Strategies to Choosing an Effective Domain Name
A friend of mine calls me the "Domain Queen", since at one time I owned around 50 domains. I've let many of them go (I own only 22 now) as my business has changed and developed, or I've just simply lost interest in the project. I'm often asked how I go about picking effective domain names, so as the "Domain Queen", I'll share my thought process with you. What's the purpose of the domain name? Are you planning on using this name as the main website for your company, as a one page sales letter site, or squeeze page site? If the domain name will be your primary company website, try and find the closest version to your company name that you can. If you're just starting out, choose your business name and domain name with care. When I started my virtual assistant practice, I chose the name SOHO Business Solutions, as I thought everyone knew that SOHO stood for Small Office, Home Office. I think I've run into 2 people in my 7 years in business who knew what that acronym stood for. If I had it to do over again for this business, I would choose a business name and domain name with virtual assistant in the title, like InternetMarketingVirtualAssistant.com, a name I just recently purchased.
What is a domain name? The best way to understand the concept of a domain name is to think of it as a mask, or the alphanumeric equivalent of an ip address. This mask allows you to access web pages on the internet in an easy to remember way. For example the domain name for this site is http://www.DomainBash.com. That is a lot easier to remember than something that looks like 24.195.85.161, which is what the ip address that the domain name is masking. Your domain name will essentially become your online identity, and how your visitors will be able to find your website in the endless sea of sites that is the web.
Understanding the parts Now that you have a basic understanding of what a domain name is, you are ready to understand the individual parts of the domain name. Again we will use http://www.domainbash.com for our example. The www stands for "world wide web" which encompasses all things accessible on the internet. The second part, which is the part where some minor creativity will help, is the domain name - in our example, this would be domainbash. This, more often times than not, is also the name of your website, or business. Last, we have the TLD - Top Level Domain, or the extension. There are various extensions available for your consideration.
Now domain name disputes has also hit the Indian Courts. The most serious dispute among them is "Cybersquatting", which is use of domain name by a person with neither trademark registration, nor any inherent right, to the name. There are many ways in which someone on the Internet could trigger the ire of an owner of a trademark or some other form of intellectual property. A web site could contain someone's registered trademark. A web site could pluck an image (a trademark, or an image) from some other site and incorporate the image into its own web page. A web site could contain material protected by copyright that has been copied from elsewhere without the permission of the copyright owner. A domain name could be similar to (but not identical to) some trademark. A third-level domain name (e.g. southcanara.bank.com) could be identical to a famous domain name. Or a second-level domain name (e.g. southcanara.com) could be identical to some trademark.
Country Code Top Level Domains ccTLDs There are over 240 ccTLDs which correspond to country codes. Some ccTLDs offer open registration, while others restrict their usage. Some that offer open registration are .cc - Cocos (Keeling) Islands, .bz - Belize, and .ws - Western Samoa, to name just a few. The entire list can be found at the Globe Domains Blog - http://www.globedomains.com Using ccTLDs that are available to you in your area is a good way to get a quality domain name that suits your website or business. Using a ccTLD is no different than using the more popular gTLDs, and you will have a better chance of obtaining the domain name you really want, rather than settling for a .com domain name that is just so-so.
In the case of Nokia Corporation vs. Uday Lakhani, where a person named Uday Lakhani, resident of London registered a website with the name of nokias.com. During the hearing of the case at WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, it was held that, the domain name "nokias.com" is confusingly similar to Complainant's trademark "Nokia," that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name and that Respondent's domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. Over the last few years the increased user of the internet has led to a proliferation of disputes resulting in litigation before different High Courts in India. The Courts have consistently applied the law relating to passing off to domain name disputes. Some disputes were between the trademark holders and domain name owners. Some were between domain name owners themselves. These decision namely Rediff Communication Ltd. v. Cyberbooth and Anr. 2000 AIR(Bom) 27), Yahoo Inc. v. Akash Arora (1999 PTC (19) 201), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. v. Manu Kosuri 2001 PTC 859 (Del), Tata Sons Ltd. v. Manu Kosuri 2001 PTC 432 (Del)), Acqua Minerals Ltd. v. Shailesh Gupta and Anr. 2002 (24) PTC 35.5 (Del). In the case of Rediff Communication Ltd. v. Cyberbooth, the Bombay High Court deliberate upon the Indian Jurisprudence on domain names. The Court said that "A domain name is more than an Internet address and is entitled to the equal protection as trade mark". In this case the domain name owner of (rediff.com) filed a case asking for the injunction against the use of domain name (radiff.com). The court after looking into the matter said that there was a clear intention to deceive and that is the only purpose of registration by the defendants was to trade on the goodwill and reputation of the plaintiff's.
The Aftermarket Unless the domain name you want to register is very unique, I wouldn't count on it being available for registration using the .com extension. That's not to say that it's not for sale, however. After you try to register your name, and you find that has already been registered, go directly to the web address on the net, and see what's there. Sometimes there will be a developed website, sometimes there will be nothing but an error page, and sometimes you will find that the domain name is for sale by owner. You can then attempt to contact the current owner to purchase the domain on the aftermarket. Domain names are generally more expensive on the aftermarket, so expect to pay more than you would if you were registering the domain name through a company like GoDaddy.com. Keep in mind the domain name market is competitive. The cost can be tremendous depending on the demand for the name. If you are just starting out, using an alternative extension would be a better option for you. Those will a larger budget should seriously consider investing in their first choice domain name if the option is available. Whatever you decide to do, remember that your domain name is your web presence. You want people to remember your domain name, and never forget it. Try to choose something that represents your website or business, while being memorable and pleasant to say aloud. People tend to forget cumbersome domain names with too many words. Try to keep it as short as possible, if possible and let it flow. I chose DomainBash.com because it related to domain names, without being restrictive. It is also unique which allows me trademark or brand the name. Combining a more common keyword, in this case "domain" with another word that is less commonly used "bash" is always a good idea if you want to include keywords in your domain. If you have any questions relating to this article, and you still don't feel prepared to register a domain name, please feel free to contact me by visiting one of the sources below, and I will help you in any way that I can.
