Domain Names
Choosing A Domain Name
Getting your domain name right can make the difference between being a household name and being invisible. Whatever you choose for the domain name, it should be considered the branding of your online business. It identifies you and the products and/or services you offer.
So how do you choose a good one and what makes for a good domain name?
Your domain name should have something to do with what you do as a business, be as short as possible and memorable. For example if you’re selling apples you might have a domain name of weRapples.com, you certainly wouldn’t use the domain name oranges.com! However, having said that, using something that provokes interest, creates humour, is fun can be just the thing that leaves an impression.
When thinking about what you could use for your domain name consider this, you type into the search engine a particular word or phrase in order to find a product you want so chances are other people do the same thing. Consequently if they are looking for shoes and you sell shoes, you need a name that tells them you sell shoes!
Do some research on keywords for the products you sell – keywords are the words or phrases that people use to search for what they want and what you sell.
Domains come in “all shapes and sizes” so your first step is to find and buy the best domain name you can think of. But please beware there are far too many people who use their own names instead of something that is unique and gives a good idea of what their online business actually does.
Finding that perfect domain name that hasn’t already been purchased may be difficult, but here are a few things that may help.
A .com may be your preference because that indicates a global business and is the domain ending most people know. However a domain name ending in the .net is of equal value to the search engines. And, it’s your content that makes the greatest difference in getting you found regardless of a domain name ending in .com or .net.
That said, some people like to play the “domain name game”. Today, you have the option of ‘building’ a domain name, using the best keywords and putting a hyphen in between. Search engines “see” the hyphen simply as a space. Many specialists in Search Engine Optimisation say that hyphenated domain names are actually superior to those where all the words run together. Apparently, with hyphens separating the words, search engines can more easily “see” what the site is about and will list them accordingly in search results using those particular keywords. However there are downsides to using more than one in a domain name, so don’t over do the hyphens.
So if you can't get the domain name that is your first choice, for example greatjellybeans.com, then your next best may be great-jellybeans.com. In many cases, you’ll find that domain is available and you may actually get better results with that than you would have with your first choice.
Selecting a domain name that’s relevant is one key to online success, using your domain name to brand yourself can reap large rewards as well. But the domain name alone won’t do it – you have to have great content to attract people to your site. In addition, you must offer something useful, provocative, interesting, unique, etc. to get noticed.
A domain name that is short, relevant and easy to remember will get people to visit your website but once they are there, it is content that will keep them there long enough to look around and buy .
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