How to Choose an Effective Domain Name
If you’re going to be in business, you are going to need to own your own domain name. Here’s a collection of tips and advice to help you make smart domain name choices.
It use to be that having your own domain name added to the professionalism and legitimacy of your organization, branded you as a real business person, and made a great first impression. Nowadays nobody notices your domain name–unless you don’t have one.
It always surprises me when I go to a networking event and someone gives me a business card with superdave19710@yahoo.com as their email address. This person might be very important. They might be a visionary leader and teacher. They might be a great business person, a generous philanthropist, and own a private island in the Caribbean. It doesn’t matter because the first impression I have of them is: “Amateur”.
A web site and an email address to match are the bare essentials for making a decent impression on someone new.
Domain Name Guidelines
So let’s get a domain name that will properly represent you. Here is what I recommend:
#1) Key words
Start with the key words your business revolves around. These key words are the words people will use to find your site or describe what your business will do for them. For example, “StopForeclosure.com” is taken, but try adding other key words in there and see what you can come up with:
StopMyForeclosure.com
StopForeclosureInTexas.com
StopForeclosureToday.com
StopMortgageForeclosure.com
Using your list of key words will make your domain name descriptive. Its’s a good thing if people can take one look at your domain name and know what your web site is about.
Using your key words will also make your domain name search engine friendly. Type some of your key words into the Google Keyword Tool to see how many people are searching those key words each month. I just purchased IncreaseMyWebsiteTraffic.com for use in marketing this web site. Type “increase web traffic” in the Google Keyword Tool and see how many people search for those key words each month. Between the phrases “increase web traffic”, “increase website traffic”, and “increase web site traffic” there are 40,000 searches for these terms a month. I’m getting me a piece of that action.
If you don’t know what keywords are or how to find them, see the tutorial “Key Words: What Are They and What Do You Do with Them?”
#2) Short and Simple
Keep your domain name as short and simple as possible. The shorter it is the easier it is to remember, type into a browser, and pass along to others. Many domain names are getting longer because the short and simple ones are largely taken.
I’ve taken to getting longer names (InternetMarketingForBusinessOwners.com) and then getting the acronym (IMFBO.com). Longer, more descriptive domain names are great for search engines and marketing online (after all, if you see the web address in an ad it doesn’t matter how long it is–you just click it and you’re there) and acronyms are what I use for offline marketing and email addresses (anyplace where people have to type something).
Try not to resort to strange spellings. You see these things a lot (EZ4U.com instead of EasyForYou.com). For the most part they are difficult to remember and when you say them out loud people never write them down correctly. InternetMarketingForBusinessOwners.com still works better than netmkting4bizonrs.com or something like that.
#3) .COM
Register a .com domain name. You can register a .net/.biz/.org etc… name if the .com is taken, but when people type in your web address they’ll either accidentally or purposely type in .com (accidentally because people type in .com out of habit, or purposely because people are curious what is there–either way you’re losing traffic to someone else’s site).
#4) Register Many Names
Register multiple domain names. If you find a domain name that suits you then grab it. They’re inexpensive and you don’t want someone else getting it before you do. When someone else gets it first–that’s when it gets expensive.
Just ask a friend of mine. He found a domain name he really liked, started forming a marketing plan around the name and even named the company after the domain name, and a month later went to purchase it and it was taken. He had to negotiate with the new owner and ended up paying $1,500 for it.
I own dozens of domain names for many different purposes. If a domain name strikes my fancy, I go and get it. Some of them I haven’t ended up using, but for $10/year I’m not complaining.
Conclusion
If you can come up with something simple and descriptive with a .com after it, you’ve got a winner. Put some time into this process.I’ve got some advanced tutorials on the subject of keyword research, and if you could use some more ideas in this area we can talk on my conference call. Depending on your specific business there are other factors to take into consideration. Learn more about the Conference Call and Advanced Tutorials here.
I’ve told you in previous tutorials to just grab a domain name so you can get started. That’s fine for getting started, but once you’ve solidified your business vision, figured out your key words, and know how you’re going to advertise your site, domain names that supports these activities becomes very important.
Other popular Site Planning tutorials:
- Site Planning Basics: See the Big Picture to Save Your Sanity
- How to Build the Best Web Site Possible on Any Budget
- How to Choose an Effective Domain Name