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Acaeum Donations Program: Domain Name Questions
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The Collector's Trove
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Post Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:19 am 
 

Howdy All,


Trying to get set up with the Acaeum donations program but I'm a newbie at domain names.

Any suggestions on domain name registration? What extension should be used, .com, .net, .biz, or .info? Are hyphens a no-no in a domain name? I know they are allowed but are they problematic when someone is searching for your web site?

Any other advice?

Many thanks!


Futures Bright,

Paul


The Collector's Trove The online auction house that features the collections of game designers and artists.
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FoulFoot
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Post Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 8:21 am 
 

My two cents:

1) .com is really the way to go, unless you're a non-profit, in which case use .org.  .com technically means "commercial", but nobody really cares about that.  If you're looking for the website of Best Buy, you naturally type in "bestbuy.com".  .biz, .info, .uk, etc are all "second tier" domain extensions and are difficult for people to remember.  Use them only if you really must have an English-language word as your domain name, like "collector".  "collector.com" probably was registered fifteen years ago; "collector.biz.us" is probably still available.  :)

2) There are several services that you can use to check domain name availability.  My own web host, HostForWeb, has a service at http://www.hfwdomains.com/domains/Default.asp? (look for the box at the top right).  To register a domain, I recommend 1and1.com.  They're about the cheapest (you shouldn't pay a dollar more than you have to).

3) Hyphens are okay (search engines don't care), but the casual visitor looking for your website and typing from memory will *never* remember them.  What's worse is if the non-hyphenated version of your domain name actually goes to another web page.  That guy will get a significant percentage of your traffic.

Foul
  

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Theleb
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Post Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:10 pm 
 

Everything Foul said.  I'd steer clear of the hyphens because people forget them and they don't roll off the tongue well when you have to say:
great hyphen games dot com

For web hosts, about the cheapest and best out there is nearlyfreespeech.net which charges only for the bandwidth you use.  And unless you catch lightning in a bottle and become a super popular site, you'll pay next to nothing every month for your hosting fees.  They also do domain registration about as cheap as 1and1.
  

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Mars
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Post Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:32 pm 
 

I own a few domains.  .com is probably the best way to go (even though most of mine are .ca (for Canada not California).

I would try to avoid hyphens if possible.
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deimos3428
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Post Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:22 pm 
 

The big question is, "what will you be using the domain for?"  If it's anything commercial you'll want .com, and no hyphens.  No question there.  Also, try to get as short a domain name as you can obtain.

If it's something lower key you can save money by going with a less-desirable domain name, in .ca, .org, .net, etc.  

Or you can avoid registering a domain name at all, and ask Foul for a subdomain.  Personally that was perfect for my needs, as I just wanted some online space to host a couple of family pictures and some files.  (And an online chat, as it turned out.)  I didn't need to register my own domain at all.  

deimos3428.acaeum.com is a mouthful to say, but not hard to remember if you're familiar with a) Me and b) The Acaeum.
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misterspock
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Post Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 9:43 pm 
 

I say go for as many hypens as possible:

www.t-h-e-c-o-l-l-e-c-t-o-r-s-t-r-o-v-e.com

or if you use one of the alternate Godaddy names, you can end up with

www.myfreeonlinecollectorstrovesite.com

Ok, I'll stop being a smartass now :lol:
  

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dbartman
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Post Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 11:26 pm 
 

Get www.acaeum.us before FoulFoot does.  Then he'll have to buy it off you! :)

Actually .us is a good one for US residents.  You can still get a lot of good domain names that would be taken elsewhere.
  

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misterspock
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Post Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 12:29 am 
 

Ok, here's another one ...

www.howdyfolks.com

It's a "premium domain" name through Godaddy .... for $2,788.00!
  
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