Domain name

[jamesray50]

How many years do you register your domain name for? The name I originally wanted was already taken so I added the dash between each word: top-notch-bookkeeping. Now the domain is up for auction on GoDaddy (topnotchbookkeeping) without the dashes. The auction is up in two days and I suppose if no one bids on it then it will be for sale. Would it be worth if for me to buy that domain?

[Spider]

Depending on the amount, I would definitely say, yes, but only if it is the .com

I think, too, it would be worth paying a little extra to buy it in auction. It is too easy for someone to secure it before you, once it is available for registering.

[Business Attorney]

I would definitely say yes. While you can register a domain for $10, even if you had to pay a couple of hundred dollars, think of how little that really is compared to the time and effort you have already put into your website.

Conventional wisdom is that many people will leave out the hyphens. Whether that is true or not, why take a chance when you can pick up the name without the hyphens?

[billbenson]

A couple of thoughts on domain names. One is branding which would make topnotchbookkeeping a good choice. It's pretty long though. Remember with the domain you will probably want to use it for email addresses. joellen @ topnotchbookkeeping.com is a lot of typing and prone to misspellings. From an email standpoint hyphens are hard to type and may create errors. Have you thought about something like TNbookkeeping? Remember domain names aren't case sensative so you can change that around as you see fit.

Another thing to think about in a domain name is SEO value. A domain name with keywords in it will frequently help SEO. The only keyword in topnotchbookkeeping is bookkeeping. If your target market is small businesses (I'm only using this as an example), SmallBusinessBookkeeping could be a good choice. To long again, but you get the idea. There was a time that separating the keywords with a hyphen in a domain helped google figure out the site keywords. That's probably not necessary today, but something to consider.

Of course you don't have to use your main site domain for email and it doesn't need to match your company name. I have a keyword rich domain and it doesn't have anything to do with my company name. For the way I market my products the keyword rich domain is more important than branding. In fact I do zero branding. It's just one business model that works for me.

Also you will see people register multiple domains and redirect them to the main domain. You might want to register topnotchbookkeeping .com, .net, .us and top-notch-bookkeeping.com and redirect some or all to your main site. This might be done for branding reasons or to keep competitors from taking your name and registering a .net with it for example.

There have been instances where domains that you search for are registered by domain name squatters the next day. If you see a domain you like its usually best to go ahead and register it. If you don't use it, you only lost $10.

Consider using private registration for domains you register as well. Email harvesters will look at your whois information and send you both mail and email spam or scams with this information. If you keep it private, they can't do that.

Just a few things to think about...

[Harold Mansfield]

If the price is not too astronomical, I would. Funny how domains that are similar to ones you've already registered mysteriously all of a sudden come up for auction.

[Spider]

Following on from what Bill has said - you don't only need one domain - you can use several for your business.

If you can get topnotchbookkeeping you can keep the top-notch-bookkeeping and forward one to the other = one website, two addresses. Set up e-mail for both of them and forward them both to a third e-mail address that is easier to type but less useful as a URL.

I just checked and topnbk .com is available. Look how short and easy to type that can be -- je @ topnbk .com That's a terrific e-mail address.

[jamesray50]

I just placed a bid on topnotchbookkeeping.com for $12. Only 3 people have even looked at it. The auction doesn't end for a couple more days, but I think I have a good chance of getting it. I have no idea how to forward one domain to the other. I checked the whois on the website a while back and it was owned by a lady in Canada. It was registered a year ago. I guess her business just didn't do any good. Of course mine is going to do better. As for shortening my email address, I hadn't condsired that because I figured most people just clicked on the email link rather than typed in the email address, so it wouldn't make any difference how long it was. Am I wrong?

[vangogh]

On your first question of how long to register a domain I usually register most of mine for a year or two and then keep renewing. There's no reason why though. You can register them as long or short as you like.

