Selecting a domain name sounds like it would be an easy thing to do, but with every day that passes the number of domains under registration increases and you will find that even names that seem unlikely to be taken in fact are already used or squatted on.  Squatting on domain names was a huge and very profitable industry for years, especially during the dotcom boom of the tech industry, but in the last years some legislation and court decisions have decreased this practice, but not eliminated it.  We will talk about the factors of getting a "good" domain name in later posts.

If your name is famous and someone else is using that name as a domain name then you may have a case to sieze the name to prevent abuse.  If you register a domain with the letters ebay anywhere in the name you can expect to get a scary letter form Ebay about how you are forbidden from using that domain.  Ultimately you can do whatever you want, but it behooves you to know the possible consequences.  While a company like Ebay cannot bar you from using a domain name that contains their name in it, they are also equally free to sue you over it.  If your name is Susan Debayer then you certainly have a clear right to own SusanDebayer.com, but that doesn't mean the legal machine won't send you a nastygram anyways.  (by the way I don't know anyone with that name and just made it up to fit my example, my apologies if I picked your name out of thin air)

Stick to names that are defensible by you or your organization.  If you pick a domain name that leverages someone else's reputation (even by a misspelling of that name) then be prepared for someone to come after you which will likely take both the fun and the profit out of the entire endeavor.

Domain Name Terminology
The name used to identify a web site on the Internet.  There are levels to domains so that the owner of abc.com can also use public.abc.com or private.abc.com in addition to any other prefix desired.  These examples are called sub-domains of abc.com.  Technically even the .com at the end is a domain, but we call .com, .net, .org, .us and the many other suffix domains top level domains.  They are used strictly to classify.  The rules are very loose so if you are a non-profit you don't have to use .org though that is what people have come to expect.

Price:
The price is pretty variable for registering a domain name on the Internet.  If you use Network Solutions then you can expect to pay up to twice the price you can get elsewhere, but you are registering with the source, the central registrar.  Some people think this will ensure they get changes done faster, but I don't buy it and I don't register my domains with Network Solutions.  Look at our list of links to see who I recommend for domain registration.

Availability: (Good Luck)
While there are literally as many domain names as there are combinations of letters and numbers there are some rules for how to get a good domain name.  While we will talk about that exercise alot in the future for now realize that if you thought of it then it is likely taken.  Check before you build your expectations too high.  If you want to check go to www.NetworkSolutions.com and they have the faculity for you to search for domain names and determine which are taken and which are available.  Any site that sells domain names (registers them) will also have this functionality, but I recommend you visit Network Solutions at least once (who knows maybe their prices will drop).