As important as the name of a business is, the domain name used by the business is just as important. A domain name is a road map for customers to "Find" your products, information and services of your business online.

A domain name Must be Clear, to the point and Make Sense!

A thousand companies can be called "World Services", but only ONE can own WorldServices.com . That alone makes that domain name valuable, since any one of those 1,000 companies should want that domain name. That’s if they "Get It" and understand how important a domain name is.

Point # 1, Only one person can own a domain name!

It has become natural for people to assume that a companies name is matched by the exact term for it’s domain name and ending in ".com". Since .com is known as "King", there is reason for this. Billions and Billions of marketing dollars have been spent promoting .com!

Point # 2, Why reinvent the wheel? .com makes sense 9 times out of 10. Stick with .com domain names!

When you see a Sears commercial on TV, it has become natural to simply type in Sears.com when you jump on the net to check out a product or service. Even if Sears.com is not displayed in the ad. It Just Makes Sense….

When you see a print ad in a magazine for Bobbleheads and later in the day you decide to check out some Bobblehead dolls online, doesn’t it Just Make Sense to go to Bobbleheads.com? It Does! Why go to a search engine and search for something you already know what you are looking for?

Speaking of Search Engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN). The way they work is to provide the most Relevent Content to match a customers search term. If the customers search term happens to be "Bobbleheads" the search engines searches the net for the most relevent content related to bobbleheads. The search engines "look" at the domain name during this process and compare the content on the site. The more relevent the domain name and content on the site match, the higher up on the returns Your Site is displayed. Everybodies goal is to be #1 listed in search engines and this can happen if you match the search term with your domain and have relevent content.

Point # 3, Make Clear Sense with your domain name. Match your Company Name, Product Name or Highly Searched terms Exactly! The higher search volume for a specific term, the more valuable the domain name will be.

Now it’s fun when you name a company. A lot of time and effort can go into this, but the fact is, it’s very likely somebody thought of your "name" Way Before you did. This also goes back to the 1,000 companies that are named the same in point # 1. Keep in mind that www stands for World Wide Web. The internet is world wide, and with Billions of online users it is very likely somebody may own this name you come up with and has already matched it with their .com domain name.

At this point you may feel you must move on to another name because it’s already owned? Not always! Domain Names are assets and very similar to Real Estate on Main St. Just because you drive past a house or commercial property doesn’t mean the owner might not be interested in selling. Some businesses go out of business, need to free up some assets etc. Many times, already owned domain names are for sale! For domain names, the property records is a system called whois. Whois.sc is a source you can use for free to find out who owns a specific domain name. You will be able to obtain a phone number and or email address to contact the owner and try and strike a deal.

Point # 4, All the good ones may be gone, but you can still purchase a pre-owned domain name just like other property!

Now that you are aware that you might be able to purchase a domain name that is already owned by somebody, the next question comes to "what’s the domain name worth"? Anything that is One Of A Kind is not always cheap. Some domain names can cost a couple hundred dollars and some cost several millions. The average sale price is $2,000 to $5,000. The value comes to a couple things. Keeping in mind that the internet is World Wide, search volume is very important. The search volume will tell how in-demand a specific term is. If the domain name that you are purchasing is HomeLoan.com because your mortgage company wants to match what your customers (525 people per day search for this term btw) are looking for (if this is the case, your company "Gets It" and understands the internet) you would value the domain name based on advertising costs per visitor and it’s search volume.

This search volume leads to traffic in two ways. Direct Navigation, which are the people who simply type in HomeLoan.com into their address bar and secondly the people that search for the exact term. In order to get the amount of traffic HomeLoan.com would cost you X amount to advertise for per month. Add the fact of the specific, clear and to the point term and no potential legal issues, and you have a high dollar price tag.

Now, HomeLoan.com is likely one of the better online properties but you get my point. Even with search volume/ advertising costs… each owner may hold their own value into this domain name. It is One of a kind and is very likely once it’s sold, will not be for sale again.

Point # 5, All good things cost money. Your domain name speaks Extreme Volumes. Your domain name can show You Mean Business. Your domain name can allow you to have "Traffic in your door from day one"!

So your budget doesn’t match up with what the owner of the domain name that you want/need. What next? If you have to settle for a different domain, shorter isn’t always better. Adding a Number to words, or abbreviation is not wise. People are lazy and not always the brightest. Clear, to the point and Just Makes Sense is very important!

At this point, you may want to focus on something more specific. Instead of HomeLoan.com, you may consider HomeLoan.net . Doing this, expect to lose traffic to the "Natural" .com domain. You may want to focus on NewHomeLoans.com. You may want to consider starting a new brand like eLoans.com did. No matter what you decide it is vital to be Clear, own the .com and Just Make Sense!

Point # 6, Be VERY clear with your domain name. When you decide on buying a domain name, ask 5 people if it Makes Sense! Will it look good and be very clear in Print Ads. Will it be short, clear and to the point for TV and Radio ads. Remember, this is your business and a lot of people will see this domain. This is your chance to show them You Mean Business from the start!

When something has Demand and is One Of A Kind, it’s an asset. Domain Names are an asset. The more that people are interested in a term and your domain name happens to match this term Exactly, your asset is Gaining Value. If you pay $10,000 for one print ad, that money is Gone. You can not sell that print ad to somebody. You buy a domain name, it’s yours. If you wish to sell this asset within a year or even 10 years down the road.. You Can!

Point # 7, Domain Names are Assets. They can be resold! They work 24-7, 365 days of the year! Domain Names are Unique!