Have you ever searched for a product on the Internet and found just the right item only to discover when you click on the purchase button that the seller has only a virtual store hosted by an online mega-company? These sites often look like “www.myveryownstore/wahoo.com”. This address tells you immediately that this is not a very well established business, and often makes you hesitant to make a purchase from them. That’s why it is so important to obtain your own company website name.
The initial step in selecting a name is to determine what you’d like it to be, and then do a search for availability of the name. Obviously it is still best to try to register the name of your business with a .com at the end. Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as it sounds. Most of the good names have been in use, or reserved for future use , for a number of years, and the name you prefer will most likely be owned someone else. Start your name search by using one of the domain name registrars such as Network Solutions, the original provider of this service.
At sites like this one you can search for your hoped-for name very quickly to see if it is available. If the name is in use, or reserved for future use, the results of the search will give you suggestions for similar names that are still available. For example, a search for larryvaughn.com returns a report that the name is in use, or reserved, and suggests alternative website names of larry-vaughn.com, larryvaughn with extensions of .net, .org, .biz, .info, .us, .cc, .bz, elarryvaughn.com, and others.
These are very useful suggestions, and can lead you to selection of an excellent domain name for your business. But, what if nothing suits you but the name you first selected, which is already in use, or reserved, by someone else? It’s time to contact the owner of your desired domain to see if the name is for sale. If the .com version of your name is gone and you can’t convince the owner to sell it, or you can’t afford the asking price, consider the other suggestions offered in your search. Be aware, however, that once you contact the owner of your preferred domain name, they may be enterprising enough to get out there and purchase the alternative names too, in hopes of selling one of them to you at a handsome profit.
There is still an option for you, however. Even if all those names you would seriously consider are already taken, you can register your name with one of the more than 100 non-U.S. registrars. These registrars have extensions like .cc, .da and .nu, which are often interpreted as “foreign country” websites. These don’t have the universal recognition of established businesses with a .com at the end of the name. So, it may be time for you to get creative. You may be able to get a reasonable facsimile of your most desired name by adding prefixes and suffixes like “e,” “online,” “web,” “the,” or using hyphens. The Network Solutions website not only gives you suggestions like those above for alternative larryvaughn.com names, but you can also use their brainstorming tools on their Domain Name page. Simply enter keywords appropriate for your business, and you’ll get even more possibilities that are available for registration. Find a name that suits you and immediately register it for the number of years that makes sense for your enterprise.
When you are choosing the name for your business try to be forward thinking about how your business might grow. Would the name you select to represent your business today correctly reflect services or products you may grow in to in coming years? Many years ago, when the World Wide Web was just beginning to bud, I registered the name larryvaughn.com, because as an independent contractor and consultant, the success of my business depends on name recognition. Even though I provide a number of services under various business names, such as the Vaughn Consulting Group, it is still my own name that opens doors to new opportunities.
Trademark Your Domain
Since your domain name will be a big part of your e-commerce business, you may want to protect the name through registration of a trademark. A trademark is a word or symbol used to identify the source of goods or services to consumers. You may apply for registration of a trademark or service mark, word, phrase or image after you use the mark to identify a product sold or service performed “in commerce,” which means that you’ve used it for advertising and/or sale to customers.
Your online business name can be a service for trademark purposes if it provides any kind of service to consumers such as access to information or commercial uses. If your site sells products you manufacture, then your product names would be goods for trademark registration purposes. Trademark rights arise upon use in commerce, with or without national registration, of the name of the product or service. National registration expands and protects your trademark rights, giving your company a presumption of first use of the mark in association with particular goods or services.
The trademark office, however, will not register a domain name that does not also meet the requirements of being a trademark. For example, a domain name by itself is considered merely an address. Having trademark rights allows you to protect your domain name against other companies who might feel that it infringes on their trademark and try to have it legally taken from you. Registration also allows you to enforce your trademark rights against others who use similar domain names to try to divert your customers.
Getting On Line
When you have made your decision about whether you want to create your website yourself, or hire a designer to produce it for you, there are a number of decisions you must make, and some guidelines you should build into your website maintenance plans. You will need to address issues of promotional techniques for your business, sales techniques to be employed, search engine rankings of your website, taking online orders, preparing for returns, and other considerations that can make or break your business. An important decision is deciding which webhosting provider has the tools and the support you need to make your site fully functional, scaleable to your growth, and backup and security measures to let you work your business professionally.
After you select your webhosting provider, and created your site, it’s time to let the world know where to find your online business. The host will assign your domain name permanent locations on their Internet Servers. Each location is designated by numbers and is the actual location visitors are whisked to when they enter your website address. You should receive two addresses-primary and secondary. If the primary server misses an inquiry for any reason the secondary will pick it up. As soon as your webhosting company activates your domain the specific location of your website information is broadcast to global Domain Name Servers on the Internet that do the actual routing of traffic. Within about 24 hours after activation, servers around the world know where to send the visitors requesting your website. Voila! You’re in business!
