Introduction: With the growing popularity of the Internet, it has become a matter of necessity to own a website. The Internet is a collection of interconnected network of computers, which are again connected among themselves. Each computer connected to the Internet is identified by an Internet Protocol (IP) address. Each IP address is made of 4 groups of three digits each, thus making a total of 12 digits for an IP address. However these IP addresses being numbers are not very user-friendly in the sense that these addresses are quite difficult to remember. A search for an alternative mechanism for identifying computer gave way to the Domain Naming System (DNS). When a user types in a website address in the browser the DNS checks for that domain name and fetches the IP address. This IP address is then used to navigate to the web page you requested for.
The domain name is that part of the URL that is between ‘www.’ And ‘.com’. This name will be unique.
The Importance: A domain name is the identity for your website. Hence to attract the attention of others, you must make it as eye catching as possible. Here are some good practices for making your domain name as good as possible. On a very general note, it is good to keep your domain name same as that of your website name. This helps the users to easily remember your website name. This obviates the need for remembering a separate website name and a DNS name. Your domain name must reflect your brand name. If say, for example, you have a product to sell, then it is better to choose a domain name similar to your product name. This is because of the fact that people remember product names and not some other names.
Domain names can technically be of any arbitrary length. The maximum length is limited to 67 characters. Given this, what should be the ideal length of your domain name? Should you choose a long domain name or a short one? It is widely believed that a short name is preferable to a long name provided it is not a difficult one to remember. There are good reasons to limit yourself to a short name. The main point is that shorter names are obviously easier to remember than longer ones. Secondly, it is much easier for a user to type a short name in to the browser than a long name.
There are two schools of thought regarding the use of hyphens in domain names. While some consider that the usage of hyphens will add to the uniqueness of your domain name especially in the context of search engines and keywords, some believe that a hyphenated domain has more disadvantages than advantages. It is easy to forget the hyphen in the name. During verbal communication, it takes extra effort to clarify the position of the hyphen in the domain name. This is pronounced especially in the cases of telephone conversation.
Some of the other good practices in domain naming are to use plurals in the name if there is a possibility of name clash. Another consideration that you may want to take is the extension. Here, it is recommended that whatever be the extension you choose, it must reflect the nature of your website. Also, it would be good if you adopt country specific extensions only if the intended visitors of your site are not the international community, but rather citizens of your own country.
Once you have your domains hosted, it is necessary to renew the domain name on a continuous basis so that your online ‘presence ‘ remains valid. Renewing is basically the process of extending the validity of your domain name mostly with the same domain name registrar. The process of renewing involves some expenses in the form of renewal fees, but there is a silver lining to it. You get to choose the best available bargain at that point of time. In today’s extremely competitive market, domain name registrars are vying with each other to provide better quality of service at cheaper rates. So in all probability, you will end up getting a better offer of cheaper service without compromising quality. Another advantage is that you will get a lot more of features than you did at the time of initial registration of your domain. This is due to the rapid strides made in the field of technology, which is perhaps what differentiates the field of software and Internet technology from most of the other fields. There are some players in this field who offer you discounts on renewal for such conditions as bulk renewals and transfer and subsequent renewal.
The failure to renew your domain name can lead to your domain name being taken up by someone else. Given the number of factors that you might have considered while choosing your domain name, this situation is something, which you should be avoiding. Expired domain names are a favorite of speculators because of the reason that such domains will already have some traffic in them. So this proves to be an advantage in search engine optimization and other Internet activities.
Some registrars send you reminders well before your registration is to be renewed. If the reason you forget to renew your domain name registration is that you rarely use it or if you have bought a domain for future use, then you can prevent it from being inactive by the process of domain parking. Domain parking is employed commonly by those who have a portfolio of domains registered, but some of these are inactive at present and will remain so for a considerable period of time.
Some methods used in domain parking are the inactive domain(s) pointing to an active domain, displaying appropriate message that the domain is currently not under use or redirecting the traffic. To have the passive domain generate some income for you, it would be worthwhile to have some advertisements displayed in the page. There are several ‘Pay per Click’ programs available that help you generate money when user(s) click on an advertisement place on your website. The revenue generated from such programs will directly depend on the number of people visiting your site i.e. the traffic. So to attract more people you should keep optimized words and relevant advertisements. A catch in this approach of generating traffic is that it should not be fake, which is produced by some unfair means. The pay per click programs run by companies have special software to detect such spurious activities.
Thus the practices of regular renewal and domain parking can help you stay up-to-date and generate revenue.
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