Domain Names

As part of our homeschooling curriculum, my children each need to start and maintain their own website before they graduate. In order to have a website, the first thing you need is a domain name. Do you own any domain names? I’m a little bit of a domain name junkie. Actually, I don’t own that many domains, I think it was around 30 at last count.

Why so many?

Simple – domain names are relatively cheap (~$10 per year) and they’re a huge part of your branding.

So, what is a domain name? In simple terms, it is the most basic words that you type into your browser to get to a website.

So for us, we started with the domain name:

goatmilkstuff.com

Then we purchased a common mispelling:

goatsmilkstuff.com

Then the different endings such as:

goatmilkstuff.net
goatmilkstuff.info
goatmilkstuff.org

If you’re planning to start a small business, it is important to have a long-term view and purchase these other domains. You don’t have to set up websites on all of these domains. You can set it up so that when people click on the “support” domains, it redirects them to the main domain.

Owning all of these extra domains may seem like a waste of money to you, but think of it as insurance. It’s sad but true that there a lot of people out there who find successful businesses, copy them, and use a really similar domain name. Protect yourself and your branding.

My lawyer also suggested that we purchase domains that are “anti” your business such as – ihateyourbusiness.com.

We haven’t purchased domains like that for Goat Milk Stuff. Mostly because the thought that somebody would set up a website like that depresses me.

Some of the other domains that we own are all of our individual names:

Domain names are not case sensitive, so JadeJonas.com is the same as jadejonas.com. I use capital letters to make things easier to read.

Personally, I think that a great birthday present for your children is to purchase their domain name for them. You never know what they’re going to do some day, and if somebody else takes it and creates a website with that domain, it’s unavailable until they decide to give it up.

I use godaddy to purchase my domain names. There are a lot of smaller companies out there, but I know several people who have purchased their domains through small companies and lived to regret it. The most common thing that happens is the domain business fails and then the paperwork and headache of getting control of your domain can be a nightmare. For that main reason, I choose to deal with a big company (yes, I know they can fail too, but it’s less likely).

I’ve been very pleased with godaddy and their customer service and happily recommend them. And for that reason, I am one of their affiliates, which means that if you choose to purchase a domain through godaddy and click on the link here, then I will get credit for introducing you to them.

Once you’ve purchased a domain name. Then you need to host your website. Think of it like this – buying your domain name gives you the exclusive right to use that name. But then you need to find someone to host (or store) all of the stuff that is on your website – such as all the text and photos.

You can host through godaddy as well (and I’ve heard good things about them), but I use a different company for hosting.