How To Pick A Domain Name That Works

One of the first things that you will need to do when you set up your first web site is to choose the domain name. You should spend enough time on this critical process to get it right. It should be simple to remember, easy to say, and easy to hear over the phone. It should include keywords, as you'll want to use search engines to find your site.

The best domain names are dot com. Your customers tend to assume the dot com at the end of domain names. If you pick a different type such as .org, .tv, .us, or .net, you will lose customers to the other sites who have the dot com version of the name you pick. If you like a name well enough to use the version other than dot com, you will need to be sure that a competitor in your field does not own the dot com. That can really spell disaster.

We usually start with a dot com name and if the others are available, we will purchase them as well to diversify our project. If you use a different domain name for email, for example, you can sometimes simplify the development of your website.

A domain name should be as short as possible. You'll find that two words for a name is usually possible to find with some effort. One-word names are mostly gone. Availability of three word domain names is common; and if the words are small, the name will not be too large. An example of this would be...

cybermarketingpro.com

You can use dashes in a domain name. This will separate the keywords for the search engines. Then, every time you use your name in a link, the search engines will pick up the keywords that you are targeting. A good example is:

your-internet-business-opportunities.com

Many domain registrars have tools available to help you search for unused domain names and find different combinations for those names.

Keep your domain names as short as possible, and make sure they are easy to say over the phone. Names that you have to spell, or differentiate between spelled out numbers, or numerals will cause confusion. The domain, domains4you.com is an example. To communicate this domain name over the phone, you will need to make sure the customer knows you mean "4", not "four". You will also have to tell them that it is "u", not "you". This will become a frustrating waste of time if you are handling sales over the phone.

Stay away from words that are spelled different for different meanings, such as "To", "too, "two", and "2". Another is with our successful website, royaltyware.com. Though it is not a serious problem, we do have to deal with ware vs. wear in our telephone support with this site. We didn't even see this one coming.

When I pick a domain name, I will usually look at a two word definition of what I am trying to market, or the mental image I am trying to present. I will run these two words through an online thesaurus. Then, when I have a list of each, I will try different combinations until I find one that flows well, sounds nice when spoken, is not terribly confusing, and doesn't need to be spelled out 50 times a day. You will be amazed at how many really excellent dot com names, using two words, are still available.

Sometimes when I am looking for a domain, I will end up buying two or three for later use, or resale. In fact, you may even want to purchase domain names that are close misspellings of your original name. Many companies make use of search engine misspellings to sell their products on pages developed just to get the traffic from misspelled searches.

When we name a new software product, we name the product with available domain names in mind. Our soon to be released affiliate organizer is called Affiliate File Cabinet. We chose the name and purchased affiliatefilecabinet.com at the same time. That not only puts critical keywords in the domain name, it also ties the domain name directly to it's product.

Rusty Campbell has been involved in internet marketing and software development since 1996. He also makes marketing reviews at http://www.reviewopportunity.com An excellent domain registrar is http://www.cyberspaceregister.com The tools available on their web site are powerful and easy-to-use. They provide good technical support, and the domain names sell for rock bottom prices.