Your URL is your brand both online and in more traditional channels.  Don’t believe me?  Look at this list of places where a business owner could use their URL.  In fact, where a small or large business should be including their URL.  Remember, customers will shop via the channel they choose.  If a prospect prefers to shop online, and you don’t include your URL in your marketing collateral – you’re going to lose the opportunity to turn that prospect into a customer.

Some people will remember your domain name before they remember your actual business name.  And, most prospects will remember a URL before they’ll memorize a phone number.  So make sure your URL purchase gets the right amount of attention.

List of business related items that should include your web address (i.e., domain name or URL):

• In your email address (the part after the “@”) – seriously, a yahoo, AOL, gmail, hotmail, etc email address isn’t professional.  If you’re serious about your business, use your domain as your email address (see – Free Google email address with domain).  Save your college email for personal items.
• List on your business cards
• On your company letterhead
• Prominently in marketing collateral like brochures and leaflets
• On the side of your business vehicles
• During your TV commercials (if it’s DRTV, list on the bottom of the ad for the majority of the ad)
• On the radio (make sure your domain name is memorable)
• In your signature on discussion forums (great for SEO too)
• Incorporated into your logo
• On your exihibition/tradeshow stand materials
• On billboards
• In magazine and newspaper ads
• In articles about your company
• In every incoming link pointing to your website
• On spec sheets
• In your email signature
• On your Facebook profile
• On lanyards, nametags and badges
• On newspaper inserts
• In your Yellow Pages listing
• On your company nameplate
• On your Twitter page
• On your Twitter background
• On flyers and handouts
• In classified ads
• On brochures and leaflets
• On direct mail
• On the membership page of your local chamber of commerce or industry group
• On gift certificates
• On stickers and decals
• On promotional items and giveaways
• In your voicemail message
• On your out-of-office autoresponder message
• On your fax headers and cover sheets
• On coupons and vouchers
• On your cheques
• On thank-you cards and greetings cards
• On corporate wear, or uniforms
• In the sidebar of your blog
• On your envelopes
• On receipts
• In presentations
• In the “watermark” on photos and videos
• Every time anyone explains how to find your company on the web
• On invoices
• On packing slips
• Within press releases
• In white papers, estimates and proposals
• On packaging and wrapping materials
• On carrier bags or other employee swag
• On PowerPoint presentation templates
• On packing slips and address labels

You made it all the way to the bottom of the list.  Good job.  Now go back to the top and put a check-mark by all the item you’re using.  Bullets missing checks?  Figure out how to incorporate.  Good luck.

I just did some URL address shopping. Why? Well, I just heard about the best deal on the internet right now for new cheap URL website names, and wanted to share the information. The company that’s selling the URLs is losing cash on every one their customers buy.

The cheap URL website name deal is from Register.com – the second oldest URL selling company in existance. This isn’t some start-up URL address regisitrar that you can’t trust and aren’t sure will be around a month from now.

Up until recently I have mainly used GoDaddy when buying URLs. I have over 200 URLs that I registerd at GoDaddy. GoDaddy used to be the cheapest place to buy a URL. Not any more. Register.com is, well if you use this coupon code to get domains for $5 per year – Reg5ab.

GoDaddy’s price for a .com domain on their website is $11.99, but it’s easy to find coupon codes to get the price down to $7.49. However, that’s still more than the $5/year Register.com is charging. I know $2.49 isn’t very much, but any savings counts when you’re running a small business or just starting a website.

So if you want to buy the chepest URL address, use coupon code – Reg5ab – now and save some money.  Register also has budget web hosting as well.

ICANN charges Register.com around ~$7.70 per .com URL, so they’re actually losing ~$2.70 on every URL they sell. So why would Register.com do this? Well, they want you to check out their other products like Register.com web hosting (which is actually good), Register.com SSL certificates, website building tools, etc. So it’s kind of like a grocery stores’ loss leader to get you in the store. Same concept.

Now go save some money with Register.com’s $5 cheap URL name discount deal.

In this economy, sometimes it’s hard to spend so much cash up front to buy web hosting a year at a time.

Or, you may have an idea for a website, but just aren’t sure if it will work.  You don’t want to risk a lot of money until you know you’ve got a winner.  Hey, that’s being a good businessman (or woman!).

