Domain Names

Domain Names are assets to your business. They are inexpensive to purchase and expensive to replace. The longer you have them, the more traffic you have going to your Web site, the more valuable they become. There are things you should do with them and things you shouldn't do.

You should get one, maybe more than one. Like I said they are assets. Domain names are a convenient way to direct your online users to your hosting account for your Web site, via your domain name. Your registra points your DNS to your host, so make it a good name. One that is easy for your clients to remember. Like www.fredfioto.com is a good name, www.fredfiotowebdesign.com, is a good name too, especially if I am a Web designer. Not so good if I am a bus driver. So your domain name should be relevant to you and your business for it to be a good one, with a geographic reference, and the shorter the better. Also .com is better than .us or .net or .anythingelse. Geographic references are especially good if you want local walk-in traffic.  So you choose a good name, or names, you point them, you renew them, you look them up in WhoIs or you protect them so you can't look them up in WhoIs. Cost about $10 -$35 a year.

Don't transfer your domain name to anybody for any reason. There is no reason to, all you do is point and renew. How hard is it to point. Not hard, call up your registra and have them help you, or if you trust your Web company grant them access to your account, or have them help you, but never transfer account ownership to them. All these forms and technical verbiage sometimes can be daunting so grant your Web guy access if you must, but retain the domain in your name, never approve anything that mentions the word "transfer" in association with your domain names. Also don't let them expire. Just like everything else they have terms, start and end dates. Most have auto renew features, so use it. Oh and before I forget, keep your contact information current, check every year, and be sure to keep your credit card on file, what good is auto renew if you have an old credit card number?

You want to check your information in WhoIs go here who.godaddy.com/

Oh and don't become a cyber-squatter, no one likes them.