Good Domain Names By Clare Lawrence 13th September 2003 Clare is the CEO of Discount Domains Ltd a leading UK domain registrar No matter what domain name you buy its unlikely to be worth $ millions straight away, but with some careful though and preparation you can maximise your domain names potential. Using hyphens Almost every word in the dictionary has been registered already so its more than likely that you will have to register a combination of words. Should you buy a domain name with a hypen in it? Generally speaking the answer is no. There are several reasons why not. Describing a domain name with hyphens can be awkward. Customers have a habit of forgetting the hyphen and typing in the wrong URL. It’s a misconception that hyphens improve search engine rankings, the leading search engines now concentrate on content and pay only limited attention to the URL itself. Consider a ccTLD There is no evidence that Country Code Top level domains (ccTLD’s) are treated differently by Search Engines, though there can be advantages and disadavantages if your business is regional Submitting your domain to search engines Once you have configured your domain to point to your Web site, you will need to ensure that search engines are aware of it. If they aren't, your site will receive very few visitors - even if you have managed to find a memorable, snappy domain name. This can be achieved by either directly submiting your URL to the search engines through using a submission service such as the free submission service on our site . Free submissions Please be careful when using automated submission tools as the Search engine are penalising sites submitted in this way. Ours is manual for this very reason. Or by linking your site to others, this is the preferred way for search engine to “discover new sites”. Ensuring you own your domain Just because you buy a domain name doesn't mean you own it. Some less reputable suppliers register domain names in their own name. You can see who owns a domain name by using a lookup call a WHOIS search e.g WHOIS If you look at the registrant details the name here is the legal owner. For example if you enter discountdomainsuk.com you will see the legal owner is us – Discount Domains Ltd Selling your domain name Is your domain name near to expiry? Don't let it lapse without offering it for sale first, there are lots of good sites who only charge if your domain sells. You might be pleasantly surprised, domain names have fetched a $1 million before now!