As more and more people use the Internet for business and social use there has become a growing need for more Personal / Personalized domain names than those provided by free web space and email providers like MSN and Yahoo.

A few years ago when personal car number plates were allowed, many people were thinking who would want one?

The answer millions of people. Not only that, but they have also become collectors items.

With your family domain name, you can personalize your email address. For example. Jennie Fox can have a domain fox.co.uk or .com with an email address Jennie@Fox.co.uk. or (.com).

The .Name TLD (top level domain name) was introduced specifically to cater for personal names. However, for various reasons it doesn’t appear to have become popular and the .com TLD continues to be the preferred choice for many.

It’s possible to register a domain name for use by all the family. This is normally done by using the family surname as the domain name. For example if the family name is Johnson then the domain name would be: johnson.com

The problem with this is that there are lots of Johnson’s and so its unlikely that the name is still available. Rather than using numbers to shore up the name to make it unique as often seen with Yahoo and Hotmail accounts you could try:

using a prefix like: -  thejohnsons.com or a suffix like: - johnsonfamily.com

Combining the prefix and suffix e.g thejohnsonfamliy.com

Combining husband and wife surnames either directly or hyphenated like

johnsonfox.com or johnson-fox.com or reversed.

If that doesn’t work try using the .name TLD e.g.

johnson-fox.name

If that doesn’t work you could try taking parts of each name and combining them. Like

jsfox.com or jofox.com

again you could try using hyphens and the .name extension

If that doesn’t work either you could try adding or prefixing: Middle names, Country, town of birth

If none of that works then adding numbers is the only way left. But don’t forget you don’t need to just append them. You can also use them to break up the name as well. Like johnson-4-fox.com

You could even try johnsonandfox.com or johnsonwithfox.com etc

It’s only just a matter of time before every one has their own personal domain name. Check your family name now and register.

The name of a domain directly affects the overall success of a website, not only through search engine optimization, but also through the eyes of the visitors themselves. A memorable domain name will ensure repeat traffic in many cases, based simply on the fact that most visitors will find it easy to return to a site with a domain name that is easy to remember.

To simplify the process, consider some of the following factors when choosing a domain name.

Domain Extension

The domain name extension or TLD is a crucial factor. The extension of a domain is simply the letters that follow the dot, for example – .com, .net, and .org – are all domain extensions. Dot com domains seem to outperform their counterparts in almost all instances, however .org and .net domains also rank well in the search engines.

Domain Name Length

The length of the domain name is also very important, as it directly affects the memorability of the name. If a domain name is 30 characters and 4 words long there is a very slim chance that someone will remember it. Thus, it is very unlikely that you will receive repeat organic traffic unless you are highly ranked for a common keyword.

Domain Syntax

Another important factor to consider is the syntax; the arrangement of words or letters within the domain name. A domain name with numbers that substitute words are generally less valuable. For example, the domain name food4thought.com would be less valuable than the domain name foodforthought.com. The reason for this is simple, when someone executes a search for a particular keyword, the chances of them typing in the number 2 or 4 instead of the words “to” or “for” are very low. Following the same reasoning, dashes also take away from the value of a domain name, as most people do not include dashes in their search queries.

Keyword Optimization

Perhaps the most important aspect of a domain name is the keyword that it is targeting. The most valuable kind of domain name is one that is an exact match of a keyword that is commonly searched for. Also known as an exact match domain, these names are sought after because they tend to go straight to the top of the search engines for specific phrases, with little or no effort. For example, if someone searches for the term “shopping,” it would not be surprising to see shopping.com in one of the top spot, even if the content and on-page design has not been search engine optimized. Registering a domain name with one of these phrases is becoming increasingly rare, however it is possible.

Domain names can be registered here

A domain name is an identification address that people use to find you or your company online. When we talk about domains, it’s  important to mention top-level domain names (TLDs). A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System (DNS) on the Internet.

There are several types of TLDs within the DNS. TLDs with two letters (such as .au – Australia, .ca – Canada, and .de – Germany) are referred to as “country-code while most TLDs with three or more characters are referred to as “generic” TLDs (such as .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .pro and .name).

As the Internet grew, it became desirable to create additional generic top-level domains. Some of the initial domains’ purposes were also generalized, modified, or assigned for maintenance to special organizations .

.Com

The king of TLDs continues to be .com. The intended use of .com for commercial purposes has never been fully followed. Nearly everyone, from individuals to big corporate houses, who steps on the Web wishes to grab a ‘.com’ TLD at the first instance since it stands for ‘Commercial’.  It reflects that the site is for commercial purpose. However, this domain extension  is now used by almost everyone.

.Net

.Net stands for Network. This is an extension designed for use by groups with networking technologies. It’s the one of the most coveted domain extensions after ‘.com’.

.Org

The Organization extension .org is for non-profit or non-commercial character sites. Although .org was recommended for non-commercial entities, there are no restrictions to registration.

.Info

.Info stands for Information or Informative Internet resources. This TLD is mostly used by information & resource-based websites, which are not involved in commercial activities. You can use this TLD for providing information to reinforce your brand.

.Biz

The ‘.biz’ TLD stands for Business. It is intended for registration of domains to be used by businesses. Info is an unrestricted domain, meaning that anyone can obtain a second-level domain under .info for any purpose, similar to the com, net or org domains.

.Pro

The domain name .pro is a generic top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. Its name is derived from Professional, indicating its intended use by qualified professionals such as lawyers, accountants, physicians and engineers.

.Name

It is intended for use by Individuals for representation of their real names, nicknames, screen names, pseudonyms, or other personal or fictional names. These days, this domain extension is being popularly used as a web address for Digital Identity applications.

.Mobi

Its name is derived from Mobile, indicating its use by mobile devices for accessing Internet resources via the Mobile Web. This TLD is financially backed and sponsored by company’s such as   Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, Ericsson, Vodafone, T-Mobile.

.Tv

.tv is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the islands of Tuvalu. Its intended use is for all entities related to Tuvalu, whereas it’s promoted commercially for television/video sites. Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name “.tv” for $50 million in royalties over a 12-year period. It can be registered for any purpose by anyone.

.Me

The ‘.me’ TLD is yet again a country code top level domain (ccTLD) introduced in 2007 for Montenegro. This domain extension is being promoted adequately for its global use, and become more like a personal name space. It’s being marketed on the Web by the registrars as ‘.ME domains for registration by anyone’.

. Cc

A top level domain for Cocos Islands, Australia. It was introduced in 1997, and administered by VeriSign as the ‘the next .com’. This domain extension is put to different assortment of sites, some of them especially referring to Cocos Islands. The .cc domain is also preferred by many churches and Christian organizations as “CC” also happens to be the acronym for “Christian Church.”

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