Have You Got the Right Domain Name?

Domain name, web address, URL, they all refer to the same thing - it's the way people find your company on the internet. Just as homes and offices have a street address, so your website has a web address.

Your web address or domain name typically has several levels, separated by a dot. The right-most level is known as the top-level domain and is often represented by a country code, such as .nz. Within .nz, a range of second-level domains have been created for specific uses (eg. .co.nz for commercial users and .school.nz for schools). Some second-level domains are subject to moderation and have a restricted usage (eg. .govt.nz). Using Spiral as an example we see:
* third-level domain = spiral
* second-level domain = co
* top-level domain = nz

Third-level domains are managed in New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom on a 'first come, first served basis'. Australian domains are available only to registered Australian businesses, companies or ABN holders

How do I choose a domain name?
1. Choose the top-level domain based on your market and possibly your location

2. Choose the second-level domain based on your activities

• .co or .com for companies pursuing commercial aims
• .org for non-profit organisations
• .net for organisations directly related to the NZ Internet
• .school for pre-school, primary and secondary schools
• .maori for Māori people, groups, and organisations
• .ac for tertiary educational institutions

3. Choose a third level domain based on one or all of the following

• your company name eg spiral.co.nz
• the name of your product eg wondercap.co.nz
• an easy to remember abbreviation eg nzrab.org.nz
• something made up and memorable eg Ilovemydog.co.nz any combination of letters and numbers. You may also include a hyphen anywhere in the string, except the beginning or end.

What about the www?
The fourth-level domain is also known as a sub-domain and typically we see www as the sub-domain, as in

http://www.spiral.co.nz/ . A sub-domain might be set up for something like a forum or another major section to a website i.e. our mailRoom software website is http://www.mailroom.co.nz/ and the address for the application is http://email.mailroom.co.nz/ - no www necessary.

Other factors around trust will be in my next post.