Wednesday’s Web Tip – Be the Master of Your Domain (Name)
The other day I was helping out the irrepressible Natalie Danielson of www.ClockHours.com with her domains, and it reminded me to post these tips on domain name buying.
(By the way, in addition to teaching and selling clock hours online Natalie is also a stand-up comic, and if you ever hear her laugh you’ll know why I called her ‘irrepressible.’)
Here are some domain name buying tips to keep in mind:
1. If someone else buys your domain name for you, make sure that you will be the legal owner of the domain name!
Wondering if you own your domain? Go to www.betterwhois.com, type in your domain name including the .com or .net and click ‘Search’. Scroll down past the small print and first paragraph. The ‘Registrant’ should be you.
2. Don’t be afraid to buy your domain name yourself – it’s easy! Watch our domain name buying video, then head over to www.GoDaddy.com to snag yours.
3. If it’s not taken, always buy your first and last name followed by .com.
4. When picking other domain names, go as simple and straightforward as possible!
Ask yourself: If you say it once to someone at an open house, are they likely to remember it? If you say it over the phone, will you have to spell it?
5. Buy common misspellings. For example, if ‘susie’ is part of the domain name, see if you can buy the version spelled ‘suzie’ as well. Then you can forward the misspelled version to your main site.
Quick Tip: Get your domain name(s) even if you don’t have a website yet! You’re only buying the NAME, and you don’t need to ever make a site for it. At a measly $10 a year with GoDaddy it’s better to buy it even if you end up not using it than to find out someone snagged the one you really wanted.
Use GoDaddy coupon codes: Reader Ioana Manciu was nice enough to comment on our domain buying video post and leave these Godaddy coupon codes, which worked as recently as last week:
SPN3 – .COM for $7.45 – Save $2
SPN1 – 10% off any order
SPN2 – $5 off any order $30 or more
