The free services on the web are great, they help us get ourselves out there in many ways and are invaluable for networking. Also it's easy to create online links to these things no matter how long and wordy the address may be.
BUT when it comes to your printed advertsing they are not so good. The url's are often long and can be complicated. Imagine you pick up someone else's card and it's got a web address on it that reads something like www.firebrandlampworkbeads.wordpress.com - that one's available and there's a good reason why!
You are mildly interested in what they do and consider visiting their site, but are you going to type all that into your browser? If you do are you going to spell it correctly?
The shorter and more memorable the domain name is the better - I bet you knew that already right! ;o)
Picking a name
Assuming you have some ideas already it's just a matter of checking to see if the name is available.
It's easy and fairly inexpensive to register your own domain name. You can go to a site like whois.com and check the availability of names. Unfortunately Whois.com is geared more towards U.S. domains so you might have to poke around to find one that offers the .ca or .co.uk etc. for the country you are in.
If you are unsure of what domain name you want you can try using a site like Nameboy to generate some ideas. Be prepared for some stupid sounding domain names, but hopefully it will give you some decent ones too! Remember! Using the generator or whois.com does not mean you have to purchase the domain name from either of these sites!
Don't forget!
In order to be able to use a domain name you have to have somewhere to 'put it'. This means you need some kind of online hosting that will allow you to have your own domain name. Free hosting packages usually don't allow it, and you'll probably find the webspace that came free from your internet provider doesn't allow it either. Normally you will have to purchase a hosting package through a hosting company. When you sign up with a hosting company they will explain how to point the domain to your hosting package. The best bet is probably to register your domain name through the company you are buying your hosting from. It may not be the cheapest option, but it's the simplest as they will likely set everything up for you.
What hosting company should you use? The best thing is to research! Search the web for hosting companies and then search again for reviews on them before you sign up. Some let you pay monthly, some prefer at least 1yr up front. If you know someone who's using a hosting company, ask them if they are happy with them, ask them if they offer good support, and be comfortable with your choice before you make it!
Next we'll talk a little about 'branding' - I promise it won't hurt a bit!
CLICK HERE FOR #3- Branding - or 'OUCH! Don't come near me with that hot poker!'
