The domain name or website name is the first element of a website people come in to contact with when visiting your website. When your site shows up on SERP's (Search Engine Result Pages) or as a link on another site, the domain name provides people some level of information as to what your site is about, or at least it should. When you advertise your website VIA news print, brochures, sales copy or other printed material your domain name is a prominent component of the material and should be descriptive of your subject.

If your domain name is irrelevant or misleading, you will quickly alienate your visitors. Another way to sour a potential visitor is to have a long or difficult to remember domain name. A successful domain name will be easy to spell, easy to remember, relevant, short as possible and if possible one of your main SEO keywords or key phrases.

Choose a Good Domain Name

Before you develop a website it's imperative that you find a domain name or website name that's appropriate for your business. Sometimes this is done with relative ease, and other times it can be quite difficult. You see the internet now contains billions of websites and each one of those websites have a domain name. Chances are that perfect website name you've been dreaming of is already taken.

If you find that the name you would like to have for your site is already taken don't get too discouraged. Fortunately there are other possible names that are just as good. Make a list of relevant words that are either descriptive of your business name or product/service. Play around with combinations of these words. For example webhostinggoods is a combination of relevant words relating to a web hosting company. Putting these words together make for a good domain name that meet the criteria mentioned above.

You should keep in mind that even if the domain name you want is already taken, it still may become available by purchasing it from the owner. Many domain names are owned by entrepreneurs that seek buyers. You can find the owner of a domain name by checking the www.whois.com database. Of course buying a domain name as opposed to registering one will cost you more but it may very well be worth the extra expense.

You Must Register Your Domain Name

There are many places where you can register domain names, including:

* WebHostingGoods.com

* Yahoo!

* MyDomain

* Register.com

* GoDaddy

* NetworkSolutions

The above registrars are all ICANN accredited and provide the popular TLD's (.com, .net, .org, .info) and all other TLD's that are available today. I find that most registrars work pretty much the same by providing the tools to select an available domain name, however pricing can vary from one company to another. There is no disadvantage to choosing the lowest priced domain name fee.

Where to Buy Used Domain Names

If you want to buy domain names that are already registered, and may already have a page rank or would just rather not register a new domain, then you can search domain auctions and for sale websites for names that are available.

Many forums have people selling domain names including forums like Digital Point, Sitepoint, DN Forum and Namepros. You will find many cheap domain names there, just watch out for scams. Research the history of the domain names before buying, and never spend more than $500 on a domain name without paying through Escrow for safety reasons.

Alternatively, you can visit the domain name aftermarket from GoDaddy at tdnam.com. This site has tens of thousands of used domains for sale from $5 up to the six-figure mark. There are auctions and ?buy it now? listings there as well.

Other auction sites include Pool.com, Afternic, Sedo and SnapNames. You should become more familiar with domain terminology and market trends before buying domain names at auction, as prices can easily get out of hand.

Which Domain Extension Is Best?

In just about all cases, .com should be the domain name extension that you aim to acquire. There are a few exceptions to this, namely .org for non-profit organizations, .tv for sites focused on television, and international extensions for sites based in certain countries.

Regardless of which alternative extension you choose, aim to also own the .com version so that you protect your brand against copycats or competitors. .Com always has, and will probably always be, the most popular and well-known domain name extension.

Whichever method you choose to buy domain names, make sure they match your websites, are short and memorable, and will attract users to click through to your websites.

Things that make a good domain name

When creating a name for your site keep these five simple criteria in mind:

1. Keep it short

2. Make it memorable

3. Relate it to the business name or core business

4. Make it easy to spell

5. If possible it should contain or be a main SEO keyword or key phrase.