Domain names and extensions

[cat]

Hi all.

I will be creating a website to sell and promote a clothing line. The first thing I want to do is register a domain name.

My first question involves the use of parenthesis in the name. Pardon me if my noobiness is showing, but when I did a search with such a name at Namecheap, some extentions showed up as taken. Is that just an example of the ()'s messing up the search engine?

My other question is about extensions. Do you think it would be better to go with a less desireable name with the .com extension, or use the name I want with a less well known extension?

I really appreciate what I've already learned here, thanks.

(sorry if this isn't the right place for this topic)

[ldcdc]

My first question involves the use of parenthesis in the name.

Domain names can contain letters, numbers and hyphens, but not parenthesis.

The internet's domain name system, which is overseen by ICANN, currently supports just 37 characters - the letters of the Latin alphabet, 10 numerals and a hyphen. (...)

http://www.weboptimiser.com/search_engine_marketing_news/14012391.html

Is that just an example of the ()'s messing up the search engine?

I think so.

Do you think it would be better to go with a less desireable name with the .com extension, or use the name I want with a less well known extension?

Unless the other extension makes a lot of sense for the particular subject/audience of your future site I would go for the .com variant. That is unless the .com is so weird or hyphen rich that it would hold no value on its own and would potentially hinder your branding efforts.

[cat]

Thanks ldcdc.

I was 99% sure about the () but it would be so perfect for my needs that I had to ask.

I'm narrowing down the domain names and I started the process of registering one at Namecheap. I had to stop when the option about name servers came up. I did a little research about it and I have to admit that I'm over my head already. The question is free name server or custom name server. I'm struggling to get a clue as to the implications of this choice.

I plan on getting help setting up the site, but I was hoping that I could at least register a domain. If it's apparent that I'm too green to do even this, please tell me. I'm only asking this question in case it falls into the "no brainer" catagory.

Thanks.

 

   

[ldcdc]

Don't worry about the nameservers bit in relation to your domain. You can choose free nameserver for now. Your host will give you a set of nameservers to use to point your domain to their server, and then you'll use those.

Of course, if you already have a hosting account and the set of namservers from your host, you can choose the custom nameservers option.

Oh, and here's a site that might be of interest: http://www.dncoupons.com/

Above all, don't hurry, do it all at your own pace. The feeling of being overwhelmed isn't good for your morale, so don't let it take hold of you.

Good luck!

[cat]

Thanks again for the help. I'll see if I can return the favor sometime.