Emmott on Technology: Everything you Need to Know About Dental Practice Domain Names

Friday, July 5, 2013

Emmott on Technology: Everything you Need to Know About Dental Practice Domain Names

According to Google the most common family name in the U.S. is Smith followed closely by Johnson, Williams and Jones. The most common male given name is James followed by John, Robert and Michael.

The sad fact is that if you have any one of these names in combination, the chances of someone finding you with a simple Google search are slim. A Google for Jim Johnson generates 257 million results. My name Larry Emmott generates just 100,000 results and all the top results are actually me.

What about the women? In the U.S. the most common female names are Mary, Patricia, Linda and Barbara. A search for Mary Smith offers up a mere 268 million results.

If you do not have one of these excessively common names, run, don’t walk, to your nearest domain registry and register your name as a web domain. My favorite registry is Go Daddy. When you get there you will see something like this:

GoDaddy.com Homepage

Type your name into the box and see if it available. If it is, buy it immediately. It should cost no more than $30, and will likely be much less.

If you do have a common name, type it in and add your middle initial. If this domain still is not available, add “dds” to the end and or “dr” to the beginning. For example, robertjonesdds or drrobertjones. Immediately buy any that are available. For now only consider domains with the .com suffix. There are dozens of other options such as .co or .net, but the public overwhelmingly prefers .com.

For the uncommon namers, you also want to buy variations with and without initials, and with and without dds. Don’t stop with your actual name. Register your practice name and any variations you can think of.

Once you own a domain it is yours for life as long as you pay the annual registration fee. You can use it yourself or sell it in the future.

Have your web site provider set up a system so all these domains will redirect to your primary dental practice site. You are not limited to one domain, but can have any number all directed to one primary site.

You could delegate this to your web provider, but be sure the names are registered to you or your business. Sometimes web site providers will register the names to themselves. This is convenient for them but bad for the dentist. If the web provider owns the domain they have control. This can result in problems if you ever want to change web providers, or even worse if the provider you are using goes out of business.

If you want a name that is already registered or you want to check to see if you own your existing name there is a service called WHOIS that will tell you who owns every registered Internet domain name. You can find WHOIS at the bottom of the Go Daddy home page. When you click it you will see this:

WHOIS example

Type in the name you want to check followed by a captcha to prove you are human and you will see who owns the name. If you thought you owned it but find your web company is the registered owner, ask them politely to transfer the registration to you.

If it is a name you don’t own but you really really want it, you can offer to buy it or ask to be notified if it ever becomes available.

This simple system of finding out who owns and how to purchase domain names inevitably leads us to the subject of domain name poaching. Once you register a domain you own it as long as you pay the annual registration. If you forget to pay, someone can swoop in and steal it away from you. Some seriously unscrupulous poachers have even been known to turn the site into something less wholesome than a dental office. Use your imagination.

Needless to say, business owners who have spent years building a brand and developing a recognized web site are desperate to get the domain back and the poacher will expect a lot more than $30.

Let’s review:

  • If your name, your practice name or any variation is available as a domain, buy it now.
  • You are not limited to one domain but can have several all re-directing to a primary website.
  • Own your domains. Do not let the web developer own them.
  • Once you own a domain you own it forever as long as you renew the registration.

The future is coming and it will be amazing!

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