• by dave.b , Max Kalehoff , July 9, 2010

Who owns the Web site address www.[your child's first and last name].com? Hopefully you do!

Internet domain names are hugely important in establishing identity and visibility on the Web -- not only for brands, but for people. That's why I registered my own name several years ago.

However, I never registered the domains of my kids' names, but I should have. I was reminded of how important this is during the last recording of the Cast of Dads, a daddy podcast I cohost. So I immediately went out and registered them. The cost is less than $10 per year per domain, and sites like GoDaddy and Dreamhost make it easy. My family's last name is not common, so there's little competition for related domain names (though my dad registered Kalehoff.com before I could). Still, I want to ensure my kids own their Internet domain names, so they - and nobody else -- can chose what to do with the names.

I made their domain names their first name plus last name plus the domain suffix .com (as in, maxkalehoff.com). People usually identify others by their first and last names, and that's how they research them in search engines. There are numerous Internet domain suffixes -- for example, .org, .biz, .net, etc. -- but I registered their names only with .com because it is the most ubiquitous and important. You could drive yourself crazy trying to register a domain name with every suffix. If your child's name is already registered to someone else, you should consider purchasing it from the owner. If that's not feasible, you may wish to pick a variation of the name, or defer to another popular suffix.

In the future, I believe there's a possibility that Internet domain names may become less important. But until then, I'd rather ensure my kids have first right over their Internet domain name -- a key element of their identity on the Web.

It's one of the most important and least expensive gifts you can give your children -- or any loved one, for that matter.