By Peter Kent, Jill Finlayson - McGraw-Hill
You'll need a domain name for your store. A domain name is the "something.com" piece of a web address (or .org, .biz, .whatever). For instance, in the URL www.yahoo.com/index.html, the domain name is the yahoo.com piece. If you've already registered a domain name with a service, that's fine; you'll be able to point it to your Yahoo! store later. Or you can register a domain name during the sign-up process, and Yahoo! will throw it in at no extra charge. But how do you pick a name? Spend a little time thinking about this. It's not easy picking a domain name because most good ones have already been taken! Here are a few things to consider:
- Pick a name that is easy to understand. If you read the domain name on the radio, would listeners be able to understand (and spell!) it?
- If you already have a business name, you really need a domain name that matches (which isn't always possible, of course).
- If at all possible, pick a .com domain, not a .org, .biz, or .anything else. The world thinks .com, and if you select a different one many people may not notice and might end up at the wrong site.
- If all the domains you want have already been purchased, try combining words. Try mixing your primary word with a color or location name (city, state, etc.), a store-type word (store, depot, warehouse, shop, etc.), or something else. Sometimes the only way to get a domain that works for you is by building a combination.
- If your domain name can be confused with any other name-in particular plurals, singulars, and common spelling mistakes-you need to register both terms. You need the one you want and the "confused" term. Registering cooldoll.com? Then you also need cooldolls.com. Getting jobadvisory.com? You also need jobadvisery.com, jobsadvisory.com, and jobsadvisery.com.
- Yahoo! provides a pretty good "brainstorming" tool; you tell it what domain you want, and it suggests alternatives. Spend a little time to make sure you get a good domain name.
Avoid "domain confusion." Don't register a domain name that is likely to be confused with another. Don't register royalsaunas.com if someone else owns royalsauna.com, or bluesauna.org if someone else has bluesauna.com. If you market heavily using the domain name, some of the traffic will go to the other domain, possibly a competitor!
 | Picking a Domain Name This article is excerpted from How to Make Money Online with eBay, Yahoo!, and Google by Peter Kent and Jill K. Finlayson (McGraw-Hill, 2006). Used by arrangement with McGraw-Hill. |