5.Choosing A Good Domain Name
Choosing
a domain name for your site is one of the most important steps towards
creating the perfect internet presence. If you run an on-line business,
picking a name that will be marketable and achieve success in search
engine placement is paramount. Many factors must be considered when
choosing a good domain name. This article summarizes all the different
things to consider before making that final registration step!
Short and Sweet
Domain
names can be really long or really short (1 - 67 characters). In
general, it is far better to choose a domain name that is short in
length. The shorter your domain name, the easier it will be for people
remember. Remembering a domain name is very important from a
marketability perspective. As visitors reach your site and enjoy using
it, they will likely tell people about it. And those people may tell
others, etc. As with any business, word of mouth is the most powerful
marketing tool to drive traffic to your site (and it's free too!). If
your site is long and difficult to pronounce, people will not remember
the name of the site and unless they bookmark the link, they may never
return.
Consider Alternatives
Unless a visitor reaches your
site through a bookmark or a link from another site, they have typed in
your domain name. Most people on the internet are terrible typists and
misspell words constantly. If your domain name is easy to misspell, you
should think about alternate domain names to purchase. For example, if
your site will be called "MikesTools.com", you should also consider
buying "MikeTools.com" and "MikeTool.com". You should also secure the
different top level domain names besides the one you will use for
marketing purposes ("MikesTools.net", "MikesTools.org", etc.) You
should also check to see if there are existing sites based on the
misspelled version of the domain name you are considering.
"MikesTools.com" may be available, but "MikesTool.com" may be home to a
graphic pornography site. You would hate for a visitor to walk away
thinking you were hosting something they did not expect.
Also
consider domain names that may not include the name of your company,
but rather what your company provides. For example, if the name of your
company is Mike's Tools, you may want to consider domain names that
target what you sell. For example: "buyhammers.com" or
"hammer-and-nail.com". Even though these example alternative domain
names do not include the name of your company, it provides an avenue
for visitors from your target markets. Remember that you can own
multiple domain names, all of which can point to a single domain. For
example, you could register "buyhammers.com", "hammer-and-nail.com",
and "mikestools.com" and have "buyhammers.com" and
"hammer-and-nail.com" point to "mikestools.com".
Hyphens: Your Friend and Enemy
Domain
name availability has become more and more scant over the years. Many
single word domain names have been scooped up which it makes it more
and more difficult to find a domain name that you like and is
available. When selecting a domain name, you have the option of
including hyphens as part of the name. Hyphens help because it allows
you to clearly separate multiple words in a domain name, making it less
likely that a person will accidentally misspell the name. For example,
people are more likely to misspell "domainnamecenter.com" than they are
"domain-name-center.com". Having words crunched together makes it hard
on the eyes, increasing the likelihood of a misspelling. On the other
hand, hyphens make your domain name longer. The longer the domain name,
the easier it is for people to forget it altogether. Also, if someone
recommends a site to someone else, they may forget to mention that each
word in the domain name is separated by a hyphen. If do you choose to
leverage hyphens, limit the number of words between the hyphens to
three. Another advantage to using hyphens is that search engines are
able to pick up each unique word in the domain name as key words, thus
helping to make your site more visible in search engine results.
Dot What?
There
are many top level domain names available today including .com, .net,
.org, and .biz. In most cases, the more unusual the top level domain,
the more available domain names are available. However, the .com top
level domain is far and away the most commonly used domain on the
internet, driven by the fact that it was the first domain extension put
to use commercially and has received incredible media attention. If you
cannot lay your hands on a .com domain name, look for a .net domain
name, which is the second most commercially popular domain name
extension.
Long Arm of the Law
Be very careful not to
register domain names that include trademarked names. Although internet
domain name law disputes are tricky and have few cases in existence,
the risk of a legal battle is not a risk worth taking. Even if you
believe your domain name is untouchable by a business that has
trademarked a name, do not take the chance: the cost of litigation is
extremely high and unless you have deep pockets you will not likely
have the resources to defend yourself in a court of law. Even stay away
from domain names in which part of the name is trademarked: the risks
are the same.
Search Engines and Directories
All search
engines and directories are different. Each has a unique process for
being part of the results or directory listing and each has a different
way of sorting and listing domain names. Search engines and directories
are the most important on-line marketing channel, so consider how your
domain name choice affects site placement before you register the
domain. Most directories simply list links to home pages in
alphabetical order. If possible, choose a domain name with a letter of
the alphabet near the beginning ("a" or "b"). For example,
"aardvark-pest-control.com" will come way above
"joes-pest-control.com". However, check the directories before you
choose a domain name. You may find that the directories you would like
be in are already cluttered with domain names beginning with the letter
"a". Search engines scan websites and sort results based on key words.
Key words are words that a person visiting a search engine actually
search on. Having key words as part of your domain name can help you
get better results.