What happens if you don't secure your domain name now...
few years ago, a scandal that could only happen in the information age hit the news headlines. The famous singer Madonna sought to register the domain name Madonna.com and discovered, much to her dismay, that it had already been registered by someone else. Dan Parisi was an astute opportunist who bought the Madonna.com domain in 1998 for $20 and refused to sell it to her. Instead, he cunningly used this domain name to host a pornographic site, which, as you would expect, infuriated the pop star.

Of course, Madonna and her well-paid legal team eventually recovered her domain name as part of the legal trade mark which already belonged to her, but it cost her a bundle. And while this is an extreme example from the life of a celebrity, it is a situation that could happen to any business or trademark, regardless of its fame, fortune, or lack thereof.

Imagine if you were trading as a well-known business, say, Pump Ltd, and someone else started a business online using the domain name Pump.com and began selling the same range of products using your good reputation. How would you feel about that lost business?
Do something about it now, and register your .co.nz/ .com/ .name/ .org/ etc domain name now and secure it for life. Click here to find if your domain name is available

First off, secure the same name as your company trading name...
It is common practice today, that when deciding on a name for your company you should at the same time ensure the domain name is also available. In New Zealand, the best place to go for this is: Cheap New Zealand Domain Names - best place in NZ to purchase from as recommended by Simon Cope - Web Doctor

So, I first recommend if you are trading as 'First Electrical Company Ltd', that you try and secure www.FirstElectrical.co.nz and also www.FirstElectricalCompany.co.nz

Keep it short if you can...
This is not to say that your domain name must always be equivalent to your company name. For example, if you trade under the name, First Electrical Company, it would probably be a good idea to also register a domain name like fec.co.nz (abbreviation), or firstelectric.co.nz, to make it less cumbersome for users typing in your web address. (You will also get tired of typing it in longhand).
Also, you'll be using your domain name on all of your marketing materials, so you want to make sure it's easy to say, easy to read, easy to write, and easy to remember! So when it doubt, keep it short.

Sometimes it is better to register a domain name that's sounds completely different from your company name. In the case of First Electrical Company, a fresh alternative could be the domain name goelectrical.co.nz
In this case, the domain name could be used as an opportunity to rebrand your business or establish a unique selling proposition. In any case, if you are planning to use your web-site as an E-commerce tool, you would do well to think long and hard about what your domain name will be. Remember, it should be short, catchy, and memorable.

Your domain name is your brand...
If your business is entirely Internet-based, choosing a domain name is so important, it could make or break your company! Your domain is more than just an inherent part of your brand, it IS your brand. Think about it, the most successful brands on the Internet (xtra.co.nz, trademe.co.nz, amazon.com) were built entirely on the web, for the web, and using the domain as the brand. Also, for the average small to medium enterprise (over 90% of all businesses in NZ are), you cannot afford 'branding' on billboards etc - and your domain name is your best way to do this.
Do something about it now, and register your .co.nz/ .com/ .name/ .org/ etc domain name now and secure it for life. Click here to find if your New Zealand based domain name (For example: .co.nz / .org.nz etc) is available

Go International and get a '.com' at the same time...
If you are trading outside of New Zealand, it's a good idea to register a '.com' domain, because the '.co.nz' tag identifies your company as New Zealand-based. This is fine if you focus exclusively on the New Zealand market, but overseas customers will want to know that you operate a global organisation with a global presence. Also, people assume you are global (one of the great things about getting us at the Web Doctor Ltd to help you making sure you have the right features on your website), they will assume you are a dot com! eg: www.YourCompanyName.com

One problem you might encounter when trying to register a '.com' domain is that you will soon realize that many domain names are already taken. It makes sense if you consider that New Zealand alone generates more than 100 commercial web-sites every single day. Just imagine what that means for the whole world! Use less common words, be creative and innovative. Remember that the most popular Internet brands look strange (Yahoo.com, eBay.com, google.com) but work well!
Do something about it now, and register your .com/.name/.org domain name now and secure it for life. Click here to find if your internationally recognised domain name (For example: .com / .org etc) is available

Some food for thought on the subject...
Securing your domain name, and variants on it is one of the cheapest forms of advertising/marketing that you can ever do for your company.

• Your client's cannot spell...
  Think about the mis-spelling of your company name and also register these variants. (for example, I came across a website called Labyrinth.com - good grief - just think of how the average person could misspell that name and never find your website...)
• Plural or not...
  Think whether anyone would automatically add an 's' onto the end of the domain name... (for example two big competitors on the internet are flower.com and flowers.com !). Secure these variants on your name before your competitor does and enjoys the extra traffic to their site on your behalf - I know of a number of companies that do this with great results for them :-)
• Hyphens in a domain name...
  The next most common way to spell a domain name is to put hyphens between each word - for example: www.Products-From-New-Zealand.com and www.Products-From-NewZealand.com Secure these variants also.
• Do people automatically shorten your company name?
  For example www.ProductsFromNewZealand.com and www.ProductsFromNZ.com Guess what - secure these variants also.
• Does your current domain name end in '.org' or '.ac.nz', etc?
  Are you a charity or church or a school etc? You probably have a domain name like www.MRBC.org.nz or something like that? The trouble is, your potential newbie surfer will never guess that this is actually Mt Roskill Baptist Church, and because they are a church, they 'officially' should use the '.org.nz' domain extension...what are they going to type in? Maybe: www.MtRoskillBaptistChurch.co.nz ??? Secure this variant now - common sense once I point it out to you :-)
• Do you sell different products and services?
  Do these have dedicated pages on your website? If so, think about securing the domain name for each of these different areas. For example, your business sells Contemporary Art, and also Music. Your company is called www.ProductsFromNewZealand.com
  I would also suggest you secure: www.ContemporaryArtFromNewZealand.com and www.MusicFromNewZealand.com
  Get the picture?
• So what do you do with all of these variants on your domain name??
  So great Simon, I now have 1/2 dozen different variants on my company name. I only have one business, what do I do with the rest?? It is very simple. Either of the 2 companies I have recommended to you to purchase your domain names off (at the best price on the internet I must add :-), have a free service (others charge), where you can 'point' these other variants at your main site, or at the actual page that talks about that product or service. You will be amazed at the number of people who will guess what your domain is, because, remember, people are not looking for you (unless of course you are Britney Spears, or some porno queen), they are looking for 'information' to solve a problem they have. You solve the problem by providing the information/solution. It is that simple.

To summarise all of the above....

• Immediately secure the internationally recognised .com version of your company name NOW, before someone else takes it. Click here to find if your domain name is available
• Immediately secure the local version of your company name now (for example .co.nz) NOW, before someone else takes it. Click here to find if your domain name is available
• Have a brainstorm on the possible variants of your company name and secure these now. At ~NZD$39.00 each per year for a '.com' and ~NZD$39.00 each per year for a '.co.nz' you cannot buy effective advertising at this price - or please tell me where, so I can buy some :-)

Not sure how to proceed?
If you would like more information about how to register a domain name and start trading on the Internet, call us at +64 9 578 0704, or click here to send us an email.

Signed up to our newsletter yet?

... and receive Web Doctor Ltd's exclusive weekly: 'Excellent Website Improvement Tips', + eligibility to enter various subscriber only, free assessments, reports and special discounts.

Important Note: This is a private mailing list and it will never be rented or sold for any reason. You can also unsubscribe whenever you wish. Click here for more details.