Shelley Lowery also bucked trend. Three years ago, she had to choose between sacrificing her favorite name, which was already taken, or making dot compromise.

Lowery took bull by horns and registered her business as http://www.web-source.net . Today, it's a highly- respected guide to professional web design and development with a dedicated following. Lowery says going .net didn't hurt a bit.

"A few years ago it seemed everyone was convinced that if you didn't get a .com domain you were a second class citizen. Things have changed considerably with addition of new domain name suffixes and extended number of characters.

"In my opinion, you have just as much of a chance of your visitors finding you with a .net or .ws suffix as you would if you settled for an alphabet soup domain name like www.learnhowtomarketontheinternet.com"

On other hand, website DotCom.com says we shouldn't be afraid of using a longer name. Shorter isn't necessarily better in scramble for a domain name.

"Just as company names continually break boundaries in effort to be both unique and memorable, so too must domain names extend beyond currently prevailing convention of simple words with as few characters as possible."

But that may end up being a moot point. New technologies and new suffixes (like .info, .pro and .biz, among others) will blow apart dot com obsession.

Internet users will adapt to ever-changing online environment, as they always have. And we'll all be laughing that we were ever so distraught over dot com dilemma.

In meantime, be a rebel. Stay open to options and try to enjoy what should be one of most fun parts of starting a new business - choosing a domain name!

2. Your domain name should be directly related to your offer or information available at your website.

For example, www.webmastercourse.com is directly related to web design training. In monitoring our website statistics, I've noticed that we have many visitors each month who arrive at our website by simply typing in domain name instead of arriving through search engines, other links, etc. Of course, this was not so at start. But, as visitors began coming, they began memorizing domain name and repeating their visits in this fashion.

3. If possible, use a generic name that people might would type in without ever hearing about you.

For example, www.webdesign.com is very generic, and I'm sure many people simply type this name in to see what's available in web design field.

Other "very" generic names I can think of are:

www.soap.com www.cars.com www.boats.com www.computers.com www.calculators.com www.food.com www.pencils.com www.skiing.com etc....

Although many of most popular generic names are reserved, it would be wise to search for most generic name possible in your field that's easy to remember.

The three above tips will help you choose a domain name that will tremendously increase your repeat visitor rate. A website must first be designed, and then built upon a solid visitor flow. A simple, easy-to-remember domain name is a great start to reaching your goal!