The address of your website right after www is called the domain name, as in ‘Google’ in www.google.com.

So what goes into making a domain name a good one?

On no account, should the web address of your site be a difficult one to write or remember. The address is supposed to help, not be an obstacle. You can definitely think about the name of your company for a domain name. On the other hand, you can also favor a phrase that promotes your own identity and what you are offering.

It is expected that you consider the opinion of others about your choices of domain name to familiarize yourself with the kind of domain names that your users might prefer.

There are certain factors which you must avoid while registering a domain name, which include:

1. There is a possibility of forgetting your domain name while typing the name into the browser or e-mailing you if you use a hyphen. So, avoid hyphen to reduce future problems.

2. Strive not to use digits in your domain name. For instance, if it is 3.com, you have to make everybody aware that it is not ‘three’ but ’3′.

Now, with regard to your domain name, I will show some positive things:

1. Register for commercial websites, that is, the ones which end with ‘.com’. This is not necessary, but it has been observed that people tend to forget websites ending with ‘.org’ or ‘.net’, and if they mistakenly send a confidential email to a wrong address, it might spell a recipe for disaster.

2. To just make it better than others, try keeping simple spellings.

3. Don’t exceed the length of the domain beyond 20 characters, or a couple of words. Shorter domain names are easier to remember than the longer ones.

The above mentioned aspects have to be thought out with due consideration for your main company domain name. Only for your secondary sites, can numbers, hyphens and non-.com domain extensions be. Follow the above ones for your company’s main domain. Does my domain name have to end with .com?

Well, it goes without saying that ‘.com’ extension is the most available one as far as the web sites are concerned. So, if possible, my suggestion would be to use ‘.com’ as part of your domain name. But, now it’s not easy to find good ‘.com’ domains as most have been obtained.

It is of immense importance to clarify that ‘.com’, ‘.net’, ‘.org’ actually indicated three different things. ‘.com’ stands for commercial purposes, ‘.net’ stands for network purposes and ‘.org’ stands for non-profit purposes. But, this demarcating line has become fuzzy. Now, don’t think about these and outs and choose any of the extensions available for domain names.

Using uppercase and lowercase letters

As mentioned above, your domain name can have anything ranging from letters to numbers or even to dashes. Let me tell you that capitalization makes no difference at all.

Using dashes in the domain name

It may so happen that you may desire a domain name like www.yourstruly.com, but the same might have already been booked, but it would be available as www.yours-truly.com. So it is at your disposal whether you wish to accept the domain with the dash or try a new phrase. But remember the following things:

1. For communication purposes, using a dash is a strict no-no. Users may find it difficult to remember where the dash was located, and they might land up at a wrong website.

2. Most people forget to put dashes, so it is preferred that you stay away from a domain with a dash.

Price of a Domain Name: You need to know that you have to pay as annual fee ranging from $6 to $50 varying as per the registration service) for your right to use the chosen domain name. But, it is just a rental service without letting you purchase the domain name.

It is your choice whether you wish to use a cheap registrant whose service over a period of time is doubtful. But remember that a saving in the short term might cost you in the long run. You should stress on the access control panel domain when you are registering for your domain. As far as the domain registrars go, many of them permit the webmasters to edit the domain hosting, manage the DNS records, and also widen the domain so that transfer of the domain from one registrar to another becomes easy through the internet, without requiring any support. This gives you a lot of control and freedom as a webmaster. If you have got registered under a particular registrar, you will never want to bear the effect of any mistake incurred by the registrar, if you have settled on the domain for a fair period of time.

So keep the things mentioned above in mind before selecting a registrar and registering your domain with them. Is it okay to let someone else handle my domain name?

It is expected that you will remain the owner or administrative contact of the account to solve future problems, though you can let others manage. For example, the information needed to shift your files to a new server in the future may be impossible to edit for you. You won’t be able to direct browsers to your site’s new location if you are not the owner or administrator of the domain name.

There are more than 20 million registered domain names so getting one may give you a lot of satisfaction. Registering a good unregistered domain for the future may make a lot of sense as well. But keep in mind that it should be in line with your business, and you might be required to spend a lot of money for it as well.

People look at you as a marketer who has done some research which familiarizes you with many opinions. Selecting a domain name may be discouraging at times, but there are 2 common points:

1. Select the domain name as soon as you lay down your business plan.

2. Make it first to select once you choose a name.

In fact, register the domain names even if your business plan stands unresolved. GoDaddy is an affordable registrar where you can register it for a cheap amount. In this competitive scenario, you can even sell it in the future if you don’t need it. But if you don’t register it, you may not get it later on even if you need it!

About the author: Matt Ewing is a web hosting admin and professional blogger. Visit WebHostingMadness.com to read his reviews of the top hosting companies each month.