch of domain name ideas with your custom words added before and after your search term.

The worst part of MakeWords is that sometimes it’ll tell you a domain name is available, but when you go to a registrar and try to buy it, it turns out that it’s not available after all. Because this tool wasn’t always reliable, we tended to stick with domain name generators run by the registrars.

How These Sites Make Money:

Domain Name Suggestion sites are free because they make their money when you decide to register a domain name with them.

Chances are, if you used GoDaddy’s domain name tool, then when you find your dream domain name, you’ll just buy it from them. If you used MakeWords, you can choose which registrar company that you want to buy from, and they’ll send you there with the click of a link. (If you buy from that company, then MakeWords.com will make a commission from the sale.)
Bottom Line: Use any site that you like to come up with domain name ideas. But, when you’re ready to buy, choose the registrar that offers the best domain name package and price, not the registrar that has the best domain name suggestions.

Why? Because with domain names, the price ranges from $1.99 to $34.99 per year. And, not all registrars offer the same quality of service. What’s worse is there are no refunds on domain names. Once you pay, the money is gone. So, buyer beware.

But first, the science:

Using Back2Front as an example our web address looks like this: http://www.back2front.ca

http://The “http://” part is the protocol used to talk to web servers . Others examples are “mail” or “ftp” used to communicate with mail and ftp servers respectively.

. “dot”The rest of the address is the Domain Name. It is made up of parts separated with a “.” (pronounced “dot”).

WWWFor web sites the first part is usually “www” meaning World Wide Web. In some cases the www is optional. Web servers can be set up in such a way as the www part is assumed and so you can reach the same web site whether or not you type in the www part. For all of Back2Front’s clients the www is optional.

NAMEThe second part is the bit you make up, (the name) ours is “back2front”. More on this later.

TLDThe next part, usually the last part, is called the TLD or Top Level Domain. Ours is “ca”. Other examples are “com, org, net,”. Sometimes before the TLD you will see an additional part indicating a subsection of the domain. For example in Canada there are subsections of the .ca TLD to indicate province. The one for Ontario would look like this “www.back2front.on.ca”.Technical requirements for Domain names;UniqueYour domain name must be Unique. The “name” plus the “TLD” and any “subsection” there of, in combination, must be unique for each web site. But do not worry, you will not be able to register a domain name that is already taken the registries are responsible for preventing this from happening.

Character SetDomain names are restricted to the alpha numeric character set and the dash. Characters like (&@$%*’?=+#) are not allowed as part of a domain name. For example; “back-2-front” is acceptable, “back&front” is not. When you see forbidden characters used after the TLD, they are not actually part of the domain name but are parameters used in web programming.

CaseCase is not significant in a domain name. For example “www.Back2Front.ca” is identical to “www.back2front.ca” as far as the naming system is concerned.

Now the Art of choosing a Domain Name:

Once you have satisfied the science, or the technical requirements for your domain name then comes the ART of choosing a domain name. Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing the NAME part of your domain name.

MemorableLots of folks use the initials of the founders or other unfamiliar acronym to come up with a name, like “www.BAF.com”. Well, fine, but who can remember a random 3 letter acronym? “www.BestAccountingFirm.com” may not be creative, but it is much more memorable.

Spell-ableIs it “www.colour.com” or “www.color.com”? If they can’t spell it, they can’t find it. However, if you have an idea for a name that is commonly misspelled, register both spellings to avoid the problem. If it is just plain difficult to spell, like pneumonia.com, just think of something else.

ShortThe longer the name, the more likely it will be that there will be errors in typing it, or spelling it. Fitting it on signs and other advertising materials could be a problem as well. So all else being equal the shorter the better.

Indicates What You DoThis rule is not hard and fast and is often difficult to accomplish but it is worth considering. A name like 123accounting.com makes it clear from the outset what sort of business you are in, and this is good. However, Back2Front could be anything, so we added “The Web Site People” as a tag line to make it clear. You can do this too.

The Humour TrapBe careful with humorous names. It may work brilliantly, but it also could cause you untold grief. The restaurant called “The Slug in the Lettuce” was apparently not adversely affected by this distasteful name, but it could have backfired.

Double Meanings and Unintended ConnotationsThe humble grain ‘Canola’ was once called ‘Rape Seed’. The name was changed for obvious reasons. Make sure the name you pick does not have unsavoury and unintended meanings for other people. Ask around. Especially ask people from other cultures, languages, and backgrounds for their opinion. You may be surprised at what you find out!

For PosterityTry to pick a name you can live with for a long time. Changing your name is a hassle you can do with out. You will spend a lot of time and money ‘getting your name out there.’ Do not waste it by picking a name that won’t stand the test of time. If possible choose a name, and live with it for a while before committing to it in print and advertising. (You may want to register the one you are considering to make sure you don’t lose it while you are thinking.) Then once you do commit, keep the name! Do not be tempted to switch names each time you think of another one you like. There are millions of possibilities and you can’t have them all.

Your company nameOf course if you have been in business a while already and have been working under a name that is known to your clients, or in your industry, you will most likely want to register a name very similar to your company name. But be warned just because you have a registered company name does not mean that you will be able to get the domain name to match!

Find out more about registering a domain name at: www.internic.net

By Candace Carter, Back2Front – The Web Site People, 2009

The domain name registration process can be confusing to first time buyers. There are a number of terms to worry about. Hopefully, with the information below, you’ll be able to successfully register domain names while avoiding the pain that can sometimes come from the domain registration process.

What the heck is a nameserver anyway? Nameservers refer to a service that runs on servers belonging to a web hosting company that hosts the account that the domain name will point to. Every domain name on the internet must point to an IP address but each IP address can have multiple domain names on it thanks to shared hosting. Entering the nameservers of the hosting company you have for the domain name you are registering lets the big DNS nameservers on the internet know where to find the hosting account for the domain name in question. Without this service, it would be impossible for any computer to find any web page. This is all usually done very quickly – in a fraction of a second.

Whois information is another thing to get knowledgeable about. Whois refers to the owner of the domain name. This information is provided by you when you register a domain name. This information in turn is offered to anyone who cares to search for it. For this reason, it is important to consider privacy issues when entering your information for a domain name. It is not advisable to falsify domain name information. At the same time, you may use the most generic information you can when entering your domain. If you have a work address and home address, use the work address. If you have a post office box number and a street address, include the post office box number only.

How many years should you consider registering your domain name? I would argue that it depends what you are going to use the domain for. If it is your business name and you intend to be in business for at least the next five years, I would register it for five years. That way, you don’t have to worry about it for a long time. In fact, you can register domain names for up to ten years. If you register your domain for that long, you won’t have to worry about it for a decade. Maintenance and stress free.

Make sure you lock your domain. After you’ve registered your domain name, log into the control panel for your domain name and confirm that it is locked. What does locking do for you? It prevents anyone from transferring your domain name to another registrar without your authorization. Most registrars require you to approve the transfer by clicking on a link but some registrars may simply allow the transfer if you don’t expressly forbid it. Miss an email and you could lose your domain name. Don’t take a chance. Lock your domain name right away.