A Domain Owner’s Manual

Visual Compass Uncategorized

There are a few important points to keep in mind when creating your domain name. A domain name comes in several parts and those parts are called labels. When dividing up a domain name, it is proper to dissect the name from right to left. The label farthest to the right is called the top-level domain.

Let us use the web address: www.VCWebDesign.com as an example. This web address belongs to the top-level domain ‘com’. The label ‘VCWebDesign’ is a sub-domain to the top-level domain and ‘www’ is a sub-domain of ‘VCWebDesign’.

There are a few restrictions to keep in mind when creating your domain name. The only valid characters for domain names are numbers, hyphens, and letters; however, hyphens cannot be used as the first or last character.The domain name you choose must be unique; if the name you want is already in use you may need to check for variations and get creative with it. Lastly, domain names are not case sensitive so it will not make a difference if when typing in your domain name you write ‘VCWebDesign’, or ‘vcwebdesign’ with no caps.

In order to boost your presence in search engine results it is recommended that your domain name is not just the name of your company but that it also includes keywords that people might be searching for when looking for products or services you provide.

Make sure that your selected domain name is short and memorable. Simply having a well-thought out domain name may attract users to your website without much else.

Registering your domain name gives you the rights to that name.  In order to register your domain name you will be using the services of a domain name registrar. The registrar will determine the cost and usually domain names are registered annually. Always register the domain name in your own name and not under that of an employee or anyone else. The contact information you provide(name, address, email address, and phone number) will be stored in a registry which is public information by default unless you opt otherwise.

After you have created and registered your domain name the next steps are to select a web host, have your website designed and get your site noticed. VCWeb Design offers hosting plans, design packages, and online marketing services so check out our site or contact us for more information!