.ca Domain Names For Sale Copyright 2009 www.webtraits.com Author: Edward Edison Use the name people know you by. Don't abbreviate, unless the abbreviation is your company's trademark. Ask your co-workers, your customers, your friends, and your family what domain name they'd expect your company to have. Don't forget to include your domain name in your site's logo. And put your domain name on all company promotional materials such as business cards and stationary. Length Matters Conventional wisdom states that a good domain name is easy for customers to remember, easy to spell, and short. That said, it's increasingly difficult to secure short domain names among top level domain names such as .com, .net and ,org. In these cases (and you have 67 characters to choose from), it's preferable to choose a meaningful statement such as Lawreferralservice.com" or Hotelreservationservice.com," rather than lrs.com or hrs.com Give a Good Impression We all know that first impressions can be crucial, so choose your domain name carefully. Domain names often come without spaces, so pay careful attention to the total package. For example, PatternsExchange can look like patternsexchange. Select Alternate Names If your first domain name choice is not available, you can check the "whois" information box for the domain name, contact the person listed, and see if they're willing to sell it. If they want to sell, they will likely charge more than the $24.95 registration fee. An easier alternative is to register a variation of your first choice. For example, if your company name is Mrs Smith's Cookies, but mrssmithscookies.com and the more obvious cookies.com are registered, try adding a small letter such as "e" to indicate that it's an online business. Or add the word online. Or add your location to attract local customers: ecookies.com Cookiesonline.com CookiesNewYork.com Alternatively, try registering a local domain name: mrsmithscookies.ca mrsmithscookies.us Use a little creativity, and you may find your alternative beats your original choice. Once you've got a list of alternatives for your online business, test them with your friends and colleagues to see which ones they like best. Make sure these names can be easily pronounced and spelled by your test audience. Then, rank them in order of popularity. Consider Spelling Mistakes Consider mistakes people will make when typing your web site address and how your domain name sounds when you have to read it over the phone to a customer. Explaining special characters, abbreviations, and spelling is awkward and doesn't make good business sense. Will customers accidentally make spelling mistakes? Will they use the plural form of a word instead of the singular form, or visa versa? Make a list of possible mistakes, and register additional domain names that incorporate these mistakes. continued on next page Buyers of .ca domain names must meet cira.ca guidelines All dollar amounts are in U.S. $ All sales through sedo.com Webtraits.com domain name is for sale. Only $699.00