Tasha Cunningham - BizBytes 101

By now you've decided what you want to call your online venture. Are you going to create a site to tell the world everything you know about gardening, interior design or politics? Are you going to sell the fabulous products you make in your spare time? Whatever your new venture entails, you've got to claim your name for it online. You can do this quickly and easily by purchasing a URL, or Uniform Resource Locator, through one of the many companies that sell them. Your URL is like your address is cyberspace where people will be able to find what you're selling or talking about.

Grab your domain name by logging on to www.GoDaddy.com or www.Register.com. Both sites allow you to search available domain names and purchase one for less than $10. But before you do, here are five things you need to know to create a great name:

• Be relevant -- Buy a domain name that is directly related to your business. Don't buy a domain name just because you think it's cool or because it has some meaning to you personally.

• Buy ``.com'' -- The .com version of your domain name is the way to go. While there is nothing wrong with buying extensions such as .net, .ca or .biz, the .com extension is perceived as the most professional and valuable one of them all.

• Keep it simple -- Don't buy a domain name that is too long or too complicated to access. Buying PetSitters.com is better than buying best-pet-sitters-in-cyberspace.com. The shorter your URL, the better.

• Beware of trademarks -- Don't buy a domain name that is too close to one that is trademarked. You may love Nike sneakers and want to tell the world about it, but it is best not to purchase a domain name with the word Nike in it, such as ILoveNikeSneakers.com.

• Unlock your keywords -- A keyword is a term that captures the essence of what a particular document or Web page is about. It's also what people who search the Internet type in to find what they're looking for. So before you purchase the perfect domain name, check out sites like www.Wordtracker.com to find out how many people are searching the Internet for the words you would like in your domain name.

If the URL you want is owned by someone else, don't worry. Type the URL into your browser and see what comes up. If it's for sale, you will often find a page that shows who you can contact, whether it's the owner directly or the domain registrar. If not, go to out www.WhoIs.com and type in the domain name you want to find out the owner. In today's economy, most domain owners are willing to negotiate for their URLs so you should be able to get the name you want at a good price. If the owner isn't willing to sell, take a look at other variations of the URL you want that might be available.

In the next BizBytes 101 column, I'll show you exactly what to do now that you've got your URL!