NFIB

Playing the Dot Name Game
04/ 15/ 2002

Ready to be sovereign over your own Web domain? First you have to stake your claim, a feat that may be both easier and harder than you expect.

The easy part is registering a domain name. Today, it can all be done online with a credit card, a few keystrokes, and a click to submit. The harder task is finding a good name, preferably something short and memorable, that hasn't already been taken. If you're lucky, your company name may be perfect-and available. But if it's not, you may be in for a shock.

The demand for dotcom names has spawned an Internet land rush. Cybersquatters have snapped up thousands of names and catchy phrases in hopes of selling them to cash-flush businesses. You can buy registered names from resellers such as GreatDomains.com, whose recent inventory included "weightloss.com" ($1.3 million) and "maidservices.com" ($50,000).

If your pockets aren't that deep, don't despair. There's good news on the horizon. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which oversees the domain name system, announced last fall that it plans to roll out seven new top-level domain names (TLDs) by this summer. A TLD is the two- or three-letters that come after the dot in every domain name.

The most common TLDs are:
"com" (for businesses)
"org" (for nonprofits)
"net" (for networks)
"edu" (for schools)
"gov" (for government agencies)

Coming soon may be the "unrestricted commercial" suffixes "biz" and "info" and five "restricted" suffixes including "pro" for professionals, such as lawyers and doctors; "museum" for museums; "aero" for airlines; "coop" for cooperatives worldwide; and "name" for registering individual's names.

Locking in your domain name

To begin your quest for a domain name, visit ICANN's Web site at http://www.icann.org and search the "Who is" Registry to find out if the name you want is available. If it is, simply click over to a registrar-ICANN provides links to accredited registrar's sites-and reserve your domain name. You can also go to http://www.register.com to be walked through the name registration process. If the name you want is unavailable, several registrars have search engines that suggest alternative names. For example, a search for my last name at Network Solutions revealed "klinck.com" was taken, but I could register "myklinck.com" or "klinckonline.com."

Once you've settled on a name, you can complete the registration online. Take note: If you've already selected an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to host your Web site, you'll need to obtain its primary and secondary IP addresses. These are the underlying numeric addresses computers use to recognize one another.

Dollars and cents

The cost of registering an available name varies, but generally runs about $25 - $35 a year for a single registration. Most registrars, however, offer a range of services that can add to your annual bill. For example, if you want corresponding email addresses or Web hosting, expect to pay extra. Some also offers discounts, so it pays to shop around.

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This article originally appeared in the January/February 2001 issue of MyBusiness Magazine, NFIB's member magazine.

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