Domain names cannot start or end with a hyphen.
There are guidelines for determining which endings (.com .net .org .edu
and .gov) go to what types of companies. .edu and .gov are actually
monitored, but there are guidelines for the other endings. These
guidelines are mostly suggestions but they are nearly universally
followed. Generally speaking--
- .com is for commercial businesses
- .net is for network (computer) related organizations
- .org is for non profit groups
- .edu is for 4-year degree granting institutions
- .gov is for US government agencies
- .ca is for Canadian companies
- .us is for US Business--but there is a strict naming policy using
state and town names. For example, if your business is Microsoft, based in
Redmond, Washington, then your domain name would be
microsoft.redmond.wa.us
Finally, you need to make sure no one else already has the domain name you
have in mind. To do this, do a "whois search" by going to this webpage: http://rs.internic.net/cgi-bin/whois