Ecommerce 101

Everything You Need to Know to Get Your Online Store to be Sccessful

 

Author: Jim Conners (Google+)

Rating: 10.0

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Domain Names

On the Internet your domain name is the equivalent to the big sign on the front of a retail store. It's the first thing your potential customers see. It also is your brand as it is what a potential customer is most likely to remember even more then your website name. Choosing a name is important and is not always easy.

.com vs .net .vs .biz vs ...

Strictly speaking all Top Level Domains (TLD) are created equal. A .com has no real advantage over .net or .biz. They all work the same. Technically speaking an ecommerce store should have a .com TLD as .com is short for "commercial" is supposed to indicate a website is a commercial website. However, you are not restricted to this convention and can choose any TLD you want including .org. However, it the minds of most netziens .com is the most widely known and anticipated TLD. Websites using anything other then .com may be looked at as a lesser website. In general, if you have the opportunity to secure a .com domain name do so.

Hyphens vs No Hyphens

Nowadays it is hard to find a good domain name, especially with a .com TLD, as it seems every dictionary word, or combination of dictionary words, is already taken. One possible solution is to use a hyphen in between words. For example instead of "greatshoes.com" you could register "great-shoes.com". Functionally there is no difference between the two but in practice there is a difference. The domain name without the hyphen is more likely to be remembered, and tried, by your potential customers. A domain name with a hyphen should only be chosen if you have the opportunity to get a great domain name that is not available without the hyphen.

Where to Register Your Domain Name

Lots of registrars offer the ability to register domain names. Although there are a variety of services made available by the various registrars they all offer the same basic functionality that you will need to manage your domain names. In general, you want a registrar that is reliable and affordable. Goddady.com and Enom.com are two reliable registrars that offer good pricing for their domains. They also offer easy-to-use control panel;s for managing your domain names.

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