The first step in choosing a name is obviously to try to
register the name of your business with a .com at the end.
Unfortunately, this isn't as cut-and-dried as it sounds because
all the good names are most likely taken-including
allthegoodnamesaretaken.com. By the time you read this, the name
you want will most likely have been snatched up by someone
else.
Now it's time to wheedle and whine to the holder of your
desired domain until he coughs it up. Becca Williams, owner of
Wallnutz, a Portland, Oregon-based homebased business that offers
paint-by-number mural kits for kids' rooms, got Wallnutz.com from
the original registrant by dishing up that world-class motivator:
money.
If the .com version of your name is gone and you can't buy
it off the owner, try .net or .org. New domain names like .biz,
.info and .us are also available but not used as widely. If even
those are taken, you can register your name in one of the more than
100 non-U.S. top level domains (TLDs) like .cc and .nu. The
drawback is that these don't have the recognition of .com-and
your prospects will automatically slap on a .com if your domain
name hasn't imprinted itself on their noggins. The results can
be hilarious: Let me just say whitehouse.com does not lead to the
Web site of our president's new digs. If you're older than
18, check it out and imagine a customer stumbling upon that site
instead of yours.
Content Continues Below
If you're still stuck without a domain at this point,
it's time to get creative. Many business owners can get a
reasonable facsimile of their name by adding prefixes and suffixes
like "e," "i," "cyber,"
"online," and "the" or using hyphens. When
Shannon Rubio of Spring, Texas, found that SmileBox.com was already
registered, she registered TheSmileBox.com for her goodie-filled
gift box company.
To check what's available and what's not, visit Network
Solutions. Other businesses now offer domain registration, but
this place was the first, and it has the technology down pat.
The drill is simple: You try a name, and Network Solutions tells
you if it's available. When you strike out--that is, the names
you want are taken--Network Solutions will provide alternative
suggestions. You can also use their brainstorming tools on their
Domain Name page: Enter keywords and you'll get possibilities
that are available for registration. Find a name that suits you,
and the charge is currently $25 a year when you register the name
for three years.
Trademarking Your Domain
Because your domain is such a big part of your e-commerce business,
you'll want to be sure to protect it. The best way to do that
is through trademark law. A trademark is a word or symbol used to
identify the source of goods or services to consumers.
You may apply for registration of a trademark or service mark,
word, phrase or image after you use the mark to identify a product
sold or service performed "in commerce," which means that
you've used it for advertising and/or sale to customers. Your
online business name can be a service (for trademark purposes) if
it provides any kind of service to consumers: information access,
ticket booking, online dating and so on. If your site sells the
goods you manufacture, then your product names would be goods for
trademark purposes. Trademark rights arise upon use in
commerce--with or without national registration--of the name of the
good or service. However, national registration expands and
protects your trademark rights, giving your company a presumption
of first use of the mark in association with particular goods or
services.
The trademark office will not register a domain name that does
not also meet the requirements of being a trademark; a domain name
by itself is considered merely an address. Having trademark rights
allows you to protect your domain name against others who might
allege that it infringes on their trademark and try to have it
legally taken from you, and also allows you to enforce your
trademark rights against others who use domain names similar to
yours to try to divert your customers.
Trademarks are complex, so make sure you read more about them or
consult an attorney for your particular situation. You can learn
more at www.uspto.gov.
Activating Your Domain
No matter what hosting solution you select, the process of
activating your TLD is the same. The host will assign your domain
name an IP (Internet Protocol) address, which consists of four
numbers separated by full stops, log the IP number onto the
host's primary and secondary DNS (domain name services) servers
and broadcast to the Internet. The DNS servers will have hostnames
and their own IP addresses. This information is required to modify
your domain name profile kept by your registrar. Your profile can
be modified by either you or your host. The name servers specified
in your domain name profile will be the primary destination routers
on the Internet used to resolve requests for your domain name or
unique IP address.
Once you have a host, most of this maintenance will be done for
you. You can provide permission for your host to update your domain
name profile, and their technicians will take care of updating the
DNS servers so your domain name can be resolved through its unique
IP address.
