2. Headfirst into the concept and name of the site

Site concept and planning

A site that is not planned is usually terrible to use. A site that is well thought out is likely to maximise repeat site usage through attractive features and minimise the loss of visitors due to impatience.

Now you have a fairly messy tree diagram in front of you - is there a better way of doing it? Can you simplify the navigation? Have a look at some similar sites to the one you are going to build. What makes the best sites good is ease of use and having somewhere to go.

Domain names and alternatives (the name of the site)

What should the site be called? Many sitenames (where you choose one such as sitename.com it is called a domain name) are taken.

There are alternatives to domain names (domain names give the siteowner the most control over a name), as most internet access includes some free space and there are some free services that exist (such as free services for blogs and free web space that often includes advertising).

These latter options tend to give the site owner less control over a site name. It may not be appropriate to have your own name as the site name (be very careful about putting your personal phone number(s) and address on any website as once it is released it is hard to take back). So you might want to have some sort of anonymous name, but note that it is hard to remain anonymous with whois tools for mining information such as that from domain tools and dns stuff.

Six tips on choosing a domain name, some of these tips also apply to any site name:

1. make the name fairly short (to allow good promotion and memorability of the name),
2. minimise mistakes in typing by avoiding numbers (they can also be spelt) or words that have alternate spellings in names, so the domain name can be easily typed in,
3. don't buy a domain name from the same place as you get hosting, so you can easily move the hosting for any reason,
4. check out the reputation and pricing of the domain registrar using resources such as google groups and other websites and make sure that they can provide domain names (ICANN registrars can),
5. you may not want to make the domain name too personal (you may want to transfer the site at some point), and
6. avoid brand-names and trademarks, as this reduces the risk for dispute over names later on. ATMOSS from IP Australia allows you to search registered trademarks in Australia.

There are a number of domain name buying guides which I won't replicate here - see for example, the Domain names buying guide from PC World Australia and the ICANN FAQ. You may wish to checkout namecheap or godaddy (both US based).