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The "E"s and "I"s

The "E" and "I" Prefixes

One of the most popular marketing trends today is the use of prefixes. For example, eLoans markets with an e to indicate to its potential customers that a loan may be obtained online.

The two primary prefixes are 'E' for electronic, and 'I' for Internet. Both indicate the word/phrase following it can be found online. The rapidly increasing use of the prefixes in conjunction with main dictionary and/or commercial terms is increasing and for some technology and Internet companies is actually preferred.

One of the reasons that make a domain with a prefix more valuable for a brand, is the ability to simply promote the name without the use of .com in the promotion. For instance, Apple can just advertise iTunes and people will naturally go to iTunes.com to find it.

Another example of a prefix is WebMD. They don't need to advertise that they are online, because that is inferred by the word web at the beginning of their name. People will assume that it is a .com.

Domain Name Confusion

There is one more factor that I want you to take into consideration when choosing your domain name. Domain names are not case-sensitive, so make sure that there is not more than one way to say them. For instance, a therapists' network names therapistfinder.com could also be read the rapist finder instead of therapist finder. Or the website of an Italian power generator company, powergenitalia.com could be read power genitalia instead of powergen italia. Then there is the Experts Exchange, the programmers' site that used for a long time expertsexchange.com. They have changed the name to experts-exchange.com.

But before you rush out to get your domain name, I recommend you read the rest of this course.