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Securing extensions. Making sure you own multiple domain extensions not only increases value, it also protects you.

Because the internet is a world-wide place, copyrights and trademarks are not easy to protect. Someone can steal your business name and there is little you can do about it. Sure, there are legal circles you can visit, but at the end of the day they are usually too costly to employ. Plus, the manhours invested in fighting violations can be a death bell to small businesses. It is much easier to take preventative action.

The more domain extensions you own of any particular domain, the better off you will be because it is harder for someone to steal your name. Now, we are not saying go out and register every extension known to man. There is such a thing as overkill. But, in respect to business, it is important to control common names associated with business. The most recognized extensions are DOT COM, DOT NET, AND DOT BIZ.

Beyond just trademark and name protection, there is also another advantage to multiple registration. Owning more than one name can create demand for that name. People register domains everyday. If they see that a name is popular, they will try to find something close to cut in on the action. If your site is a quality site than you become the benchmark by which these copycats are judged by. You create what we can an "inherit" demand. True this kind of goes against the whole trademark and name protection suggestions above, however, having people WANT your name is the best way to create a market for it. For instance, if you own a dot com and a new company owns the dot net then dimes to dollars they will want to buy your dot com if you offered it to them.

When it is time to sell your site, it is also a plus to be able to offer multiple extensions to a buyer in one nice package. It saves the buyer work and shows him you've thought things through in your site creation. If you've done a good job there, chances are you have done a good job in other business areas.

You can check which extensions of any domain are unregistered by entering a domain name in the domain registration field at webcs.com. We also suggest looking for the "dash" version of any name. For instance, if your domain name is shoppingcart.com, then it is good to look for the phrase shopping-cart, seperating the syllables with a dash. It is our professional opinion however that only ONE dash is desired when it comes to domain names. We've seen sites with 3-4 dashes and to be blunt it doesn't look good on a business card.

-- Interested in learning more secrets about how to sell your site, and what your site may be worth. Try our site evaluation service and get our staff's opinion on how much gold you may be sitting on. An opinion is a terrible thing to waste. --