But, it’s so hard to find a reputable web host that allows you to pay per month.  Almost all web hosts want their cash upfront!

That’s why we get this question a lot, “where can I find good, quality pay per month web hosting?”  My answer?  You asked the right person, because my favorite web host has a pay per month web hosting option.  And that web host is …

Hostgator! Check out Hostgator pay per month web hosting.

Hostgator has really good, affordable shared web hosting.  So good in fact, that they’re one of the fastest growing web hosts in the world.  They host millions of websites, and will do an excellent job hosting yours too – even if you pay them per month for their web hosting services instead of yearly.

Most web hosts are scared to let you pay monthly.  They want your money up front.  That way, if you don’t like their service and want to leave, they already have your hard earned cash.

Hostgator knows they have world class hosting and service.  They are excited to show you how good they are.  Hostgator is so confident in their web hosting that they are willing to let you sign-up for a web hosting account and pay monthly.

So what are you waiting for.  Get Hostgator web hosting now, and get that website up and running today. Just think how good you’ll feel when you see your new website up on the internet!

Month to Month Web Hosting. Pay Per Month Web Hosting Plan – How To Buy and Where.  Web hosting pay per month. Don’t have a lot of cash to start your website with?  No problem.  This awesome web host has a Pay Monthly Web Hosting Plan that fits your budget.  Learn more now! …

The .edu URL web addresses are run by the United States Department of Commerce. They are intended for accredited post secondary educational institutions in the U.S. only. Not every one can get a .edu URL name. The Department of Commerce has requirements for registering and using a .edu URL address.

Educause has been contracted by the US government to manage the operations of .edu URLs. Educase is a non-profit higher education association.

Not everyone can buy a .EDU web address.

The eligibility requirements to buy a .edu include the following: postsecondary institutions that are accredited by a regional or national accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education may obtain a .edu URL address. The institution has to be in the United States. Highschools are no longer allowed to buy .edu URL names.

Lookup available URL addresses on the Educause web site. The selected name must “reasonably represent the name of the Registrant” and should not be generic in nature.

Once you’ve found an available URL, you need to claim it by filling out Educause’s online request form. Provide institution name, as well as the accreditation agency, in order to prove eligibility. You will also be asked to provide administrative, technical and billing contact information and the location of your name servers.

Pay the $40 per year domain name registration fee once you’ve been approved to purchase URL.

How To Buy a .EDU URL Web Address

Oh man, the light bulb just went on.  You just had the perfect idea for a new online business or blog.  Now all you have to do is find that perfect URL address.  You know, the relevant URL name that matches what the site is about, but is still short and memorable.

Ya, we know.  Finding that great URL isn’t always that easy.

How to URL wants to help.  That’s why we’ve compiled this list of 10 tools to help you find the best URL to use for a website address.

You can thank us later.

Once you’ve found that perfect domain, check out web site hosting reviews to get the URL free as part of  a new web hosting package.  Or, if you’re going to go the WordPress blog route, get the best blog hosting provider.

1. DropDay:  Expired domains may have page rank or valuable existing traffic.  Check for expired URLs here.
2. Register.com:  Their “help me find a domain tool” is great for small businesses.  Enter some information about your business, and the tool will suggest relevant available domains.
3. DomainTyper: Along with providing URL namecheck they also provide page rank check.
4. DomBuddy: Use it to find available URL names for multiple extensions, use word lists, the dictionary or use web search results to generate creative URL names.
5. Dot-o-mator: Use Dot-o-mator to create URL name suggestions along with combinations.
6. Bust A Name: BustAName is a tool to help find URL names.
7. NameStation: Create random URL website addresses. Enter a keyword and try different search types for more name ideas
8. Nameboy: Nameboy has been called the ultimate URL address generator, website name generator and the best way to search URL names. URL name search to find a URL name and register URL names.
9. Go Daddy: GoDaddy auctions have some nice domains that a previous owner didn’t renew, or forgot to.  Their loss is your gain.
10. dnScoop: You can check URL names along with its current value, history & stats.

It’s no secret that economic times are tight, and it is very possible that no group is more deeply affected small business owners.

