Finding Good Domain Names
One of the biggest challenges facing web entrepreneurs is coming up with a good domain name. Trying to register a short, dictionary word or brandable name is just about impossible. In November 2007, the last 4 character .com domain name was registered which means there are no 1, 2, 3 or 4 character .com domains left to register. There are also no one word dictionary names. As I am sure you know, .com domain names are in higher demand than their .net, .org, .biz and .us counterparts. If you’ve spent hours at GoDaddy searching for name after name, don’t despair - there is still hope. I’ll outline a few options you can pursue for finding a great domain name (although you may not be able to get it for $9.99). The right domain name will be the cornerstone of your online presence - it should be memorable, easy to spell and accurately reflect your products or service.
1. Create a list of individual words that describe your business. If you are an auto mechanic, your list might be: cars, car, auto, shop, garage, mechanic, automobile…you get the picture. Now take that list over to sites like Dotomator, Make Words, and NameBoy - these sites will take your list and create every possible combination of the words. You can then take the results and paste them into any bulk registration tool (I prefer GoDaddy) and see if any are available for registration. If none are available, proceed to step 2…
2. So, it sounds like you are in a business that has a lot of competition. That is a good and a bad thing - the good is that there are obviously a lot of people demanding your product or service, the bad is that you are going to have to work a little harder (or pay a little more) for a quality domain name. It’s time to check the secondary market. The secondary market (or After Market) is where you can go to buy domain names that are already registered by people just like you.
- If you know of a domain that you like but it is registered, go to the actual site and see if the owner is doing anything with it. If not, contact them and see if they would be willing to sell it to you. To get the owners contact information, go to Domaintools.com and enter the domain name in the “whois lookup” box. It will then give you all the information related to the domain including contact info, registrar, expiration date, etc. Send the owner a friendly email telling him/her your intentions with the domain and ask if they would be willing to sell it and for what price.
- Head over to NamePros, a message board devoted to domain names. Create an account and post what kind of domain name you are looking for in their “Domains Wanted” section. There are a lot of helpful people there that can guide you to some great domains.
- Visit the big commercial after market sites like Sedo, Afternic, NameJet, BuyDomains, GoDaddy and Moniker. Take a look and see if they are selling any domains that you are interested in. If so, create an account with them and read up on how to proceed with a sale. Keep in mind, domains here will cost you anywhere from $50 to several thousand so make sure it is perfect before you commit.
- Take a look at the available domain names blog. They produce a great list every few days of available domain names. You might get lucky and find one there.
If you are still at a loss as to how to find a good domain, or if you’ve found a good domain but don’t know how to proceed, contact us.
How To Create A Favorites Icon (favicon.ico)
You may have noticed a small image in the URL bar of your browser when visiting certain websites. This image also appears in tabbed browsing and favorites
menus. You may have even noticed file not found errors in your web logs for a file named favicon.ico. This file is called a favorites icon, and it is meant to be a visual way of quickly identifying a site in a list. It is really easy to create and is a quick way to improve your site’s branding.
In the image to the right, you’ll see a drop down menu from a browser with sites that have Favorite Icons. Google has a small “G” while Red Bull has a small bull. If the browser you are using right now to read this uses favicons, you should see an acorn image.
Lets get started. First, you need an image. It should be square and can be any size to start (it will shrink down to 16 x 16 later). It should be very simple since this image is going to be very small. The more complex the image is, the less likely visitors will be able to distinguish what it is.
Now take your image and go over to Favicon Generator. Simply follow the steps there, upload the resulting favicon.ico file to your root directory and you’re done! Note: They recommend you put a line of html code in the head section of every page to tell browsers there is favicon file but I’ve found it isn’t necessary, some browsers will eventually find it on their own. If you can make the change easily, it will definitely help speed up the display of your icon (Simply add <link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”/favicon.ico” > in the head section of your site.
Welcome to Acorn Edge
Welcome to Acorn Edge.