There are many reasons to buy a domain name, and with the recent drop in prices, getting your own domain name is more affordable than ever.

1. Domain names build credibility on the Web
If you are trying to do business on the Web, a domain name is essential. It's like the difference between setting up a stall in the corner of a warehouse you share with dozens of other stores, and owning your own store. And with registrations for under $30 a year depending on the registrar, this is a very small price to pay for increased credibility in the eyes of potential customers.

If your site is just a personal homepage set up for fun or as a hobby, you don't actually need a domain name. But you'll still find it easier to get your site noticed if you register one.

	Unlike the "real world", on the Web there is no such thing as a "prime location" in which to set up a store or business. No matter how small you are, a good domain name can put your business on an equal footing with Microsoft or AOL. That's the wonder of the Web: nobody knows if your site is run by a large team out of elegant offices, or by one person in a spare room or corner of the bedroom. Frankly, a business website without a domain name screams "small time operator!"

Domain names are being bought up at the rate of several thousand new registrations a day. However, it is still possible to find some nice names as long as you apply a little lateral thinking. In the Registration section of this site, you'll find plenty of tools and tips to help you come up with a domain name you can be happy with. The longer you wait to register a name for yourself, the more limited your choice will become. Think of a domain name as an unavoidable cost of doing business online.

2. Domain names are portable
As we have already seen, a domain name is just like a sign pointing to your site. "It's over there" the sign says. You can move the underlying site (change web hosting services) and with a very minor technical adjustment (your new hosting service will help you) the domain name will point to your "new" site. This way, you are free to change hosting services to find a better deal, or if the service you are currently receiving is inadequate. The important thing is that none of your visitors' bookmarks will need to change, nor will the move break any links to your site! This is impossible without a domain name...

3. Domain names improve your promotion chances and therefore your site's "visibility" on the Web
As discussed earlier, domain names which include common keywords can improve a site's ranking in search results returned by major search engines. However, this is only the beginning of the benefits as far as web promotion is concerned. Many large Directories (sites listing or reviewing other sites) will not accept to list any site that does not have its own domain name. Yahoo! for example has a tendency to "favour" sites with their own domain name.

There are various reasons for these policies, but for our purposes really doesn't matter WHY the search engines and directories are doing this - the fact is that they ARE! As the Web continues to grow at a breakneck pace, the situation is bound to get worse for sites that do not have their own domain names.

4. Domain names produce a feeling of professionalism
This topic goes hand-in-hand with the credibility produced by a domain name. Rightly or wrongly, there is a perception that sites hosted under their own domain names are more professional than other sites. This idea comes from two facts: all the major, famous sites have their own domain names... and there are a lot of junk sites hosted on free or ISP hosting services.

Sadly, it really doesn't matter what you or I think about this, as a certain amount of prejudice has already built up against commercial sites without their own domain names... So while you CAN be successful with a free site or an ISP-hosted site, you can be MORE successful with your "own" site.

5. Domain names are memorable
Which of the following URLs is easier to remember:-

http://www.igoldrush.com/pr2/index.htm

or

http://www.pr2.com/

The top URL is where the PR2 website used to live before it was allocated its own domain name. After it was set up with a domain name, traffic to the site tripled in a short period of time. It was clear that people were remembering the URL and coming back to the site to visit.

We've seen many reasons why domain names can be useful, so this seems like the ideal moment to move on to the next section of this guide: Buying a Domain Name