 One of the most basic, yet most critical steps in the process of building an
e-business website is to select and register a domain that will serve as the home
of the business on the Internet.
In addition to being the – usually – lasting home for an online entity, a
domain name very much serves to define the profile of that entity. Many
e-businesses are known simply by their domain name – so-called
dot.com businesses.
Thus, finding the perfect domain name for your reseller business is an
important step in the success or your site. Ideally, the domain name should
reflect the nature of your business – if your business is carrying a certain
message, the domain name can reflect that, too. The perfect domain also
is easy for customers to remember, short enough to quickly type into a
browser, and distinct enough to help you create a unique identity for
your business.
Ultimately, you may register a domain for your business simply because
you like it. However, the following are some of the factors that combine
to define the quality/value of a domain name. These are issues that you
may want to consider when zeroing in on the perfect domain name for
your business. |
Generally, keeping a domain name fairly short will make it easier for site
visitors to remember and type the name.
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 A domain name that includes catchy, sought-after and – most important –
relevant keywords will help you in the search engine optimization process for your business Web site. Although certain search engines ignore it,
others pay much attention to the occurrence of applicable keywords in
domain names when ranking the Web pages in their indices. |
 If any part of your reseller store will generate particular name recognition
with potential customers, then, by all means, ensure that that is reflected
in your domain name. Note that you – being the domain registrant – must
ensure that a given domain name does not in any way infringe on a third
party’s trademark. |
 The .com top-level domain (TLD) remains the most ubiquitous extension
on the Internet. Consequently, Internet users likely will expect to see this
extension when visiting a Web site. This, of course, also means that .com
names are relatively harder to find than less popular extensions – such as
.ws or .biz.
Because of its popularity on the Internet, it is recommended that you at
least consider registering the domain for your business with a .com
extension. Other popular TLDs, such as .net and .org, might limit the
versatility of the domain, as they may imply a certain type of site residing
on the domain. Country-code TLDs tend to be more popular
than generic TLDs outside the United States.
Obviously, registering other, more specialized TLDs serves its purposes,
too. Indeed, using a country-code TLD for your business’ domain serves as
a clear, albeit subtle, indication of the nationality of you/your business.
As a means of reeling in visitors that type in your store’s domain name,
but with the wrong extension, it is worth considering registering not only
the desired domain, but also a selection of other TLD variations of the
name.
For example, it might prove advantageous to own the registration for
the .com, .net, .biz and .us (assuming that the business is based in the
U.S.) variations of your domain.
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Domains that contain words or phrases that are particularly en vogue may
catch potential customers’ attention. However, such domains may lose
their value as current trends change. |
