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Think of your site name like everything else online -- keep it simple and think of your users. Is the name available? Is it so similar to another site that it could be confusing to users? Is it logical and easy to remember? Visualize how the url will look in print.
University
Marketing and Communications must approve all domain names for Emory sites, and maintains domain name registration responsibilities. Please send an email to theweb@emory.edu for more information.
We'd like to complicate things a bit now and review three aspects of selecting a simple site name.
Your domain name -- or "web address" -- is a tool for finding your site. It
does not need to be the full proper name of your unit, department or program.
Generally:
- Your site name should be SHORT and memorable. You will probably
need to publish the address in print, and visitors will need to manually
type the address. Make it easy.
- Your site name MUST be unique. (One name cannot
point to two different sites.)
- The name should not be confusing or so similar
to another name that easy-to-make errors lead visitors to the wrong place.
- The name MUST NOT be obscene or off-color.
- The name must not conflict with
or cause confusion with the name of another site -- or potential site --
at Emory, even if that site does not exist yet.
- The name should not be cute ...
unless that's the whole point of the site.
- Avoid three- and four-letter
abbreviations and acronyms, like ECG.emory.edu or CHEM.emory.edu, unless
your audience knows your organization or topic by that abbreviation, contraction
or acronym.
A domain
name -- the address of your site -- becomes a trademark asset of Emory University. The
material on the site is also copyrighted, even if you don't claim copyright.
This comes with responsibility to protect the asset, as well as responsibility
to ensure it does not damage the trademarks of others.
Your web site will play in a commercial space, even though Emory is a nonprofit
educational institution. Other organizations and for-profit enterprises
will compete with your site for visitors (or "eyeballs"), reputation
and authority. The name you choose for your site should not infringe
on commercial interests of other organizations or exploit the success of
others. Do not "borrow" names or use variations of other successful
web addresses in an attempt to attract more visitors to your site.
Exhaustively check variations of your site name to be sure no other business
or organization (or individual) is using something similar that might cause
confusion or create legal issues. This is especially important if you plan
to use a non-emory.edu domain name, such a one that ends in .ORG or .COM. Consider
slight variations that might be commercially exploited or accidentially visited instead of your site.
Most Emory web sites live on
university central web servers maintained by Academic and Administrative
Information Technology. On
this system, fully qualified departments are granted an EMORY.EDU "virtual
domain" such as DEPARTMENT.EMORY.EDU, where "DEPARTMENT" is
a short, intuitive reference to your department or program. In some cases, the university can host
.org or .com names, but these case are rare and must be supported by business
reasons that an emory.edu name will not work or is inappropriate.
For more information about policy covering domain name assignments at Emory,
visit:
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