Website 101: Securing A Domain Name

Jane Porter offers advice to small businesses on how to select and secure a domain name for their new websites with a series of dos and donts.

"Navigating the world of domain names can be a daunting task if you're not up to speed on how to get one. With countless caveats and hosting companies out there, it's easy to be overwhelmed or worse, make a mistake that could ultimately cripple your business.

Consider these dos and don'ts from small-business owners and experts to help secure your company's domain name.

Do: Include a location or keywords in your domain name, if you can. If your business focuses on a geographic region, try to put the location into the name of your domain, says Jean Bedord, a Silicon Valley-based search consultant and author of the book I've Got a Domain Name--Now What??? When Mikalai Krivenko needed a domain for his painting business in Hoboken, N.J., in 2009, his son Yuriy, a Brooklyn-based search-optimization specialist, suggested he put 'Hoboken' in the name. For $11, Krivenko bought hobokenpainter.com, which shows up at the top of keyword searches that include 'Hoboken' and 'painter.' Whether it's location, or what your company does, Krivenko advises: 'Put the most important keyword for your industry in the domain name.'"