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Choosing_Your_Websites_Address_and_Link_Names
| Choosing Your Websites Address and Link Names
One of the most important things you will do when creating your
website is selecting its web address. When you choose a web
address, you want to make it descriptive of your company name,
or the service you offer. Let's say you own a company called
Acme, Inc. and you make widgets. Your first choices would be
www.Acme.com or www.Widgets.com. Other options could be
www.AcmeWidgets.com, www.WidgetsByAcme.com, www.GreatWidgets.com
and so on. You want to be sure that the names you're considering
are as short as possible, easy to remember and relate to your
company. While descriptive, you wouldn't want your web address
to be www.TheGreatestWidgetsInTheWorldAreByAcme.com. This is
just to long for people to remember, and rather egotistical.
You'll want to have several names picked out in case your first,
or second or third, choice is already taken. You may easily do
this with minor changes in spelling or word order. So
www.PearlPrideOnions.com could be changed to
www.OnionsbyPearlPride.com or www.Pearl-Pride-Onions.com. You
could also change the .com to one of a different extension.
Other extensions most often used are: .net - Like .com, this can
be used by anyone. .org - This is used by non-profit
organizations. .biz - Businesses and corporations use this
extension. .us - This signifies a company or person based in the
United States.
Once you have several names selected, then you need to go to
http://www.whois.net/ to see which of these names are not being
used. After you have found a name, then you need to register it
through your web host company.
Be sure not to use one of the many free sites. You don't want
your site to be www.YetAnotherFreeSite.com/Acme.com. This looks
very unprofessional, is difficult to remember and does not
instill people with confidence. You can have your site hosted on
a web host for about $8 a month. So what kind of a message are
you giving to a prospective client when they see that you can't
afford this minimal fee? Would you trust someone to deliver a
product you ordered, or with your credit card number, if they
couldn't afford such a low month?
As you start to add pages to your site, you want to be sure to
keep using short, descriptive names. If you have a links page,
call it www.Acme.com/links.shtml, not
www.Acme.com/InterestingPlacesToVisit.shtml. Besides being to
long, does this go to a links page, a travel page or some other
obscure place?
If you keep your website and link names simple and descriptive,
visitors will be able to find you site on the Internet, and
navigate your site easily. As always, think of your visitors
first, and they will show their appreciation.
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