Domain names and hosting are the basics for people who wish to own their websites. There are free and paid domains and hosting. Free domains are usually third party domains, or sub-domains. For instance, exabytes.blogspot.com, is an example of Exabytes using blogspot.com to create a sub-domain for itself. An example of free hosting is blogspot.com but this article will focus on merely Domain Names.
However, since Blogspot.com is giving away free domain names, why do I need a paid domain? This is indeed a frequently asked question. Having a paid domain is to protect your brand name. Your paid domain name tells your site visitors about your website. Let your domain name speaks for your website. This is extremely important to retain your visitors to your website. In addition, a sub-domain name is very long while your paid domain name can be very short and meaningful for your visitors to remember you or your company better and subsequently enhance your web ranking.
Some people prefer to register their domain names based on their Company Names. This is a good practice as people know your company name and they tend to key in your company name while searching for you on the web. For example, Exabytes Network Pte. Ltd. has domains identical to its company names such as exabytes.com, exabytes.sg, exabytes.in, etc. The reason behind registering a domain name based on your company name is to protect your brand name. There are hundreds of domain extensions available, from Top-Level-Domain to Country Level domain extensions. If budget allows, it is recommended that you register all the domain extensions that are available. For instance, although exabytes.co has already been taken, it was not registered by Exabytes Network Pte Ltd itself. Someone else has registered exabytes.co before they even realized it. More often than not, we also receive emails from anonymous saying that a particular domain extension of your company is still available and suggest that you register the domain with them. These are opportunists who register your domain names before you do and resell it to you at a higher price. Besides, it might also be a scam in which they collect the money from you but ends up fleeing after payment is made.
A domain name signifies your organization or company. Furthermore, domain registrations are based on first-come first-served basis. A domain does not belong to anyone until someone registers it. Thus if you have a preferred domain name for your website, register it as soon as possible before someone else does. Apart from this, your preferred domain name may also clash with the domain of others who have similar names as yours. For instance, NGC is the acronym to Northern Group of Composer, a non-profit organization. It is also a full name of a private company, NGC Systems Pte. Ltd. It is such a coincidence that both organizations use ‘NGC’ for their domain names but with different domain extensions. Since domain registrations are based on first-come first-served basis, no one can register for the same domain if it is already taken. Thus register your preferred domain name while it is still available or else your will have to think of another name.
The existence of your domain name represents the existence of your company/organization and your brand in this new era. Your sales and the image of your company will be adversely affected if someone has taken your brand name in advance and use it for other purposes. In short, your domain speaks for your organization or company. Have you already registered one for yourself? Seize your domain now before others do!