Every penny counts these days, and it is important that all investments have a significant return. So in this economy, why even consider paying money for a premium URL name?

The answer is that the URL names of high quality, also called “simple URL names”, can make a big difference to your business.  Well, what is a premium URL name?

A premium URL name is a URL name was registered in time ago but is now available again. Or, it’s a URL that is currently owned by someone else, but they’re willing to part with it for the right price.

Crafty business owners bought the more intuitive URL name locksmith.com or plumbing.com a long time ago. But owners of these URL names are willing to part with them for the right price. Some URL names have gone for millions, but many are available for anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars.

Given the amount that a premium URL name can cost, why choose to pay for a premium URL name?  Here are 3 reasons:

1. Instant brand. When you use a premium URL name, brand yourself automatically. Not only your URL name is a breeze to remember, but people immediately associate the product with your name. If your URL name is bassguitaramp.com, you will not have to spend much time trying to educate potential customers about the nature of your product.
2. Increase search engine ranking. Search engines take into account the relevance of your URL name for your product or service, the easier it is your URL name associated with your product, the higher is its search engine ranking will be to achieve.
3. The increased traffic. Direct navigation occurs when a user enters a search term directly into the Internet browser’s address line instead of using a search engine. So if a kind of “guitarrepairs.com” in the address line, it comes with your website, and click the link to your site, that user has navigated directly to your site. As you can imagine, having a premium URL name can make a real difference in the amount of traffic coming to your site through direct navigation.  Web Site Hosting Reviews.  Even though it’s a premium domain name, you can still use budget web hosts.

And you did not spend a penny in direct marketing that user to your site!  When one considers the fact that 80% of adults in the U.S. use the Internet regularly, it seems a good investment to spend whatever it takes to buy a premium URL name.  If you own a small business , consider purchasing a premium URL name and set some of your marketing budget aside to do so.

Click to go to the website “register.com” or “godaddy.com” to see if there is an available domain name that is relevant to your product or service and then do some research to see what kind of ROI you can see if you buy domain name. If this type of research seems overwhelming, consider consulting an Internet marketing professional to help determine if a premium domain name is a worthwhile investment for your business. An Internet marketing professional can also help you access the search tools that will tell you the URL names that benefit the most.

Although seems like a great investment, purchasing a premium URL name can make a big difference the success of your business. A purchase URL name that is premium will allow you to reduce spending on marketing in the long run it will increase your ranking in search engines and help potential customers to your business partners with your name.

How To Select a URL Name

The first step to selecting a URL name is to brainstorm.  Think about a list of possible URL names for your website.

Ideally, URL name should contain your business name, if possible.  Customers who remember your business name can then return to your website easily by entering the URL of your website on their browser.

Select and then Register the right URL name is one of the most important steps when starting an impactful website. In the online industry, your URL name actually represents the name and reputation of your business, so picking a URl name for your website or blog is just as important as choosing your own business name.
If it’s not possible to register a URL name that contains your business name (because it has already been registered), then you need to include your business keywords in the URL address. These keywords should describe what your business does, or what products your business sells.

If you plan to sell plumbing supplies, you can register URL names that include the keyword plumbing and perhaps your location.  So something like UtahPlumbingSupplies.com.  This sample URL contains the words ‘plumbing supplies’, which describes what business you’re in.

You’ll benefit from a higher stream of targeted visitors from Google, Yahoo or MSN when visitors search for your keywords which is another reason why you must include your business keywords in your URL name to attract the search engines ranking— your website higher if your URL name contains the keywords you want to optimize your site for.

keep your domain name short and catchy. If you have a long business name, first-time visitors to your site may have a hard time remembering your URL, and cannot return to your website for future purchases. So keep short.

When selecting a  URL name you should choose a URL  that ends with .com if you can.  Most people remember a web URL as ending with .com.

How To Register a URL Name

Popular domain name registration services include URL Registration or URL Purchase.

Or, if you’re planning to start a website, why not get your URL for free?  Web hosts include a free URL when you buy a hosting package.  Find the right web host for you by reading Website Hosting Reviews and save some money.

A web-hosting service allows you to upload your website images and folders onto a server so that visitors  world wide can view it .

