Your domain name acts as a lure for visitors to your site. It diffuses all over the Web into various search engines, discussion boards and forums to attract users to your site. Once it draws them in, the rest of your site is responsible for selling them your idea. But this initial period of drawing customers in requires a dynamite domain name. When selecting your domain name...
1. Keep It As Concise As Possible You have the luxury of using up to 67 characters to register your domain but only use this space if you have to. Otherwise, keep it as short and sweet as possible. Although nearly all of site visits are via click-throughs and not typed in URL's, having a domain that's easy to remember can help you in both your online and offline promotions. So use the keyword search wisely and use the most popular search terms for a high impact domain.
2. Dot What? .com - plain and simple. Although there are numerous suffixes, don't use them. Even today, the most recognizable and most associated Web address is .com so stick with what works. If you feel a compelling urge to try something different like .net, .biz, etc. run the site parallel to a .com and prove to yourself which site is performing better. Also, many web browsers will automatically insert a .com by default if the ending suffix isn't inserted - another reason to use .com.
3. Avoid Trademarked Names Unless you have an endless supply of time and money to spend fighting trademarked names, keep clear of other people's identities. Use an original domain name that is rich in keyword content to attract quality traffic. If you knock off somebody else's name/identity, it only harms your online reputation and can result in very costly lawsuits. And companies are more than willing to pay. Are you?
4. Register Your Domain NOW Don't delay! The euphoria domain name buying has created is seeing droves of people rushing to grab the best names they can get their hands on. Don't con yourself thinking 'nobody will ever think up of this domain' - they are probably saying the same thing to themselves too. Don't talk yourself out of getting a hot domain name because of what might or might not happen. Just grab it first, and then you can do what you want with it later. And you don't need to be a computer nerd to get one. Just follow the simple instructions on this site and you will have your domain name minutes from now.
5. One Domain Name May Not Be Enough You may have to register different versions of your domain if you are selling a large variety of products. You can do this by registering similar addresses consistent with your business and have them all direct to one website. You can increase your visibility on search engines by doing this and it gives the impression your company is a lot bigger (hence more secure and established) than what it really is. This helps to build faster credibility with your customers.
6. Character Types This is pretty straightforward: Letters, dashes and numbers are ok, spaces and symbols aren't. Also domain names are not case-sensitive; it doesn't matter how you enter the address ie: domain.com is the same as DOMAIN.com.
7. Ask Around Before you finalize your domain selection, make sure you use the appropriate keyword search tools and include the most frequently searched terms into your domain. Keep in mind, most people will find your domain name via search engines, not direct URL entries. This is more reason to ensure your keyword selection is relevant to your business. Also, ask reputable online experts if you aren't sure.
8. Don't Shell Out Large Amounts of $$$ In the Dark Ages of 1998, companies were charging enormous amounts of money plus a "mandatory" $70 InterNIC fee to register and host your domain. And customers were shelling out money only to realize, it was eating away at their profit margins. Since 'e' is for electronic, it was supposed to be streamlined and more efficient right? So why the high costs? Well, things have literally changed overnight. There are hundreds of companies now offering domain name registration services for very competitive rates. You can get yours for next to pennies. Active-Domain has incredibly low prices together with several FREE services other companies still charge for like e-mail, sub-domains and site redirection.
One final tip: We can't emphasize this enough - as soon as you find your 'dream' domain and are excited about it - register it! Don't kick yourself later and lament on 'what could have been'. New domains are being registered every minute - don't let yours fall into the 'other guy's' hands.
Domain name registration has become rather difficult these days because most top-level domains like .com, .net, .org etc., are already starting to fill up. Therefore, finding a short name that is easy to remember and relates to your website, product or services can be rather challenging. Something that can help you in choosing a domain name is removing the excess word standard that many have come to rely on lately. Websites that have names a mile long are available and easy to register for very cheap prices. However, what are the chances for someone to remember them or visit them frequently?
There are some things that you should not do when choosing a domain name. You should not use more than three words when naming your domain. The name you want for domain registration should be right for your business, but should also make a catchy statement that most people tend to memorize and popularize. Many registration sites offer alternative suggestions when searching for the name you desire. These scripts use dictionaries for processing synonyms and antonyms of the words you included in your search. If the name you have searched is not available for domain registration, they will suggest other similar names. You can use such tools when you want to find the appropriate name.
You should not hyphenate the name of your domain. People tend to forget names with hyphens, because the brain focuses on letters when associating names and tends to ignore the symbols. If a domain registration name is very appealing, but is already used, there is no recommendation stating that you should use hyphens to keep that name. Nevertheless, if you cannot go around using hyphens, you should try to limit the name you use for domain registration to two words separated by a hyphen.
Another thing you should avoid when searching for a domain name is using numbers. Some people use numbers for the entire name. Numbers are rather difficult to remember for most people. Consequently, using them as a website address is not very efficient. All websites have an IP address consistent of a large string of digits. Memorizing all the IP addresses of the domains you know is not as handy as their names and it would defy the purpose of the DNS. If you would plan to use a number for registering domain names, you would be better off using a static IP address from your web provider.
These are the most important things you should not do. However, some aspects might work in your best interest. You should pick a domain name that is similar to other popular domain names. Contrary to common beliefs, this can be a useful tool for getting free traffic to your website with the help of ?hit and miss browsers?. There are people who accidentally or intentionally misspell the name of a popular domain. This happens because they want to see if there is registration for the name or if a similar website exists. Others just omit or add a letter or two when typing. This enables them to visit your site. Obviously, this is beneficial for you. When using the similarities of the names as a tool, you can also register the same name but with another extension like .biz, .name, .info and others like that.
Another way you can increase the effectiveness of your website is by mixing and matching common web words found in thousands of popular domains. These words are ?internet?, ?online?, ?web? and ?e?. Given these guidelines, the domain name you choose should be consistent of short, popular words and phrases in order to make it efficient.
Both Sammer Hakim & Kenwilson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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