Domains...Is It All In The Name?

 

Why do I need my own domain name?

 

First and foremost, one must understand that in network marketing or any business for that matter, you are selling yourself.  You must also understand the importance of self-branding and projecting a level of professionalism.  Having your own domain name is crucial in accomplishing both.

In addition to the above, there are other reasons why you should own at least one domain name. 

 

The first reason to have your own domain name is that you can also have a personal email address that isn't dependent on a provider such as Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL or GMail.  Instead, you'd have the the ability to get an email address like YourName@YourDomainName.com or support@YourDomainName.com instead of YourName@yahoo.com.  What this does is immediately project a level of professionalism and again self-branding.

The second reason to have your own domain name is that you can set up what's called a "redirect" or "forwarding".  Many times in network marketing or affiliate marketing we use replicated web sites or affiliate link sites which have long website addresses.  These can be hard to place in an advertisement or give out over the phone. 

For example, if you're promoting someone else's product(s) through an affiliate program, your affiliate link might look something like this: http://buildit.sitesell.com/solutions4u1.html.  Similarly, if you are in MLM your company might give you a replicated site that has a web address that looks something like this: http://www.ytb.com/travelongroup.

In both cases above you can lose business just because of the web link itself.  The reason is because anytime that you give someone a web address with additional information on the end such as your user name or affiliate ID number, people will usually leave the extra part off and just go directly to the primary domain name (web address). 

Using the above replicated website link as an example: http://www.ytb.com/travelongroup, generally people will leave off the 'travelongroup' and just got straight to http://www.ytb.com.  Just that quick you've lost business and potential income because they didn't end up at your identifiable web link.  It would be so much better to have your own domain name such as http://www.travelongroup.com and "redirect" or "forward" it to your replicated website link.

What is a "URL Redirect" or "Domain Forwarding"?

It simply means that you can have the company hosting your domain name "redirect" all traffic from your domain to a specific site that you specify.  It's kind of like forwarding your mail from one address to another address when you move.

So for example, instead of giving out or promoting this link: http://www.ytb.com/travelongroup which is your company replicated website address, you would give out your own domain name http://www.travelongroup.com and have it redirect or forward to http://www.ytb.com/travelongroup.  As you can see by the example, having your own domain to promote is much better because it's easier for people to remember and get to your site.  There's no additional information for them to leave off or erase from the address.

Choosing a Domain Name

So now you're ready to choose your domain name...where do you begin?  First you must decide which hosting company you will use to register and host your domain.  I personally like  using www.GoDaddy.com.  Their prices are very reasonable and their 24/7 phone support is the best in the industry.

Time and consideration should be taken when choosing the perfect domain name.  You want to choose a name that is professional, self-branding, pulls in traffic from your advertising and gets listed in the top search engine results, just to name a few.  

Below are a few simple "rules" when choosing a domain name:

1)  Keep it simple.

2)  It should be easy to say.

3)  It should be easy to spell.

4)  It should be easy to remember.

5)  Always get the .com (this is a must)! 

6)  Try not to use numbers in the domain name unless you can purchase both the numerical and alphabetical names (www.5me.com, www.fiveme.com).

Other things to consider

Depending on what you will be using your new domain name for, you may also want to consider the following:

1) Register all plural and hyphened versions of your domain name in case anyone misspells the domain name.  This will also protect you from others that may try to register a domain name similiar to yours in order to "pick up" your traffic.

2) Use "key words" in the domain name.  Search engines give higher relevance to sites that have top key words in the domain name and also over other extensions such as .net or .biz.

3) Register a 'generic' domain name.  This would allow you to promote any type of business or product you want to.

4) Purchase the .com, .net and .biz versions of your domain name.  This will insure that noone else will be able to use your domain name and grab your traffic.

Once you've decided on a domain name, head over to www.GoDaddy.com or whichever hosting website you decide to use.  Choose your domain name and continue through the checkout process.  The hosting company will offer you additional services; keep in mind that you do not need the extra services offered. When you're ready to setup your email address or redirect your domain, just check out the support section on your domain hostings website (GoDaddy.com) or call customer support to have them help you through the process.

That's it, now you're ready to Kick Start your business and start promoting!