How to Select a Domain Name
One of the very first things that you need to do, is to pick a domain
name, when you set up your first web site. Domain name selection
is critical to your web site and you need to spend enough time on this
important process to get it right. It should be easy to say, simple
to remember, and easy to say over the phone. It needs to include
keywords,
as you will need to have search engines find your site.
The best names are dot com. Surfers tend to assume there is a dot com
at the end of the names when they type them in. If you pick a different
type such as .org, .tv, .us, or .net, you could lose customers to other
sites that have the dot com version of the name you pick. If you like
a name well enough to use the version other than dot com, you will should
be sure that a competitor in your field does not own the dot com. That
could really be a disaster.
We usually start with a dot com name and if the .net or .org are available,
we will purchase them as well to diversify our project. If you use a
different name for email, for example, you can sometimes simplify the
development of your website. We generally don't fool around with names
other than .com, .net, or .org.
A name for your domain should be as short as you can find. It is usually
possible to find a name consisting of two words with a bit of effort.
One-word names are pretty much gone. The availability of three word names
is common; and if the words are small, the name will not be too large.
An example of this would be:
www.cybermarketingpro.com
You can use dashes in a name. This will separate the keywords for the
search engines. Then, when you use the name in a link, the search engines
will pick up the keywords that you are targeting. A good example is:
your-internet-business-opportunities.com
Many domain registrars have tools available to help you search for unused
domain names and find different combinations for those names. One of
the best registrars is also one of the least expensive. It is located
at www.cyberspaceregister.com
Keep the names for your domain as short as possible, and make sure they
are easy to say over the phone. Names that you have to spell, or explain
the difference between spelled out numbers or numerals, will cause confusion.
The name, domains4you.com is an example. To communicate this domain name
over the phone, you will need to make sure the customer knows you mean "4",
not "four". You will also have to tell them that it is "u",
not "you". This will become a constant time waster if you are
working with customers over the phone.
Stay away from words that are spelled differently for different meanings,
such as "To", "too", "two", and "2".
Another is with the successful website, royaltyware.com. Though it is
not a serious problem, they do have to deal with ware vs. wear in their
telephone support with this site.
When I pick a name, I usually look at a two word definition of what
I am trying to market, or the mental image I am trying to present. I
will run these two words through an online thesaurus. Then, when I have
a list of each, I will try different combinations until I find one that
flows well, is not terribly confusing, sounds nice when spoken, and doesn't
need to be spelled out 50 times a day. You will be amazed at how many
really excellent dot com names, using two words, are still available.
Sometimes when I am looking for a domain, I will end up buying two or
three for later use, or resale. In fact, you might even purchase domain
names that are close misspellings of your original name. Many companies
make use of search engine misspellings, to sell their products on pages
developed, just to pivk up the traffic from misspelled searches.
When we name a new software product, we name the product with available
domain names in mind. Our free affiliate organizer software is called
Affiliate File Cabinet. We chose the name and purchased affiliatefilecabinet.com at
the same time. That not only puts critical keywords in the domain name,
it also ties the domain name directly to it's product.
Return from Choose Your Domain
Name Carefully to website development
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