A domain name is your website's address on the Internet. More than just an address, a domain name is part of your website's image and is one of the first things people see if your domain name is listed by a search engine.

Ideally, you want a domain name that identifies what your website is or does, but isn't so long that people can't remember it if you advertise through mainstream media.

Domain names are like 800 numbers. Dot com (.com) domains are the most popular domain names and the most sought after. If you're lucky, the domain name you have in mind is available. If not, you will need to get creative or make an offer to the owner of the domain you want.

Buying a domain is not difficult and there are several domain registration sites to choose from. Prices vary depending on the registrar and other factors, but generally speaking you should not pay more than $9.95 for a .com domain for a one year period.

Search Marketing Corporation uses Yahoo as a domain registrar. Yahoo's purchase process and domain management tool are fairly straight forward, and they usually offer great deals for first time buyers. Search Marketing Corporation also uses Godaddy. GoDaddy has some of the lowest domain purchase prices in the industry, but their purchase and management tools are a challenge to use. If you are not careful, it's easy to end up buying options you may not want. Yahoo does not currently allow for domain transfers, so if you purchased a domain from another owner, you will need to transfer it to GoDaddy or another registrar.