Bodybuilding.com - Registering Your Own Domain Name: What To Do And Why!

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The process by which substances come into the body and the rate at which they are used is known as Metabolism.

Do you own your own domain name? Has it helped you get better recognition? Well today I am going to share with you some of the reasons why you should register yourself and get a web site put together.

Registering Your Own Domain Name: What To Do And Why!

By: Bill Dobbins

One of the first questions I ask women I photograph is, "Do you own your own domain name?" Having your own domain name - or domain names - is a way of capitalizing on your own identity, and to protect yourself from having others take that identity away from you.

However, a lot of the women have never given this much thought. Or they don't understand the difference between registering a domain name and having a website.

What Is A Domain Name?

A domain name is just a name. It's like a product name or a trade mark. You type domain names into a computer to go to a website but the name isn't what takes you to a particular site.

This Is Just A Name.
The Site Is Much More.

The domain name is "pointed" to an Internet address. When you (or somebody) administers a domain name, information is typed in that says: when somebody enters this name into a browser to go Internet address 123.456.798 (or whatever the numerical address of the server is where the website resides - your web host will have that information when you need it).

However, this is something many don't understand: you don't have to have a website in order to register a domain name. In fact, you should be registering important domain names well in advance of actually creating a site.

And I say domain names because there is no limit (other than financial) as to how many names you can register. You can register variations of your own name, slogans you might be associated with (gr8fitnesslegs.com), businesses (fitassociatesinc.com) or titles (fbbmusclechamp.com).

This is important not just to protect the names from being used (stolen) by somebody else but because you can have any number of domain names forwarded to the same Internet address. So somebody types in www.yourname.com or www.fitmusclebabe.net can find themselves ending up at the same website page.

Owning Your Name

I have dealt with a lot of women who signed with a manager or agent who then ended up owning their domain name and controlling their websites - and the same thing has happened with husbands, boyfriends, web designers and web hosts.

Dealing With Cybersquatters

This is certainly the case where cybersquatters are concerned (companies that buy up domain names and then demand you pay a lot to get them back) or others trying to capitalize on your success.

If a company owns your domain name but does not have any people involved with the same name or represent any products or services using that name they are cybersquatting.

Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.
On November 29, 1999, as part of the omnibus budget bill, President Clinton signed into law the "Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act."
Up until then, the federal trademark laws (the Lanham Act) only protected against infringing commercial uses. Several trademark owners had commenced lawsuits against cybersquatters under the Lanham Act, but a number of courts held that, because the defendants in those cases merely registered domain names and nothing more, there had been no requisite "commercial use" of the marks in the sale or advertising of goods or services under the Lanham Act, and therefore, no infringement.
The New Act now provides the traditional trademark infringement remedies of injunctive relief, the defendant's profits, actual damages and costs.

Common Names

If your name is "Janet Jones" or something else as common and somebody else named Janet Jones has already registered that name you are out of luck. You'll have to come up with something else. But remember, if somebody owns janetjones.com you might be register janetjones.net - although to avoid confusion something more unique might be better.

How To Register A Name

How do you register a name? You go to a company that registers domain names, run a WHOIS search to see if the name you want is available and, if it is, you fill out the appropriate form to purchase it. This is very easy.

The primary company that registers domain names is www.networksolutions.com. But there are others, most of which charge less. Enter "register domain name" into www.google.com and you'll get a whole page of recommendations.

If this seems intimidating, just remember you don't have to do anything but register the name to protect it. Pointing it to a domain URL will come later and whoever is designing your site or hosting it can help you.

Email

An Email address like poohcrngrl@hotmail.com might be cute and personally meaningful, but try creating yourname@hotmail.com (or msn or yahoo) to keep things simple.

Remember, you can have lots of different Email addresses - one for friends and family, a special one for that somebody special and a professional address for fans and business contacts. This also helps in preventing important personal Emails from getting lost in a lot of clutter.

Do You Own Your Domain Name?

Yes, I do.
Yes, Several Versions.
No, My Name Is Too Common.
No, Someone Is Cybersquatting.
No, I'm Lazy.