Small Business Internet Guide-SBOguide

Domain Name Registration - Helpful advice.

One the things you need to consider when planning to develop an Internet presence for your small business, is the selection of a domain name and the registration of that name. The selection of the name is important and needs to be thought out carefully. It may seem obvious that your domain name, if available, should be the same as your business name.

This seems logical, but it may not be the wisest choice. If your name easily conveys the purpose of your business, then registering that name will work to your advantage with the search engines. If it doesn't convey a purpose, then registering a different name that does convey its purpose will improve the chance that your business will be found among the search results of a prospective customer.

Another consideration is where to register your domain name. The registration process assures you that the name you have selected is officially recognized as belonging to your business. Think of it as a piece of Internet real estate. By having your name officially registered, you have basically staked your claim, and in old west gold rush parlance, your claim can't be "jumped" by any other party.

You'll find Internet service providers that will offer you a deal to register your domain name and provide you with Internet hosting service for a package price. While this may seem like a good idea, I've always recommended to clients that they keep there hosting service separate from their registrar. There have been too many cases where a client became unhappy with their hosting service, but found that trying to move to another host was complicated by the fact that the hosting service held the registration in the hosting service's name. It's better to do your own registration and insure that you're in complete control. Services like GoDaddy.com or 1and1.com offer reasonably priced and reliable registration.

If your business address is not your home address, then you may not care if that address is displayed on the registration information. But you should know that if someone conducts a whois.net search on your domain name, it will display, for all the world to see,  the contact  information of the person holding the registration. Some registrars will keep this information secure (for a fee), and others will do so at no additional charge. Check the terms offered by the registrar as offers change frequently.

Another way to keep your address confidential if you work from your home, is to obtain a post office box and list this address on the registration information. Since this information is available to anyone who takes the time to search for it, my advice is to keep this information private or pointed to a post office box address. Most consultants will advise that you don't have your personal address listed on the Internet following registration for obvious reasons.

There is a downside, although maybe a small one, to having the registrar hold your domain information private. Doing so requires that they effectively manage your registration for you. Be sure to read the terms of service before you agree to a private setting. For my money, especially if you have a large number of domain names, is to control it yourself and use a post office box to hide your home address. In any case, always insist that your domain names be left in a locked status, since doing so makes it harder for someone to create a problem for you.