There’s a certain statewide ADR association whose website I visit on occasion. Every time I want to go there, I have to Google them or check my bookmarks, because they use a free domain host and the resulting web URL (www.orgname/freehostname.com) is far from memorable. In fact, it does more to advertise the free host than the association. It’s puzzling that, with owning a domain name now so inexpensive ($5-$15 per year) and the cost of hosting equally inexpensive (I pay $7.77 per month and get terrific service), the ADR association has persisted in this approach for almost a decade. And they’re hardly alone among ADR practitioners and associations, unfortunately.

It’s good business sense to have your own domain name (e.g., www.yourbusinessname.com) instead of a generic host’s name, like that of the unnamed association. Here’s why:

• Your own domain name is, ideally, more memorable, and therefore easier to find you online. When people are looking for you or your business, they’ll typically think of it by name.
• Your own domain name conveys professionalism and credibility. Your own domain name, especially in an increasingly web-savvy public, tells your visitors that you take your business seriously. And in a field still struggling to create a professional identity, your professionalism efforts move us all forward.
• Your own domain name conveys stability. Using a free host that inserts their domain into your URL suggests to your visitors that you’re testing the waters and not sure you want to commit for the long haul.
• Your own domain name offers you some control over your site. When you use a site like the unnamed association, if the free host folds, so does your site. When you own your own domain, you can use whatever host you want, like taking your cell phone with you when you switch wireless providers.
• You get email addresses with your domain’s extension (e.g., yourname@yourdomainname.com). Most, if not all, domain name registration services offer a number of free email addresses as part of your package or for a tiny additional fee. This lets you send email that’s got the same professional feel as your domain name. An added bonus is that your email becomes a tiny viral marketing tool…when people see the domain name in your email address, they may be curious enough to check out your site (a new client came to me that way recently…who’d have thunk it?).

The first post in this short series was Naming Your Domain: Make It Easier for Clients to Find You Online. The next post is Your Mediation Domain Name: Strategies for Naming a Website.

Making Mediation Your Day Job by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at MakingMediationYourDayJob.Lenski.com.