23rd May 2001

We all like to have our own little patch of grass we call home, but as they say, the grass is always greener on the other side. As far as the Internet is concerned, there are no sides, so your grass is just as green as the next guy's. When you create your patch of land, otherwise known as a domain name, you should be sure that people can easily find your place without directions. Getting lost on the Internet is a real problem, particularly for pizza deliver guys. Anyway, try to pick a name that is clearly understood at first glance, easy to spell if possible, and avoid dashes (and other special characters), numbers, and double letters when squishing two words together. All of these can be cornfusing. Also take into account potential sound-alike terms. For instance, some think that Gnome is spelled as Nome or Knome, not being familiar with the English term. This has been a problem for me in the past and I still have to spell L-o-c-k-e-r-g-n-o-m-e every radio show just to make sure that new listeners go to the right site. Your domain name is very important, so take a spot of time to consider how you will construct your new property.