It’s tough to get traffic to your website, especially when your website is new.  Here’s a trick to help -

Buy an expired URL with Google PageRank, and lots of incoming links.  Once you have the URL, permanently redirect the new URL to your existing website.  That way, when anyone clicks on a link for the expired URL you just purchased, the visitor will be taken to your website instead.

What is an expired URL?  This is a URL address that was not renewed by the original owner.  The URL may not have been renewed for a variety of reasons such as:  there was no longer interest in keeping up the website, the owner ran out of money, or even the owner himself passed away. You can buy these expired URL’s for anywhere from $10, to a considerably larger amount if the URL attracts interest at auction.

How do you find expired URL’s?  Check out this site - http://www.dropday.com/ – which lists URLs that were recently not renewed by their owners.

How do you know if an expired URL address is worth buying for your own use? First, check to see the Google page rank domain names that expired.   The drop day site has a column for Page Rank.  Please be sure to double check the pagerank is legit by doing a search in Google for “info:urlyourinterestedin.com”.  If Google shows the same URL in the results, then the PR shown at Drop Day is legit.

The higher PR the better.  But, the higher the PR, the higher price the URL will sell for.  I’d suggest buying a URL with at least a PR 3.  PR3 and above typically have a lot of backlinks, which will help drive traffic to your site after the expired URL is redirected. You should also find a URL address with similar keywords or theme as your site.  The incoming links and traffic needs to be relevant to your site or people will just immediately leave or bounce.

You should also check http://onlinealley.com/seotools/googlebannedchecker/to make sure Google hasn’t banned the URL you’d like to buy.  Some webmasters pull blackhat traffic building tricks, and will let their URL expire if they get caught and banned by Google.  You don’t want to buy a URL that’s been banned.

To see how many websites link to the expired URL you’re interested in, use this Google search command.  Type the command “link:” (without quotation marks) followed by the URL of the expired domain name (no spaces between the colon and URL).  The more links that come back the better.  You can also get a feel for the quality level or how much they relate to your site by reviewing the search results.

You want to buy a URL of your very own?  Great idea.

Buying a URL is a good investment if you plan to build a web presence for yourself or your business.  You could build a website on your URL to make some more money or increase your personal brand.  A URL can also be used for a custom email address like yourname@yourURL.com.

Maybe you’re planning to use your URL for your business website.  Excellent choice.  Old media like newspapers,Yellow Pages, local TV, and local radio aren’t driving nearly as many customers to your business as they used to.  Where are all those prospects finding out about businesses  like yours?  That’s right, the internet.

Buying a URL for your business and putting a good website on it is a great investment.  In fact, it’s been estimated that only roughly 50% of small businesses currently have a website, so you’ll be putting your business ahead of some of your competition.

So enough background, you already know you want to buy a URL.  So how to buy a URL?

How To Buy A URL:

1. Visit Register.com via this link, which will give you a special $9.99/year URL + branded email price.
2. Click the “Get it Now” button.
3. Click the small blue “choose a domain for this product” link on the left hand side.
4. Enter the URL you want to buy, and click “find it”
5. If your URL is available, buy it!  If your URL isn’t, try another one.  Or, go here for advanced URL  search to help you find a URL suitable for you to buy.

Did you know that if you buy a web hosting package for your website, the URL name is free?  Check out the hosting package here.

Finding a URL address that someone hasn’t already purchased can be tough!  But I’m going to show you a cool little application that will help you find a url address that you can buy in a few minutes.

How To Find URL Address:

1. Go to the advanced URL address finder application
2. Answer each of the questions.  Don’t worry, the site is asking you the questions to find a URL address to match you need, not to get your information to spam you.
3. If you’re a business, be sure to fill in your company name as well as the short description of your products.  Think what one or two words your customers would use to describe your business.  Location is important as geography based domains help you show up in the search engines.  How would people type in your city or town in a search engine – use this in the location fields.
4. Click find my names
5. Scroll through the available URL addresses until you find a URL address that you like!  Note, a .com URL address is preferable.

Did you know that if you buy a web hosting package for your website, the URL name is free?  Check the great price on this hosting package.

How To Find URL Address