4) Hyphens: There have been misunderstandings about whether to use hyphens in a domain name. First of all, the domain name you give out to the public must not have hyphens. The domain name without hyphens is the domain name that everyone will type in the address bar of their Internet browser. The reason that some people say that you should have a domain name with hyphens is to force the search engines to see keywords in your domain name so that your web site does better in search engine results. The bigger search engines can now see individual words without hyphens, however, smaller search engines may not and even the bigger ones may see a word differently than you want.

Thus, the importance of using a hyphenated domain name has diminished. If you wish to use a hyphenated domain name as I did with Lawyer.com, you should also register the unhyphenated domain name which you will forward to the hyphenated domain name. Use the unhyphenated domain name in print and advertising.

5) Extensions: Domain names are available with various extensions, such as .com, .net, .org and many other extensions. If it's really important to you, you can register domain name in several extensions, however, for most firms only the .com extension is important.

If you feel that you need to use .org, you should also register your name in the .com extension.
The .com extension is similar to 1-800 for telephone numbers. Most people automatically dial 1-800 even when they see 1-888. Likewise, most people will type .com even when they see .net or .org. Additionally, many people including myself simply type in the domain name without http://www. or .com and press "Control, Enter". Pressing "Control, Enter" will type http://www. and .com for you, automatically taking you to a web site with .com.

6) Top Level Domain vs. Sub-Level Domains: A sub level domain is a second level domain under a first leveldomain name and can look like yourfirm.freehosting.com. You must have your own domain name. Do not under any circumstances use a free hosting service, since free hosting services will only give you a sub level domain. No one will ever remember it and it's sort of like handwriting your own letterhead.

7) Ethics for Law Firm Domain Names: A website name should be used as an address, not a trade name which is prohibited. Advertise your web site name as an address, a means for people to find your web site, not a trade name. Like a vanity telephone number, some web site domain names can violate legal ethics. Make sure that your web site name avoids use of certain words which could create a potentially incorrect expectation in the mind of the consumer or violate one of the other ethics rules.

Your domain name should not imply that you are better than another lawyer or that you can accomplish something that may not actually occur. Use of words such as "BEST", "TOP", "FOREMOST, "LEADING", "WIN" and similar words in a web site domain name could create a misleading expectation in the mind of the consumer and will violate ethics rules in most states.
For instance, Lawyer.com will likely violate lawyer ethics rules by implying that you are a leading lawyer or the best lawyer. The question is by what standards are you leading or the best and in what? This may be better for a casino, because it will imply that the person who becomes a client of the firm will win money when, that may not happen and even if it does, it's an award for just compensation, not gambling.