Every day you see on television and hear on the radio ads that include "visit our web site at ourname.com" or "see us on the web at ourname.com".  The big corporations were the first to realize the value of having their publicly identified name as their domain name.  Some of them were slower than others to realize this.  In fact some big corporations ended up having to purchase their own names from enterprising (and possibly unethical) pioneers of domain name registration who registered thousands of trademark  names and sold them for what the market would bear, often thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.  In many cases it was easier for these corporations to buy their name than take the registrant to court.  I believe this was mostly a matter of looking at the time it would take to win their case and deciding that they didn't want to do without their trademark name being part of their domain name for such a long time period.  Anyway the laws have been strengthened in this area to help keep this activity down. But it goes to show that even early on (the early days in Internet talk is anything 2 years ago or before), people realized that a domain name that identified their company, or what their company did, was valuable. Today, even local businesses, small business, and sole owners are realizing the importance of a having their own domain name. 

So after you have prepared your appraisal web site (or had someone prepare your site for you) the next very important question is where to place your site.  There are several options here, and the first place that most appraisers consider placing their web site is on the web space that comes with their Internet Service account.  Many Internet Service providers include space for a "home page" or pages for their users.  The address (or URL) for this web space is usually something like : http://yourprovider.com/users/~yourname/yourpage.htm.  And this is the biggest drawback to having a professional business page on this type web space.  You have that long, hard to remember, unprofessional looking URL that tells your customers and potential customers that you were not willing to spend a few extra dollars to place your appraisal web site on it's own domain. Compare that long, hard to remember URL to http://www.yourname.com and the benefits of your own domain name are evident.

There are other draw backs to placing your business page on your ISP's included  web space also.  What if you get dissatisfied with your Internet service and want to change?  (Most people have changed at least once if they have been on the Internet for 2 years or more).  Then your URL that you have promoted, that your customers use, that you have on your business cards and stationary will have to change. With your own domain name your URL will always stay the same, even if you get dissatisfied with your web hosting company.  You can just transfer the your domain to another hosting company. 

When you do decide that you need your own permanent domain name, the next thing to do is to decide exactly how you want your name to appear.  Try your name and other catchy words that might make you easy to remember and easy to find.  Make a list of potential domain names and use .com or .net and see how they sound and look.  Then try one of the Domain Name search utilities and see if your name is taken.  If you have a common name, chances are that it is already in use.  You must use your imagination and give this a lot of thought to come up with something that ties in with your business name or what your business does. When you finally come up with a name you like and is not already registered then register it without delay.

How much does it cost to register www.yourname.com? It is only $34.95 and this covers 2 years.  After that it is $19.95 per year to renew. 

Conclusion.  If you plan on being in business for at least 1 year or longer then it would pay to register your own permanent domain name.  In addition you will get a permanent email address (you@yourname.com).  Take some time in deciding on what you want your domain name to be.  Check to see if it is available and use alternate selections until you find an available name that you are satisfied with.  Register it now, even if you have to "park" with someone because once registered the domain name is gone forever. In years to come your domain name will grow in value and importance to your appraisal business.
 

Wayne McKerley, RWM.NET

This article is copyrighted 1998 by Wayne McKerley and may be reprinted in other electronic or print media as long as the following information is included in its entirety and unchanged at the bottom of the article.

"Wayne McKerley is the webmaster of RWM.NET a web site with the goal of helping real estate appraisers market their services over the Internet. Wayne offers FREE  information and services such as FREE web site design for appraisers as well as a other services related to Internet marketing of appraisal services. Visit Wayne's site at http://rwm.net and get your appraisal site off to a good start.  Wayne may be contacted via ."

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