Having a domain that customers can find you with is extremely important on the Internet.  As I have discussed in an earlier chapter, there are more that a billion pages of information posted on the Internet.  How can you stand out among them?

        There are several ways, the first is to have a premium website built upon a premium domain.  Next is to have meta-tags (meta-tags will be covered later) within your website and register with all of the major search engines.  After that comes the advertising budget.

        When you buy a premium domain name, you can drastically reduce your advertising budget over the life of your Internet business.  A premium domain name can be branded into the minds of people through radio, newspapers, magazines, TV and even infomercials with ease.  Once people know your name, they only need a brief reminder from time to time.

        It costs a bundle to brand a premium domain name, but a weak domain name may require high-cost advertising forever.  So it boils down to pay now or pay forever.

        It will not matter how good your domain is if you have a weak website.  You can draw them in with a good domain but will not be able to retain your customers interest with a poorly designed site.  If you purchase a good domain, be certain to open up your Internet business with bright lights and a fancy showroom.

        Remember the three most important rules of real estate.....Location, Location and Location. So, how do you determine location on the Internet?  There aren’t any mountains, rivers, or trees......or are there?  Is a domain full of rocky soil or is it fertile?  Is it on flat land, in a marsh, ocean-front, downtown, etc.?

        I can not answer these questions for you, but I will give a few clues to help find the answer and that is what this book is all about. One clue to all of these questions is that any terrain can be developed at a cost. Also that certain terrains (or types of domains) are more suitable for some businesses than others.

        Because Dotcom is the default setting in most browsers, that makes almost any domain in Dotcom of some value....some more and some less. In many cases it would be better to have a business in downtown Dotnet  than on the outskirts of Dotcom. Whichever way you look at it, Dotcom is destined to be the Metropolis of the Internet at the present rate of things.  Dotnet will likely follow closely in 3 to 5 years.

        So, what is a domain name good for?   It is a location on the Internet, a name by which your company can be found easily, an internet phone number, a name that identifies what your company sells or does.