The Advantage of Using a Domain Name for Business

What sort of image does a website address such as http://homepages.yourfreehostingisp.co.uk/~joebloggs/widgets/index.htm present to prospective customers?

Or what about an e-mail address such as
joebloggs-widgets@yourfreehostingisp.co.uk?

Well, not businesslike anyway! Or professional! In fact, if that's the way you treat your self - well, perhaps I begin to wonder how you'll treat me as a prospective customer.

But don't take my word for it!

Internet domain registration and hosting provider Easily has recently conducted a survey of some 1500 consumers. They asked who they would trust most - an e-mail address with a bonafide domain name or one with a hotmail address (hey, we're not even talking about "yourfreehostingisp").

The results are overwhelming.

88% of people responded that they would choose a business using a properly registered domain name - such as www.intco.biz - which they saw as displaying "a more professional and trustworthy organisation".

But that's not all.

Amongst the 16 to 24 year olds - now these are the guys who were born with a computer in their hands - a massive 95% stated that they would prefer to trust a business with a real domain address.

Read the full Easily report at http://easily.co.uk/?exe=tkconsumerresearch2 where Easily urges small businesses to consider the hidden costs of free e-mail.

More reasons for using a domain name in business

Your domain name is part of your branding and your marketing. If you publish an e-mail address which belongs to your Internet Service Provider or to a free e-mail service, you will miss out on potential customers who will say, "ah, the e-mail is joe@joebloggs.com, I wonder if he's got a website. I know, I'll try www.joebloggs.com and see".

You may wish to change your ISP. If your e-mail address belongs to your Internet Service Provider and you decide you want a change, you will need to change your e-mail address and notify all your customers and suppliers. What a waste of time and effort- and you're bound to lose a few contacts along the way. If you use a domain name for your e-mail you can change ISP as often as you like without any hassle or disruption to your normal business communications.