You already bid on the non dash domain, but I was going to say you should. You could buy up as many domains as you want around your brand. A domain is relatively inexpensive after all. I wouldn't register every similar domain, but owning .com, .net, and .org might make sense. I do think the non-dash version will be better as people won't have to remember to include the dashes. Had your site been online awhile I might say to stick with what you have, but I think it's relatively new so it wouldn't be too hard to switch to a new domain. If you do decide to switch domains know there are some issues with search engines as well as people not knowing where you moved to. There are ways to deal with that so if you get to the point where you have another domain and want to switch everything to it ask the question of how here and we can walk you through what you need to do.

[Spider]

If this is an eBay type auction (and even if it's not, I suppose) know that some people will wait to the very last minute to bid. If this were eBay, I would consider 3 bids two days ahead of close to be indicative of some interest.

Here's what I would do if I really, really wanted this domain name--

1. I would not bid at all until the very last minute.

2. If the rules were like eBay - where the bid increments are set and the winning bid is always that increment over the next highest bid - I would bid very high during the last 15 seconds.

Here's how this works on Ebay (or did the last time I bid for anything)--

a) If the bidding has reached $10, let's say, and the bid increments are $1. That means you would be required to bid not less than $11. You bid $11 and the next bidder must bid at least $12.

b) If you were to bid $20 in the above scenerio, the site would show your bid as $11 ($10 plus the $1 increment)

c) Another bidder comes along and bids $12 (against your showing $11 bid)

d) But you have $20 on this, so the system automatically puts you ahead at a bid of $13

e) the other fellow must bid again - $14. Again the system ups the display to $15 latest bid - that's your automatic bid.

f) Every bid under the $20 you have staked gets beaten by you until the bidding reaches $20 and the autiomatic bidding stops for you.

g) suppose the time runs out and the other bidder is the last actual bid at $18. You still get it because your earlier bid of $20 is higher and you get the item for $19 - his $18 plus the $1 increment.

But all of that took time and the other bidder might have gone on and beaten you but he ran out of time.

So, if you really, really want this domain name, and you are highest bid right now at $20, I would expect there to be at least one other person waiting in the wings until the auction reaches deadline. He will come in at the last minute and take it from you with a last-second higher bid, giving you no time to retalliate with a higher bid.

How do you counter this?

Decide what the highest amount you would be prepared to pay for this domain name. If this was me, I would consider having the unhyphenated domain name would be worth $500. If someone had it up for sale for $500, I would think it worth it to you in the long run. But suppose you wouldn't spend $500 if it was for sale, and suppose you would pay $250 if it were for sale.

Log on to this auction at least 15 minutes before the closing time.

Watch and wait. Make sure your computer is all set up ready so you can make a bid with only seconds to spare. Pull up the bidding form and have it ready, with the full amount you are prepared to pay entered and whatever else, so all you have to do it hit the 'Enter' key.

Then, no matter what the bidding is (unless it has already passed your $250 limit) hit the Enter key at 10 seconds to go. If the bidding has reached $45 bid $250. If it has reached $100, bid $250. Whatever the highest bid is , bid your $250.

If the you beat a $150 bid and the increments were $5, you will get the domain for $155, even though you bid $250. (Unless, of course, he is playing the same game and has a bid in for $300 in which case he beats you anyway, but now he has to pay $255 for it. If he had a bid in for $200, your $250 beats his $200 but you have to pay $205. Get it?)

If that isn't clear, let me know and I'll try again. Just make sure that the bidding at THIS auction functions as I descrbed above.

Have fun!

[jamesray50]

I've bid on ebay and other auction sites before and have entered auto bids with the highest amount I would pay, then would check back and see that I had been outbid, and would auto bid a higher amount, and bid again. I didn't even see where I could enter an auto bid, so I don't even know if anyone else has bid on it. It just said I had to bid starting at $12. I know when I have done the auto bid if it was lower than another auto bid I would get a message saying so. Maybe I'll go back and see if there is a way to enter an auto bid. But I am unemployed right now and cannot afford to pay an arm and a leg for the domain. I couldn't believe how expensive some of the names were going for. Some of them were in the thousands of dollars!