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The right domain name is catchy enough to stay in mind, and is easy to associate with your business. It's an example of branding, associating a particular business with a specific name. A great domain name stays in people's minds, and makes them think of that particular business whenever they see it.

Branding begins with choosing a domain name that relates to a business. This is extremely important. Getty paid millions to acquire the domain name Art.com. Successful companies sometimes spend a small fortune, either in purchasing a name or running commercials to get their target audience to associate their names with the products they offer. They know a good domain name is the start of powerful branding. Obviously, the first choice of a domain names is your business name. The problem is domain names are being registered at the rate of approximately 25,000 a day, and almost every common word in the English language is already taken. For artists, registering your own name is also a good idea. Of course many common names are already taken.

However, one can still come up with a great name -- just be creative. Keep the choices as simple and short as possible, avoiding hyphens and underscores. If a number is to be included in the name, register the same name with that number spelled out as well. If the name is commonly misspelled, register the misspelling as well as the correct spelling. One can have as many domain names resolve to the same web site as one wants, and it will minimize the chances of someone not being able to find your web site when they type in the incorrect name. Names that begin with letters at the beginning of the alphabet will have an advantage in some search directories, like Yahoo, but not in others. Combine several words into a single catchy name. For example, i registered the names ArtWebWorks.com and ActQuick.com. Note that you can internally capitalize to make the individual parts of the name read clearly. The domain name system is case insensitive, so it really doesn't matter how people type it in, as long as they get the letters right.

Finally, use a reliable registrar. One of the best values in the domain name business today is eNom. They are the world's 6th largest ICANN Accredited Domain Registrar with over 750,000 domains registered. In addition to lower prices than their larger competitors, they also offer a number of free services when you register your name through them: a free 10 page website, 50 free email addresses, pop email, free domain parking, and world class customer service. I highly recommend them.

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