The Name Game: Your Ecommerce Could Depend on You Winning

A Home Business Article Contributed by Donna M. Brown

Ecommerce: the Name Game

Selecting a name for your new venture into ecommerce might seem like a simple task at the onset, but you will soon learn it requires careful thought and consideration.

Great minds think alike and like yours, many other great minds throughout the world are looking for the perfect ecommerce business name to display before a demanding public in the wide, wide world of ecommerce. Chances are, a few of those great minds will have the same ideas as you do.

You will need to think of a name that is indicative of what your ecommerce business offers. Make sure it is creative, catchy and unique. Select at least 10 business names that you can live with because as you try to register your perfect business name, you might find the .com competition beat you to it.

Money Talks to Ecommerce Entrepreneurs

If you are dead set on an ecommerce domain name, consider contacting the person or business that registered your name before you even thought of it. Sometimes domain rights can be purchased for your ecommerce business or tradeds. Of course, it depends on how the domain name is being used, how badly you want it and whether or not the original owner is willing to negotiate.

Because it is the most common domain type, it's best if your business name ends in .com. If its not possible to secure your perfect name or one like it, try using .net or .org. New domain names like .biz, .info and .us are creeping up, but why add confusion to your customers who are already bombarded with alphabet soup associated with ecommerce.

Register Your Domain Name to Get Started in Ecommerce

There are many Websites available to help you with your ecommerce domain name registration. Check around for price, quality of technology and legitimacy.

One such Website is Network Solutions. You can type in a domain name and find out if it's available. Network Solutions offers alternate suggestions to a name if it has already been registered. This can be a huge time saver. There is an annual fee for keeping your ecommerce domain name exclusive to you.

Trademark Your Ecommerce Domain

Your domain name is a major part of your ecommerce business. Many customers will automatically be turned on (or, heaven forbid, turned off) by your domain name. Once you secure a suitable name, protect it as a registered trademark.

A trademark is a word or symbol used to identify the source of goods or services to consumers. For the purpose of securing a trademark, consider your online business name a service if it offers any service or information to your customers.

National trademark registration expands and protects your trademark rights. To qualify for registration, your domain name must meet certain criteria. A domain name alone is considered an address. Because the process or securing a trademark is so very complex, contact the United States Patent and Trademark Office or visit the government organization's Website at http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm to find out where to start and how to proceed.

Be sure to register your business name with the state in which you plan to do business if your state requires it and check local rules and regulations governing ecommerce in the area in which you live.