Domain Names - Choosing The Right One

Are you trying to figure out how to make a website? The mechanics of this process can be a bit confusing, even for the most computer literate individuals. Thankfully, there are several online programs you can use free or for a modest charge that will take you step by step through the process. However, the one area of website building that does not seem to get a great deal of attention is choosing and finding the right domain name.

Domain Names

A domain name is basically your address for online real estate, yet unlike the real world where people might drive down the street and find your business, the internet is a vast place and routing traffic can be a nightmare. Your first line of defense for getting people to your site will be finding the right domain name. No matter how good your instruction on how to make a website may be, if no one can find you what was the point?

In the early days of the internet finding catchy, easy to remember dot com domains was easy. Today, this is rarely the case. Single word dot coms are pretty much non-existent and the longer the name the harder it will be for people to remember it! This has left more than one would be website owner in a pickle.

Rules of Engagement

In order to find the right domain name and secure it, you need to keep some basic rules in mind. Here is a couple to get you started:

Keywords are big when it comes to online traffic, what will people type into the search engine to find sites similar to your own? While it is very important that you understand this is just the tip of the iceberg when talking about search engine optimization, finding a domain name that includes a hot search topic is a nice starting point. There are several online tools that can help you determine which phrases or words are getting a lot of monthly searches.

Keep it simple; do not try to snatch your favorite keyword phrase domain by adding hyphens or numbers in place of words. This can work, but only in a limited fashion because people will forget or become confused when trying to remember the domain name. If you are selling, car parts you would probable love to get your hands on cars dot com, which is highly unlikely but do not compromise by choosing carz dot com.

Conclusion

How to make a website is a question asked by thousands of people each and every day. The answers to the question will vary depending on your goals, skills and budget. One thing that is not variable is choosing the right domain name. If you get the domain name right, you will find the rest will often fall into place.

Tips for Choosing A Perfect Domain   The Domaining Home Business Model for Entrepreneurs   Finding a Short, Easy to Remember Domain Name - It's Possible!   Get Your Online Presence Started With An Effective Domain Name   Why Domain Age Matters   In the Social Media Age, You Still Need Your Domain Name   

Choosing A Website Name - What If I Choose The Wrong One?

Choosing a website name is a tough decision. It is so difficult for some people that they never get their business online because they feel they will make the wrong choice.

Is there a right or a wrong way to about choosing a website name? If you don't choose the right one, will anyone ever find your site? Has this happened to you? You have a great idea for an online business, but you never buy a domain name?

You would be surprised, or maybe not, how many people this happens to. Well, it doesn't have to be that way. I am going to give you 5 simple rules on how to choose the right domain name for your website.

Rule #1 - Your domain name should be easy to remember.

For example, if you have a business and you sell cat greeting cards, what names do you think you should look for? Well, the obvious would be catgreetingcards.com. This domain name is easy to remember because that is what you sell, cat greeting cards.

Rule #2 - Your domain name should be as short as possible.

Catgreetingcards.com is pretty short. But you could shorten it to catcards.com or kittycards.com or even kittycatcards.com. Do you see what I mean? You wouldn't want to have a domain name like specialkittengreetingcards.com. That name, in my opinion, would be too long.

Rule #3 - Don't be clever with your domain name choice.

Let me be more specific. Don't make up fake words for your domain name or use incorrect spellings because it looks cute or different. The more difficult you make the spelling of the words in your domain name the harder it will be for people to remember it. Let me explain what I mean by that.

Let's go back to the example of the cat greeting cards site. Let's say that you pick the domain name kutekittykatkards.com. This is cute (or kute) and different, but how many people would type the letter "c" instead of the letter "k"? The result? Your customers would end up on a totally different site than yours.

Rule #4 - Always use the.com extension.

The reason behind this is that the.com extension is universally known, unlike the .org or the.net extensions. However, there are exceptions to every rule and I do believe that there are exceptions to this rule.

Let's say that you live in the UK and your site is specific to the UK. Then, you would want to use a geographically specific extension to the UK. I also believe that if you absolutely cannot find the domain name that you really want with a .com extension, you should look at the.net extensions. They are becoming more popular because so many of the.com extensions are taken.

Rule #5 - Pick a domain name that is related to the theme of your site.

Let me show you exactly how to do this. Using your keyword tool, search for the theme of your site and then look for related words. For example, if you look for cat cards, your related keywords are Siamese cat cards, talking cat cards, unique cat cards, etc.

There are literally hundreds of related keywords for you to choose from. Consider this, when you choose a good related keyword for your domain name, this will really help you in the SEO department also.

So, can you choose the wrong domain name? No, not if you follow the rules that I have set out here. It won't be difficult. Just remember to use your keyword tool to help you.

Tips for Choosing A Perfect Domain   The Domaining Home Business Model for Entrepreneurs   Finding a Short, Easy to Remember Domain Name - It's Possible!   Get Your Online Presence Started With An Effective Domain Name   In the Social Media Age, You Still Need Your Domain Name