A Few Common Myths About Domain Names

Lawyers don't have a pulse. A car salesman could sell their mother. A watched pot doesn't boil. The Law of Unintended Consequences governs the world. These beliefs are part of urban folklore that we spread as truth among our friends. Applicants for domain names have developed their own myths. Some have been repeated so often they sound true. Check out the following...

Myth One: Always Pick a .Com Domain Name

It's always suggested that you go for .com domain name. The domain ending with .com is easy to remember, as they are the most common name but not necessary the best. For one thing, there are so many domain names ending in .com so it’s really hard to find a good domain name not already taken ending in .com. Picking a .com could be good depending on how you are gaining traffic. If you are targeting people using a search engine like Google or AskJeeves it can be pointless to limit yourself to a .com domain name. If you are primarily advertising in television, newspapers or the radio, a .com domain name could be helpful.

Myth Two: Avoid Using Dashes

Once again, this all depends on what you are doing. Remember, search engines translate dashes as spaces, so if you are targeting a popular keyword and use dashes as spaces, than your page will be easier to get onto the top ten search results of that keyword. Some search engines put more emphasis on this than others. So avoiding dashes or not applying anywhere in the domain name can be a viable option for you.

Myth Three: Selecting A Domain Name

Choosing a domain name can be a time consuming. Many prefer domain names that are short but they are not necessarily better. It's true you don’t want a domain name that is extremely long (too long for your visitors to type) but you don’t want it to be so short that nobody can remember it (unless you own a url forwarding service). There are many combinations of words you can use. It is highly suggested to use a domain name generator. They can be very useful... you enter a keyword and it displays possible combinations with other words and tells you if they’re available.

Myth Four: Domain Names Forever

While it’s possible that you’ll keep your registered domain name forever, it is not guaranteed. Several things can happen that would cause you to lose your domain name. First, you have to register your domain name each year (or register it for multiple years up front) in order to keep your access to it. If you forget to renew your registration, you could lose your domain name, or someone else can register it and charge you a huge fee to have it transferred back to your name. Second, you could lose your domain name in a trademark dispute.

Myth Five: Domain Registration Using Your Company Name

You cannot use your company name for the domain registration; in fact, you don’t have the right to register any domain name, even if you have a trademark on the corresponding company name. The reason for this is that a trademark on a business name doesn’t give you exclusive access to use that name. It only gives you exclusive access to use that name for the particular products and/or services that you offer.