Domain Name Selection
Begin at the Beginning - Decide on a Domain Name
Deciding on a domain name is is the very first step to getting your business, blog or personal website online. Before you can decide on a domain name, you need to know your target audience. WHO exactly are you trying to reach, sell to, or service with your website? For most businesses, the domain name will be the name of their business, but if you have not yet named your business, there are several things to consider.
- Keep your domain name relatively short. Long domain names are not easy to remember. As well, consider your word-of-mouth traffic. “Yes, and don’t forget to include a hyphen between the 2nd and 3rd word, but not the 4th.” See how it can be confusing? The point is to make your domain as concise as possible.
- Do not pack your domain name with multiple keywords. Yes, the use of a keyword or two (at the most) in your domain name is smart, but packing it with a list of keywords strung together with hyphens is a poor idea. First, who can remember ‘www.firefly-beaded-magnets-glow-in-the-dark.com’?? NO ONE! Think of something simpler, but using one or two of your keywords, for example, ‘www.fireflyglow.com’ and then optimize your site for your other important selling point keywords.
- Purchase multiple domains. If you are having a difficult time deciding between a few different domain names, just register them all. Seriously - pick your jaw up off the floor - this isn’t an unreasonable outlay of cash. Domain registration is as inexpensive a business investment as you’re gonna get. Besides, you may use only one, but then again, you might find you use all of them at some point in promoting your business.
- Purchase different forms of the same domain name.As well, if you purchase www.fireflyglow.com, consider purchasing the plural form, as well as the .net form. You will be seriously disappointed when www.fireflyglow.com becomes an overnight success and someone else has purchased www.fireflyglows.com or www.fireflyglow.net to ‘ride on the coat-tails’ of your successful business.
I’ve Decided on a Domain Name - What Now?
Now that you have decided on a domain name to reach your targeted audience and made sure it wasn’t a run-on string of hyphenated keywords, it is time to register your domain name. Even if you are not yet prepared to use it, registering your domain name secures it for when you ARE ready to get your site online.
