Why are domain names so important?

Selecting a great domain name is important for two reasons: first, a catchy and memorable name helps people remember it; and second, a well-thought out name will enable you to attract people through the search engines. Your domain name is, in essence, the logo of your online business. It needs to express who you are, what you do, and what products or services you offer. The bottom line is that a good domain name can go a long way toward generating traffic to your Web site and building your reputation. That, in turn, will result in more customers and better sales. 1999 was the year of the big dot-com boom, and there was a feeling that there were huge sums of money to be made from the web - but back in 1999 people seemed more concerned about branding than business plans. Inspired by the success of names like Amazon.com, a raft of dot coms came (and went) under snazzy-sounding titles. There was a huge land grab for virtually all words in the English dictionary, plus every other combination of words people could think of. Most of these sites were never developed, but domains were often priced at huge prices. Premium domains are high quality domain names that are for sale and only available in the secondary domain market.They have excellent marketing and branding value, but also serve as an investment. As good dot-coms become more and more scarce, the demand and prices for premium domain names has continued to increase. "A domain name's importance emerged as a valuable element of an organization's brand, and the numbers validate this trend," Matt Bentley, CEO of Sedo.com, told the E-Commerce Times. "Though we'll likely never see the sale prices of 1999, when domains like business.com fetched $7.5 million, valuations for key domains have definitely begun to elevate to demonstrate their importance to business and organizations all over the world." The dot-com crash that saw hundreds of start-up businesses on the Internet close up shop in 1998 and 1999 is not discouraging new Net entrepreneurs. A record number of domain name sales in 2005 shows that business presence on the Internet is stronger than ever. A domain name that reflects an organization's brand and offerings is vital to driving new business. Last year saw an explosion of growth for the secondary domain marketplace, as more organizations purchased the ideal domain name to drive their brand. http://www.idealurl.com