So often I see business owners frustrated by not being able to obtain the domain name they want for their company. Domain names are, in my opinion, more important today than even a phone number. In the world wide web there can be only one domain name onto itself. So if someone across the globe has the same business name as you and purchased it before you did , well, you have no choice but to settle for something else. The simple answer is, if you want to be found on the web, your domain name matters.

The right place to start is to research online for available .com or .ca domain names from a site like ABADomains.com or one of the hundreds of other domain name registrars. Certain extensions such as .tv and .vs are now in the game and range in the $20 to $40 range for a year registration. I still recommend the trusty .com's and .ca's

So how do you decide? I suggest following these steps to get the name you need for your business:

1. First pick the right company and matching domain name. The names don't have to match, but it sure makes branding and recognition easier if they are at least similar. Starting and naming a company today is a world-wide decision.
2. Register the name and related names, Registration of the domain name is easy and simple through most hosting sites, if nobody already owns it. It's a good idea to also buy more names with spellings and suffixes that are close to your primary address, or that could be confused with it. It isn't necessary but it can't hurt either.
3. Use a clever domain name related to the services you offer.
4. Maybe the owner will sell. With 150 million names already in use, chances are someone else may already own your favourite. First you have to find the current owner, using Whois search engines, or other look-up functions available on the net.... You just never know!

Already own your domain?

First, congratulations on realizing the value of a domain for your business, but here are some things to consider.

Are you holding the keys to your domain name? If your website is set up under your domain name, you must own it right? Well, not necessarily...

Imagine the following scenario: You hired a web designer to get your business on the web. Two years go by, and while your business grew, your website stayed the same. Time to upgrade! You go out and hire another web designer and you soon find out the bad news: You don't own your domain name! It was registered two years ago by your first web designer, under his own account . Now your new web designer can't make the changes needed to launch the new site. What can you do?

I have seen this happen quite frequently to small business owners who hire an individual web designer, friend of the family, etc. These same business owners are usually not the most internet savvy individuals, and are either not concerned with details of, or simply too busy running their business to worry how websites and domains work, they just want it done! As a result they naturally turn everything over to the web designer including registration of the domain name. And since its quicker and easier for web designers to purchase the domain under their account, rather than creating a new account for the actual business owner, they also end up being the legal owner of the domain name.

So, the big question is: How do you look up the domain's ownership information?

It's actually really simple:

1. Visit a WHOIS Database website.
2. Type in your domain name.
3. Click GO or Submit.

The ownership information will be there.

Now I like to imagine most companies are honourable and would gladly give you access to your domain if you ever needed it. At Atlantic Business Alliance (PEILOCAL/NSLOCAL) we manage the ownership with the understanding that the domain belongs to the member and will gladly be transferred if requested.

The experience I see business owners going through time and time again isn't always that smooth. Sometimes the company is no longer in operation. Sometimes the developer is resistant to change ownership etc.

Hopefully you will not find yourself in that position. If you decide you want to transfer your domain the actual transfer process is fairly simple and mainly consists of you confirming and then accepting the transfer. Sometimes you will have to wait up to 5 days for the transfer to finalize.

In some unfortunate cases a domain dispute could cost you a trip to an attorney's office if your domain is being held hostage by the initial web designer. It can get even more complicated if the individual that registered your name is nowhere to be found.; or in the case of a company, it closed its doors and went out of business. You don't want to find yourself in these situations.

Often when I bring up domains to business owners they simply are not sure who owns the domain. Now may be a great time to find out .

Catherine Arsenault

Atlantic Business Alliance ..

proud to promote local on PEILOCAL.COM and NSLOCAL.CA