The
Importance of Having Your Own Domain Name
by
Gary A. Campbell, gacWebSolutions
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I'm
often asked,"Is it really important to have my own domain name?" The
answer is "YES". If you launch your site with one of the many free web
hosting services, the only company that benefits is the web hosting company. The
last person to benefit is you. There are a number of reasons why having your own
domain name is a must:
The Name Will be Shorter and More Professional
When you have your own domain name, the address of your web site will be of the
form:
http://www.yourcompany.com
On
the other hand, if you put your site on one of the free servers, the address of
your web site will be something like:
http://www.freewebsites.com/~yourcompany/index.html
By
having your own domain name your site's address will appear more professional.
It will also be shorter and easier to remember.
It Will
Make a Better Impression
Having your own domain name will make a solid
impression and earn credibility with your audience. It will make your customers
comfortable. They'll feel that they are dealing with a large, established company.
You'll Have Multiple Email Aliases
When you have your domain name,
you can have multiple email aliases. That is, you can have multiple email accounts
that will take the form alias@yourcompany.com. This allows you to assign different
email aliases to different functions, all of them pointing to your actual email
address. For questions related to the products and services that you sell, you
can have an email address like sales@yourcompany.com. For questions related to
the newsletter that you publish, you can have an email address like editor@yourcompany.com.
For comments/suggestions about your web site, you can direct your customers to
feedback@yourcompany.com. Having different email addresses for different functions
not only makes it easier for you to filter your email, but also gives your customers
the impression that yours is a large, established company with whom it is safe
to do business.
You'll Get Better Search Engine Positioning
In evaluating sites and determining their ranking, many search engines (Google,
Yahoo!, etc.) assign a lot of importance to what appears on the home page of the
site's domain. Unfortunately, when you use one of the free hosting services, your
site's home page will not be the home page of the domain. Instead the search engine
will look at the home page of the free hosting service in determining what rank
to assign your site. As a result, your site will be at a significant disadvantage.
In the case of some of the really competitive keywords you may not have a chance
of being in the top 100 listings! Just think of the amount of traffic that you
will lose if this happens.
You'll be Eligible for More
Search Engines
When you submit your site to a search engine for consideration,
your site is put in a queue to have an automated software 'spider' visit your
site to assess its value and determine its position. Many search engines are now
refusing to direct their spiders to web sites that are hosted by the free web
hosts. This is true even though the search engine may say that your site has been
accepted for consideration.
When your site is hosted by one of the free
web hosts, you will find it nearly impossible to get it listed in a major directory
like Yahoo!. Although Yahoo! will never admit that it won't add a commercial site
which is hosted by one of the free web hosts, in practice, it will be a miracle
if you can get your site listed by Yahoo!. Listing your site with Yahoo! is difficult
enough even when you have your own domain. Don't make your task more difficult
than it needs to be.
If you don't currently have a domain
name, I hope I've convinced you that you need one. The small annual fee that you
pay for your own domain name pales in comparison to the benefits that you get.
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©
2004 gacWebSolutions
