Choosing Domain Names For Your Website

Choosing domain names for your website is important, as the domain name that you choose is like the signpost that leads people to your site. Seeing as there are millions of websites online that may or may not be just like yours, people have no way of knowing what you are trying to promote if your domain name doesn't make it clear. There are many things to keep in mind when trying to choose a domain name, and here are a few tips that can make the selection process easier for you:

Think of the keywords that you are using for your website, and consider using some of the keywords as your domain names. Brainstorm to come up with the top 5 keywords that will best describe your site, and play around with them to see if you can come up with some clever ways to use them as the domain name for your website.

Make sure that your domains are as unique as possible, as there are going to be many other websites that have names similar to yours. If your website is "funnystuff.com" and someone else owns "funnystuffs.com" and "funnystuff.net", you may find that your potential visitors may end up visiting your competitor instead. The uniqueness of a domain name is one of the things that makes Twitter, YouTube, and eBay such successes, as no one had domain names remotely similar to these sites when they first launched.

You may be tempted to choose a .net or .biz domain if the .com name that you want is available. DON'T! You will find that most people will automatically enter.com or hit Shift + Enter to add the .com automatically when typing a website URL. Change your desired name in favor of another.com that you can own.

Make sure that your website domain is easy to type. Most people hate using the "-" when trying to input URLs, and you should avoid using letters that are on the extreme ends of the keyboard, particularly Z, X, Q, and P. The easier it is for the people to type in your website's URL, the easier it will be for them to visit it regularly.

Choose a name that people will remember easily. Notice how Monster.com and Amazon.com are far more memorable than Jobs.com and Books.com, as their names are unique and easily memorable. If you can find a name that people will associate with your website's "brand" in their mind, you will find that you can get far more visitors than competing sites with generic names.

Keep it short when possible, despite the fact that the short domain names are the most expensive. It may be well worth it to pay for a short domain name that is easy to type and easy to remember, as that will ensure that people will learn about your site quickly and will find it much easier to remember the URL.

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How to Name a Website

When choosing how to name a website for your local business what you are really choosing is a Domain Name, also called a Web address or URL. This name is linked to an IP address which represents a physical point on the Internet. When someone types your domain name into a Web browser, your Web page displays. Your domain name is arguably the most important aspect of creating a small business website.

This article includes three strategies you can use when choosing your domain name, plus lists three pros and cons of each strategy to consider before making your final choice...

STRATEGY 1 - Use Your Business Name: If you are a new business choosing a domain name may be easier to accomplish because you can choose your business name and domain name at the same time. If you are an existing business this may be more difficult to achieve because there are times when your specific business name is not available as a domain name.

Pros

Easy for your customers to remember Keeps your online branding consistent with your physical store If a potential client sees an advertisement with your business name they can easily Google your name and be directed to your website

Cons

Your business name may not be available as a domain name Your business name may not contain important search terms relating to your trade or products Your business name may be long

STRATEGY 2 - Use Your Name: Using your name for your business name is definitely a personal choice that makes more sense for some businesses over others. For example, being a sole proprietor I use my name for my website URL. Even though I am still in the same industry, over the last 10 years or so the services I offer have evolved and my customer base has changed with it. But because my website URL is not tied to any specific product or service it will always be relevant to my business.

Pros

Easy for customers to remember Personalizes your business Very flexible as your business evolves over time

Cons

You may want to keep your name and your business name separate If you decide to sell your business using your name may make it more difficult Not search engine friendly

STRATEGY 3 - Use Your Service/Product and Region You Serve: When people use a search engine to find products/services locally they will generally type in the product/service plus the nearest city they feel they can get the product/service at. This is the number one way people look for local businesses like photographers, florists, stylists, salons, etc.. By having a domain such as citynameproduct.com you have helped your position in search results improve greatly because the domain name is the most important factor for a site's ranking in search engine results. It can be difficult to get the most searched terms as domains though because many people already know of this strategy. Plus if your domain name is losangelesflowers.com and you also have a store in San Francisco you can see how that doesn't help local traffic in your San Francisco location.

Pros

Search engine friendly Obvious what you do Obvious where you are

Cons

Not a unique name You may offer multiple services or products You may service more than one area

Additional guidelines to consider when choosing how to name a website for your local business:

Keep the name as short as possible: A short domain name is not always an option because 99.9% of single word domains are already taken so we are forced to choose longer names. But as a general rule, the shorter the better because it is easier to remember. Choose a.com:.com names are the most widely recognized names on the internet. If you are forced to choose a.net or.biz most likely the.com version of your name is already taken. Your customers WILL type in the.com version of your domain name when they are looking for your website. This will confuse your customers, or even worse, send them to your direct competitor's website. Be hesitant about using hyphens (-) in your domain name: Names with a hyphen in them carry less weight than a name without. For example: losangeles-flowers.com is viewed as a less important name than losangelesflowers.com as far as search engines are concerned. Plus verbally telling someone your domain name when you have to say "los angeles (hyphen) flowers (dot) com" can be confusing.

As you can see, choosing how to name a website for your local business requires a lot of planning and thought. I highly recommend considering each of these three strategies when choosing your domain name. Researching available domain names using each of these three strategies will ensure that the choice you make will be relevant for your business now and in the future.

Discover How To Register A Domain Name   Domain Privacy   Domain Monitor - How to Catch an Expiring Domain   Do You Really Need a Dot Com (.com) Domain Name? Maybe Not!   

Choosing the Right Domain Name for Your Website - A Step As Important As Any Other

Choosing a good domain name for your website is like choosing a good name for your newborn; it gives your website an identity, personality and character, and is ultimately responsible for creating value for your brand. For the perfect example, look no further than Facebook - a word that has now become a household term all around the world!

And it's not even that hard, there are countless domain name search tools and websites out there that do this job for you!

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine that you're finally realizing that lifelong dream of yours - starting your very own business! What would the first step in this process be? Giving your business an identity, a name. Regardless of whether your new venture is a brick-and-mortar business or an online one, having a website is as imperative as the business itself. You need to be very careful the name, or in other words, the domain name of your website since it will ultimately become something your business will be widely known by, and you will then be stuck with it forever. But not to worry, since there are domain name search tools that help you with this particular process.

A good domain name should be, among other things, short, memorable, easy to remember, should at a glance explain the nature of your website, and should have commercial appeal. Make sure you check for spelling errors, and any potential legal problems or copyright issues that could arise in the future, before settling for a name.

Then follows the actual process of obtaining your domain name. Fortunately for you, there are domain name search tools that can be of immense assistance with this process. You also need to determine which domain extension, or TLD (Top Level Domain) you will be going for - .com, .org, .net, etc. Using domain name search tools and/or websites will help you with finding the right name, and I personally suggest going with the good old.com TLD.

Once you enter your desired name into a domain name search tool, it immediately tells you whether this domain is available or not. It even recommends the best cheapest places you could buy this domain from. Furthermore, these domain name search tools not only help you with finding the best-value-for-money domains, they even assist you with finding a good hosting service for your shiny new website.

Other things to consider when choosing a domain are: keeping it simple, preferably using keywords which would enhance your search engine visibility, and finally avoiding numbers or slang.

Discover How To Register A Domain Name   Domain Privacy   Domain Monitor - How to Catch an Expiring Domain   Do You Really Need a Dot Com (.com) Domain Name? Maybe Not!   Tips for Choosing A Perfect Domain