Choosing a domain name
In order to publish your website you will need a domain name.
A good domain name should adequately describe what your website is about, but you don't want it too long and you don't want it to be hard to remember, but that's not even as important as making sure it contains your best keywords, that is, the keywords that best describe the whole of your website.
For example, if I was creating a site about 'saving money tips', find a domain name that has the words 'save money' or 'saving money' in it.
Use a good keyword research tool to help you find
words and phrases that get lots of searches a day. I like Wordtracker, you can get
a free trial
here.
So for our saving money tips, site names like these might be
appropriate:
www.moneysavingtips.com
www.savingmoney.com
www.savemoneytoday.com
www.mysavingmoneytips.com
Whether or not to use hyphens is debatable. I've had
both types of domain names, hyphenated and non-hyphenated and I don't feel it makes a difference,
again it gets back to how well the site is organized and it's content, however if you're concerned,
purchase both the hyphenated and non-hyphenated names.
I suggest purchasing your domain name after you finish you site's
outline. This way you have a good idea of what your site is truly about and it's a little easier to
find a name that most adequately defines your site.
Purchase your domain name from a reputable domain name registrar. I personally use Godaddy simply because they are the most trusted and I never pay more than $10 a year for a name, but the choice is yours, just make sure the site is authentic and not a domain scam.
Should You Choose a .com, .org, .edu, etc...?
Look at all the choices you have...
.com
.net
.info
.org
.biz
.us
.ca
.me
.mobi
.asia
.in
.bz
.ws
.mx
.com.mx
.ag
.com.ag
.net.ag
.org.ag
.at
.be
.com.biz
.net.biz
.cc
.cn
.com.cn
.org.cn
.net.cn
.de
.eu
.fm
.gs
.co.in
.firm.in
.gen.in
.ind.in
.net.in
.org.in
.jobs
.jp
ms
nu
co.nz
.net.nz
.org.nz
.tc
.tv
.tw
.com.tw
.org.tw
.idv.tw
.co.uk
.me.uk
.org.uk
.vg
These all pertain to the type of business you have and your location. For example if you have a shoe store in the U.S. you wouldn't want to select a .uk suffix, instead one of the first five choices would be appropriate.
Choosing a .com is the most popular simply because people are use to looking for .com sites.
So for example, if your domain name
is: 'thebestwebsite.org' and you
verbally tell someone that your site's name is 'the best website', they
will most likely search for the site as 'thebestwebsite.com' - as a .com. That's
because most people just assume it's a .com.
If you're not a .com, you'll have to remember to specify that your
site is a .org, .net, .edu or whatever. If you won't be doing much word of mouth promotion then
this won't be much of a problem, however it may be something you'll want to consider.
If you want to be sure that your domain name is always found, you can purchase your domain name using all the most popular suffixes such as .com, .org, .edu, etc. This way your domain name will never by copied by someone else using another suffix. It may cost more to do it this way but it will ensure no one else uses your domain name with these other prefixes and it will help ensure you always get found under your domain name.
In summary,
When coming up with a good domain name, carefully consider what your website is about and use the keywords that describe your site as a whole.
Until Next time,
Elizabeth