Oops, I meant to put phonetic…

The times they are a changing, and with the emergence of short-hand texting and a heavy reliance on our spellchecker that is built into EVERYTHING, it’s no wonder no one knows how to spell anymore?

We could lament the demise of numeracy and literacy in this technological age, but today I want to draw your attention to the importance of recognising this trend and incorporating it into the choices you make in relation to keywords and domain names.

Keywords

Let us use the example of “Margaret River Accommodation” which presents many alternatives in terms of spelling:

Search Term Search Results No Local Searchs last month margaret river accommodation (correct spelling) 3,940,000 27,100 margaret river accomodation 32,800 27,100 margaret river accomadation 8,790 390 margret river accomodation 2,680 140 margret river accomodation 1,600 210

It is a very safe assumption to make that people cannot spell!

In this case you can see that by using misspelt variations when appointing keywords can significantly increase the chances of being included higher in Google search results – imagine what an extra 140 hits would mean to a website offering accommodation in the Margaret River region?

Domain Names

We are often told to register variations of our primary domain names.  Variations include registering the dot com and the dot net of your domain, but you need also consider spelling variations.

Let’s stay with the Margaret River example:

Go to www.margaretriver.com.au and you will be presented with a site operated by the Margaret River Visitor Centre.

In direct opposition to this site is www.margretriver.com.au and www.margaretriver.net.au offering similar information and services.

Apply this to your own website – what variations are available and what threat would it pose to your business if a competitor were to register any one of these variations?

Australian domain names are available for as low as $29 for 2 years, and .com and.net domains from $13 and $10 per year respectively – it doesn’t cost much to secure your domain!

Search available domain names now

The precise technical term is top-level domain or TLD, but I prefer to refer to them as domain name extensions – what I am talking about is the dot whatevers that proceed your domain name (.com, .biz etc)

So what do different domain name extensions mean, and which one do you need?

Back in the early days of the internet, we had very limited choice of domain extensions with only SEVEN available:

• .com
• .edu
• .gov
• .int
• .mil
• .net
• .org

Domain name registration only applied to .com, .net and .org as the others were for specific uses for educational, government, international or military organisations respectively. This was the extent of it for 12 years before another seven were introduced adding .biz, .info, .name, .pro, .aero, .coop and .museum to the list. The three latter of these called “sponsored” domains which means that they are sponsored by private agencies or organizations that establish and enforce rules restricting the eligibility to use the extensions – all others are governed by the global internet community under policies established by ICANN.

.com = COMMERCIAL

This generic extension was first given it’s name indicating it’s intended purpose to be of a commercial nature, however now it has been used for virtually any commercial or NON-commercial website and has been accepted as the standard domain name extension. The next level of a dot com site is of course the addition of a country code, like .au (the exception of course in the United Kingdom and New Zealand where they have adopted .co.uk and .co.nz). Originally .com carried more notiarity, however the trend has turned to favouring country codes on the end – probably due to the scarcity of choices for dot com domain names.

Register your .com, .com.au, .co.uk or .co.nz domain now

.net = NETWORKS

This domain name extension was named as such as its intended use was for organisations involved in networking technologies, like internet service providers. This was never a regulation and dot net soon became the alternative when the dot com site is unavailable. The dot net extension can also be used in conjunction with the country code also.

Register your .net, .net.au or .net.nz domain now

.org = ORGANISATIONS

The intention of .org domain names was originally for use by non-profit organisations, or other non-commercial groups that didn’t meet the commercial requirements for other domain name extensions. While this was the intention, it has never been enforced so there is actually nothing stopping anyone from using the .org extension. Dot org can also be followed by a country code.

Register your .org, .org.au, org.uk or .org.nz domain now

.info = INFORMATIONAL

As the name suggests, dot info sites were given the name as the extension would be used by sites with informative resources. Dot info was one of the second group of domain name extensions, released to take the pressure off dot com – all in all dot info has been a successful endeavour according to the number of sites registered. There are no restrictions on dot info domains, meaning that anyone can register a domain using the extension.

Register your .info domain now

.biz = BUSINESSES

The dot biz extension was another that was released to relieve the pressure of the dot coms, the intended use of .biz was for use by businesses. Use of such a domain name is restricted to those conducting business or requiring the domain for commercial purposes – there are no geographical qualifications and country codes are not tacked onto the end of dot biz.

Register your .biz domain now

Other Extensions

• .id.au
• .asn.au
• .me.uk
• .ac.nz
• .gen.nz
• .asia – for businesses, with the requirement that they must operate within Asia, Australia, or the Pacific
• .tel – the purpose is to act as a single point of contact for individuals and businesses like a live global contacts directory service with all types of contact information stored in the Domain Name System, without the need to maintain a traditional website
• .tv – marketed for use in television or video-related sites but can be registered and used for any purpose
• .cc

The importance of choosing the right domain name is in being found by your customers. The above is a rough guide of the intended purposes of each of the domain name extensions, which will match people’s expectations of the content of the site. It is generally a good idea to register as many extensions of your domain as possible – not only will this eliminate someone trying to cut in on your business, but your site will be easier to find!

Check out variations to your domain name now