What is a domain name? The best way to understand the concept of a domain name is to think of it as a mask, or the alphanumeric equivalent of an ip address. This mask allows you to access web pages on the internet in an easy to remember way. For example the domain name for this site is http://www.DomainBash.com. That is a lot easier to remember than something that looks like 24.195.85.161, which is what the ip address that the domain name is masking. Your domain name will essentially become your online identity, and how your visitors will be able to find your website in the endless sea of sites that is the web.
Understanding the parts Now that you have a basic understanding of what a domain name is, you are ready to understand the individual parts of the domain name. Again we will use http://www.domainbash.com for our example. The www stands for "world wide web" which encompasses all things accessible on the internet. The second part, which is the part where some minor creativity will help, is the domain name - in our example, this would be domainbash. This, more often times than not, is also the name of your website, or business. Last, we have the TLD - Top Level Domain, or the extension. There are various extensions available for your consideration.
Now domain name disputes has also hit the Indian Courts. The most serious dispute among them is "Cybersquatting", which is use of domain name by a person with neither trademark registration, nor any inherent right, to the name. There are many ways in which someone on the Internet could trigger the ire of an owner of a trademark or some other form of intellectual property. A web site could contain someone's registered trademark. A web site could pluck an image (a trademark, or an image) from some other site and incorporate the image into its own web page. A web site could contain material protected by copyright that has been copied from elsewhere without the permission of the copyright owner. A domain name could be similar to (but not identical to) some trademark. A third-level domain name (e.g. southcanara.bank.com) could be identical to a famous domain name. Or a second-level domain name (e.g. southcanara.com) could be identical to some trademark.
Country Code Top Level Domains ccTLDs There are over 240 ccTLDs which correspond to country codes. Some ccTLDs offer open registration, while others restrict their usage. Some that offer open registration are .cc - Cocos (Keeling) Islands, .bz - Belize, and .ws - Western Samoa, to name just a few. The entire list can be found at the Globe Domains Blog - http://www.globedomains.com Using ccTLDs that are available to you in your area is a good way to get a quality domain name that suits your website or business. Using a ccTLD is no different than using the more popular gTLDs, and you will have a better chance of obtaining the domain name you really want, rather than settling for a .com domain name that is just so-so.
In the case of Nokia Corporation vs. Uday Lakhani, where a person named Uday Lakhani, resident of London registered a website with the name of nokias.com. During the hearing of the case at WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, it was held that, the domain name "nokias.com" is confusingly similar to Complainant's trademark "Nokia," that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name and that Respondent's domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. Over the last few years the increased user of the internet has led to a proliferation of disputes resulting in litigation before different High Courts in India. The Courts have consistently applied the law relating to passing off to domain name disputes. Some disputes were between the trademark holders and domain name owners. Some were between domain name owners themselves. These decision namely Rediff Communication Ltd. v. Cyberbooth and Anr. 2000 AIR(Bom) 27), Yahoo Inc. v. Akash Arora (1999 PTC (19) 201), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. v. Manu Kosuri 2001 PTC 859 (Del), Tata Sons Ltd. v. Manu Kosuri 2001 PTC 432 (Del)), Acqua Minerals Ltd. v. Shailesh Gupta and Anr. 2002 (24) PTC 35.5 (Del). In the case of Rediff Communication Ltd. v. Cyberbooth, the Bombay High Court deliberate upon the Indian Jurisprudence on domain names. The Court said that "A domain name is more than an Internet address and is entitled to the equal protection as trade mark". In this case the domain name owner of (rediff.com) filed a case asking for the injunction against the use of domain name (radiff.com). The court after looking into the matter said that there was a clear intention to deceive and that is the only purpose of registration by the defendants was to trade on the goodwill and reputation of the plaintiff's.
The Aftermarket Unless the domain name you want to register is very unique, I wouldn't count on it being available for registration using the .com extension. That's not to say that it's not for sale, however. After you try to register your name, and you find that has already been registered, go directly to the web address on the net, and see what's there. Sometimes there will be a developed website, sometimes there will be nothing but an error page, and sometimes you will find that the domain name is for sale by owner. You can then attempt to contact the current owner to purchase the domain on the aftermarket. Domain names are generally more expensive on the aftermarket, so expect to pay more than you would if you were registering the domain name through a company like GoDaddy.com. Keep in mind the domain name market is competitive. The cost can be tremendous depending on the demand for the name. If you are just starting out, using an alternative extension would be a better option for you. Those will a larger budget should seriously consider investing in their first choice domain name if the option is available. Whatever you decide to do, remember that your domain name is your web presence. You want people to remember your domain name, and never forget it. Try to choose something that represents your website or business, while being memorable and pleasant to say aloud. People tend to forget cumbersome domain names with too many words. Try to keep it as short as possible, if possible and let it flow. I chose DomainBash.com because it related to domain names, without being restrictive. It is also unique which allows me trademark or brand the name. Combining a more common keyword, in this case "domain" with another word that is less commonly used "bash" is always a good idea if you want to include keywords in your domain. If you have any questions relating to this article, and you still don't feel prepared to register a domain name, please feel free to contact me by visiting one of the sources below, and I will help you in any way that I can.
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