Are you a small business owner who has a website but not your own domain? If so, you may be missing out on a golden opportunity to increase consumer awareness of your business as well as putting your company's good name at risk.

Every computer on the Internet has a unique address, called an IP (short for Internet Protocol) address. Remembering the IP address for more than a few sites would be very difficult for most people. To make it easier for everyone, computer scientists came up with a way to translate a name, which would be easier to remember, into those IP addresses. That means that instead of having to type 66.154.89.75 in the address bar of a web browser, you can enter www.strategicwebdesign.biz. The Internet infrastructure takes care of the translation, and you go right to the site you wanted.

While this very important, domain names mean even more to a business. Web services company iOnLine.ca states that domain names "are much more than just a technical shortcut. A short, memorable domain name can make the difference between creating a successful Web presence and getting lost in cyberspace."

Since many people still are uneasy about doing business via the Internet, you will want to give them every reason you can to trust you. A domain name of your own says that you are serious about business. If you use your ISP or a free hosting service, you may end up with an address that looks like www.someisp.com/~yourcompany, or yourcompany.someisp.net. Neither of these will give your potential customers much confidence in your business.

A domain name for your company secures your image online. It protects your brands online in both a local and global space and thereby adds value to your business. If you don't protect your name online, someone else may tarnish your reputation without your even being aware of it. WorldLingo reports that according to researchers at the Gartner Group, "The consequences of inaction can result in the brick-and-mortar equivalent of storefront destruction, or at least graffiti. Either way it will cost companies money. They shouldn't let others ransom or destroy their storefronts."

Another aspect of domain ownership is portability. Owning your own domain name lets you take that name with you if you transfer to a different hosting company. If you don't own your domain name, you'll have to take a new URL, which will destroy all the brand identity that you built up with your first address.

Having your own domain name also implies that you're up-to-date on emerging technologies. Whether this is true or not, having your own domain name might just put you ahead of your competitors.

One additional benefit of having your own domain is that your email address can be you@yourcompany.com, instead of a free account (such as from Yahoo! or MSN), or an account from your ISP (like you@someisp.net). Customers will feel more comfortable doing business with you if they feel that they can communicate directly with your company, not at some other organization.

The Internet domain name has become a vital part of business identity, as important and fiercely protected as trademarks to many businesses. Your domain is your online brand, how customers identify your business on the web. There can only be one "yourcompany.com" on the Internet, and with over 20,000 new domains registered every day, the longer you wait, the less likely you will be able to get your specialized name.

An investment of only a few dollars can go a long way towards establishing and protecting that identity.

References
Why Domain Names Are So Important, iOnLine.ca, Accessed June 16, 2003, http://www.ionline.ca/resourcecentre/topic.asp?rcID=14