A good domain name adds credibility to your company but it also helps people remember you AND your website address. Would you rather do business with facemelter@yahoo.com or john@yourgraph.com? I think John sounds more professional, don’t you?

Here are a few fast rules when purchasing a domain name:

1. Get it as close to your company name or your own name as possible. Get rid of all confusion and make sure people know who they are dealing with. After purchasing your name, set up your email account also.

2. Spell it correctly. I wonder how many people go to flicker.com rather than flickr.com? Make sure your website can be found!

3. Make it easy to type. You only have a few minutes to tell people about yourself, wasting time spelling out your domain name is not professional.

4. Make it easy to remember. “Hi, I’m Tammy, find me at WebServicesPeoria.com.”

5. Shorter is better. If your company is a long complicated name, try to use an acronym for your website. Caterpillar Tractor Company is cat.com

6. Avoid copyright infringement. Think it through! I purchased MyPayPalCart.com to promote my PayPal Shopping carts. PayPal contacted me right away to make sure I knew I couldn’t use the domain name. I wondered why it was available. I was out a little money but now know to think about my purchase rather than jumping in.

7. Avoid numbers and letters that sounds like words. WeWork4u.com is not the same as WeWorkForYou.com. So you will explain your domain name as “we, work, the number 4, the letter U dot com”. That’s just too confusing.

Purchase your domain name by clicking here

Be proactive when purchasing a domain name. If you already have a company even if you’re not ready for website, get that company domain name. The competition has been known to purchase domain names of their competitors. This is legal for them to do, so don’t drag your feet when you’re purchasing a domain name.

Learn more at www.WebServicesInc.net

Tammy Finch is a well-known website designer and social media consultant from East Peoria, IL, and the founder of Web Services, Inc. She has more than 14 years of experience building websites and teaching clients to use the Internet as a business tool.

Ms. Finch has given numerous talks on the power of sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and specifically how to use them to grow sales, deepen customer relationships, and improve recruiting. You can reach her at

Web Services, Inc PO Box 2909, East Peoria, IL. www.WebServicesInc.net