Today I purchased my domain names for my future law practice. Yes I know, It is at least 2 years away, but I would hate to wait 2 years just to find my name taken by another person.
The price of a domain name seem small compared to the cost of 3 or 4 years in school. It cost around $50 to buy the domain name for 5 years. That is just a drop in the bucket compared to just my books for one semester. I purchased 2 names because I could not decide which one I liked the best. In the end I will probably link them together.
Domain names get purchased every day. Chance are your first choice is already gone. In 2 years your 10th choice may be gone!! Do not hesitate. Spend the $50 so your solo practice name is waiting for you when you finish this journey and begin the next journey.
Congrats Michael! I bought a few this week as well. It is really hard trying to come up with a brandable name that is still available as a .com.
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Here are some posts you may find worthwhile to read:
http://susancartierliebel.typepad.com/build_a_solo_practice/2008/05/buy-domain-name.html
http://susancartierliebel.typepad.com/build_a_solo_practice/2008/10/buy-your-law-fi.html
Smart move. And always keep on the lookout for more. Better to have and let go then not be able to get when you want!
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I tend to collect domain names – one comes to mind, I buy it for a year. As John said, it’s tough to find a good, branded domain name that you can work with, so I snatch them when I can.
Actually, a lot of web workers do that – we might be the reason John can’t find any .coms!
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I could not agree more. I would suggest all of you get your domains now. Even if you are still in law school. And if you are practicing law now, and you are just starting to think about getting a domain, get it now. Buy your name, but think about a keyword/domain name too. For example, think of your location, practice area and if you can, put lawyer on the end of it.
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Yes, we web workers tend to hang around and buy random domain names when we are bored! I currently have around 85 in the portfolio. I sold one of my domains last summer for $750 as a premium domain, as well. You can always search through the premium domains also, maybe you can find something cool for around $3-500.
Also, while .com is always the best, .net is ok, and I happen to really like the .us domains and might buy a few of those.
Also, I recommend signing up for google AdSense, and using Google’s monetized parking pages. You won’t make any sort of money to shout for, but it might pay for the domain registration for the year.
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I would also like to recommend that you do a Google and USPTO search before registering a domain. You don’t want your first lawsuit as a new solo to be a cybersquatting suit against your firm.
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Oh, I don’t know, John. it would give me something to do. That said, I did do those searches for my most recent acquisition.
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Too bad “Westlaw” was already taken, huh? I’ve been worrying about domain names for a few months. I’ll probably register more than one like you. I’d be interested to hear what you think about strategy for picking names…is serious too serious? Can it have personality?
FWIW – I think a “com” is vital…the extension is important and I’d pass on the ideal first name to preserve the com.
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@Jeff – The main thing to worry about IMO is dashes. Nothing ruins a domain name like dashes. Also, the domain doesn’t have to be too short so long as when you say it out loud, it flows and is easily remembered. For example, lets say I was a CT Estate lawyer. I would say connecticuttrustsandwills.com would be completely fine even though it is lengthy.
That said, it is always best if you can match the domain exactly to your business name. For example, I have ganzlawoffices.com. Most people just assume that your website will be at yourbusinessname.com. Funnily enough, I have had clients who are starting businesses that actually change their business name based on what domain they were able to purchase. A tip for lawyers trying to accomplish this, whether you are an LLC or a PC or whatever, make that distinction a part of how you say your name. When you tell people about your firm, or answer your phone say: “Smith Law LLC.” Why? It is more likely that smithlawllc.com is available than smithlaw.com. If people are accustomed to LLC being an actual part of the business name, people will think “The website is probably smithlawllc.com”
I have been doing web design since I was 14, so if anyone needs anymore help with domain purchasing or hosting advice or (hint hint) needs a website designed, feel free to get in touch. Faculty member, James Chartrand would be a good resource as well. And Dave Carson the tech director too, even though SPU has probably taken over his life.
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I’m with Frank on the “watch which name you choose.” If your domain name is all about SEO, as in, “farkdaleinjurylawyer” and your practice name is, “Stockworth and Perdue LLC,” then you have some serious consistency issues happening.
Your viewers will think they’re on the wrong site and leave. Or they’ll be confused at what your practice name might be.
Here’s another one. If I SEOd my domain name, it would be “canadacopywriter.com” Um, woo. Not really exciting. And my business name is “Men with Pens.” We have conflict.
Also, you may want search engines to help you but search engines aren’t the ones who hire and buy. Reach for people, not machines.
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Jeff- Yes it is too bad westlaw is taken LOL. I did purchase mrwestlaw. I was actually wondering if that was too close to westlaw and they might not like that???? “MRwest” are my initials and last name.
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Frank S. Ganz Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
That’s an awesome domain. I don’t think it’s too close. You are Mr. West and you are a lawyer. Mr. West Law.
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Hehehe…
“WestLaw.com – Because North and South were taken…”
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very funny turn this thread has taken!
Ok, I have a couple of questions on this point –
First, for those non-cyber-savvy of us, do any of you have recommendations for places to purchase domain names (I only know godaddy.com, and have no idea whether that is a good place to start).
Second, thoughts on how a domain name looks. My case in point: My last name ends in 2 “l”s – so I think it looks funny: martelllaw.com (although that domain name is taken). martelllawoffice.com looks even funnier. Is this even worth wasting any energy considering?
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@ Amy – GoDaddy is a visual horror and one of the worst sites to navigate that I’ve ever seen in my career. For those two reasons alone, they don’t get my business. We work with In Motion Hosting for U.S. hosted names (they’re in the Top 10 hosts, if not the top five) and Netfirms for Canadian hosted names
Yes, how your URL reads, types, sounds and will be misspelled are all considerations. For example, “noahandfrank” appears visually as Noa Hand Frank and not Noah and Frank. You’re correct to think that people will only write two lls (because of habit, not paying attention, whatever) or look at it and say, “Something’s wrong with that but I can’t put my finger on what… Oh!”
Knowing that pairing Martell and Law together will create three ls in a row gives you what you need to know: just don’t do it.
Another thought. If all of you choose your last name and then tack on law or legal services… Well, how many lawyers out there are you? How will people be able to distinguish Smithlaw from Joneslaw from Carterlaw…
Don’t box yourself into being just like everyone else, or you’ll end up creating a bad situation of having to work harder to stand out. There’s a reason I didn’t call my business “FreelanceWriterQuebec” – How many freelance writers in Quebec are there already? Way too many for my tastes. But there’s only one Man with Pen (in this country, at least, lol)
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thank you so much for your thoughtful response, James, and your points about distinguishing yourself are well-taken. Carolyn Elefant made a simliar point in her book. I think the question of what do you call yourself as a solo practitioner probably deserves a thread of its own somewhere – it’s a challenge!
I will check out In Motion Hosting today.
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