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August 6th 1999
THE IMPORTANCE OF A DOMAIN NAME
Your domain name is your identity on the internet.
i.e. : paris.com
With your domain name, people find you easily and quickly on the internet.
Your domain name is the priviledged location on which you will build your website, create or develop your company. You may also use it to create your e-mail address.
i.e. : a netsurfer reaches your website by typing www.paris.com. He writes you at the following address : you@paris.com
No matter if you plan to develop a website or not, the simple necessity of protecting your company’s interests makes it essential to register its domain name(s).
By having registered dozens of domain names, the company Procter and Gamble - one of the leaders when it comes to marketing and public relations - has rapidly positioned itself on the internet. Their domain names either correspond to names of products or to generic names covering the different business sectors of the company. This way, Procter and Gamble considers all alternatives and multiplies the chances of access to its websites. And as if they were drained through a funnel, most of these domain names lead to a same website. i.e. : pg.com, nails.com, monsavon.com, hair-care.com, laundry.com, disinfect.com, biactol.com, headache.com, oldspice.com, hugo.com, tide.com, covergirl.com, vidalsassoon.com, olean.com, etc.
By selecting your domain name(s), you allow your company to exist to last on the internet.
Domain names which are relevant, significant, appropriate to your business sector and easy to remember are a guarantee that many people will visit your website and will allow you to avoid high public relations costs.
No matter your business sector or the size of your company, the internet - via your domain name(s) - will give you the opportunity to be known on your street, in your village, your city, your country and all over the world if such is your ambition.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE .COM EXTENSION
Thus, the domain name is THE priority in electronic business as location is THE priority in traditional business. Today, some companies make sure the corresponding domain name is still available (cosmetics, perfumes, movies, company names, etc.) even before they choose the name of a product.
Given without restraint of territorial belonging, the .com extension is and will remain the historical reference to business on the internet. It generates an increasing number of consumer netsurfers daily.
Classification of extensions according to international authorities (top level domains) :
1/ .com
2/ .net
3/ .org
4/ extension by country : .us, .uk, .fr, .to, .nu, etc... 183 options !
The key to success in electronic business is the capitalization on the quality of domain name(s).
Electronic business follows the same principles than traditional business :
Rule #1 = quality of the location / quality of the domain name(s)
Rule #2 = quality of welcome, service, goods, etc, / quality of website (graphic interface, speed and content).
PRIORITY OF THE .COM EXTENSION IN THE LOCATION TOOL BARS
To reach a website on the internet, the netsurfer uses a browser. Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Explorer are the 2 main browsers.
The browser offers a navigation tool bar where the netsurfer types in the address of the website he wishes to visit.
i.e. : www.paris.com
With Netscape Navigatoir 2 and over or with Microsoft Explorer 4 and over, it isn’t necessary to type in http://www. and .com. You just need to type in the name and the software automatically searches for the website. i.e. : to access to www.paris.com, you just need to type in paris. This fact confirms all the more the capital value of the domain name, and of the .com extension in particular.
When he doesn’t have a specific address for the website he wishes to visit, the netsurfer has several possibilities :
- If the netsurfer has time - student or researcher - he uses search engines the same way one goes to a library. These search engines provide him with hundreds if not thousands of responses.
- On the other hand, if the netsurfer wishes to get prompt responses, he opts for the “navigation tool bar short cut” by typing in generic or specific requests.
i.e. : I would like to buy a compact disc and I do not have a specific address. I may type in “musics”, “reggae”, “music1” or “techno”, etc... depending on my search theme. I may also type in Bob Marley, Virgin, etc. The website I will access will be that of the company which has selected its domain name(s) at best, which has chosen them in terms of relevance, effectiveness and significance.
Nota bene : using the navigation tool bar, only type one word, several words without space(s), or several words punctuated with dashes. Otherwise, you will be automatically led to a search engine.
EXAMPLES
Type in :
shirtmakers : a worldwide business card with a generic name.
apple : an international brand.
toys : a worldwide site with a generic name.
trickortreat : an easy to remember name for a costume site.
THE PRICE OF A DOMAIN NAME
The domain name market has been existing for a few years. It is definitely ruled by the law of supply and demand. Domain names come from a natural resource : the vocabulary. And as vocabulary isn’t unlimited by definition, the demand increases every day for a supply which decreases (today, lots of domain names have become priceless). Nevertheless, an investment - even an expensive one - will allow you to avoid much more expensive public relations costs.
AUGUST 29th 1998 - 3,5 million dollars
is the amount Compaq - the owner of Altavista Search Engine - had to pay in order to buy back the domain name Altavista.com from the company Altavista Technologies.
Drugs.com was sold for $ 823,456 on the