February 1st, 2014 
mawada Why It’s Important To Own Your Name .Com
One third of the people on our planet are now connected to the internet; that’s over two billion people worldwide. The internet has become a place where you can learn, do, watch, buy or sell anything you can ever imagine. The internet has all but eliminated the need for us to leave our house. We can get entertainment, human interaction, food, clothing, grooms and brides all from the comfort of our chair. This incredible boom has made the importance of owning your own personal domain name vital, as it is the hub for which you are known in the online world. Here’s some of the key reasons why:
It’s Online Real Estate– When people use Yahoo, Bing, or Google to search for an exact term, the .com is generally going to be the first result that pops up. A lot of people around the world will even just type the term in with .com at the end. The first website that they find using either method is the one most people believe is the authority.
Best Place to Start a Website– Your Name .Com is quick and easy to remember for the people that know you. It saves you the hassle of having to create a new brand and embed that in the head of your target audience. Website hosting is affordable and building a website is easier than ever. With free programs like WordPress, you don’t need to understand complex codes to be able to create a professional looking website.
Protection– Angry rivals or astute individuals with dollar signs in their eyes will not hesitate to purchase your name .com. Once it’s in their possession, it’s an arduous process to win it back. In the meantime, they can make a profit off of your fortune or slander your name.
It’s Professional– Any serious businessman improves their stock with their name .com. Business cards and resumes alike look stronger and a candidate more desirable. Morgan Linton, serial entrepreneur and International Channel Manager for Sonos Inc. told Astounde, “No question, if you plan on doing anything important in your life, it’s vital to own your name dot com.”
Flexibility– Once you purchase a domain name, it’s yours. Despite the occasional price increase from ICANN, you can register your name for as many years as you want and lock in a certain rate. No one else can stake a claim to that name so long as you renew it when it comes time. Not only that, there is no requirement to build a website on it, you can just hold the name in your account.
Ease of Maintenance– Unlike most things in life, your domain name only needs to be addressed once per year. Not only that, but you’ll receive a friendly e-mail reminder to do so. Imagine if the same could be said for haircuts, your garden, dinner, your marriage, or feeding your pet.
Branding– You are in complete control over the ‘you’ that other people see when searching the internet. You are in charge of the information, pictures, professional reviews and other information that a friend or prospective colleague will see. Your brand is in your hands.
Customized E-mail Addresses– No more [email protected] or [email protected] With your own domain name, you can create any e-mail address you can think of @yourname.com.
Help Avoid Confusion– There could be another John Smith out there who enjoys taking ‘artful’ photos of naked men, and decides to post the videos and pictures of such on your name .com. You can avoid this potential shortcoming by locking up your domain name.
Price– Buying a domain name is one of the best bang-for-your-buck purchases you will ever find in your lifetime. A domain name can be had for $9.99 on most domain registrars ($8.95 on DomainIt.com). If you click on the link below, it’s only $7.99. That’s the equivalent to one mediocre value meal. Amortize the cost over a full year and it’s just over ¢.02 per day.
Despite all of these positive reasons why owning your name .com is important, there are still millions of people around the world that don’t see the value. Many people do, though, and you may very well find that your name is already taken. If you are one of the lucky people whose name isn’t already taken, what are you waiting for?
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Written by Mike Awada, founding editor at Astounde.com, a hip, future tech and gadget online magazine.
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