Domain Names

Choosing The Right Domain Name - The Basics

Your domain name is a very important asset. It can establish your brand, boost you to a top spot in the search engines and bring you loads of free traffic and potential customers . . . or not, depending on what name you choose.

Before you register a domain name, here are a few tips to help you choose the best name for your purposes:

• Get a .com (dot-com) domain name 

If it's at all possible, get a .com (dot-com) domain name for your site. Because it was one of the first top level domains it is the first thing people think of when they think of your web site. Even if you have to add a word or so to get a .com domain, DO IT.

For example, if 'jones.com' is not available, try for 'jonesinc.com' or 'thejonescompany.com'. If you have a brick and mortar location and your market is primarily local, you might go for 'jonessandiego.com'.

In addition to the .com version of your name, you might want to consider   getting the .net and / or .org versions. Also think about common misspellings or typos that you could register and redirect to your main domain. 

• Establish Your Brand  

If it's available, the name of your company is an excellent choice for a domain name. If you have a physical location, matching your domain name to the name of your company helps establish the connection between your online presence and your offline presence and builds credibility for your brand.

If your business is virtual, the name of your business, your domain name and your web site ARE your business presence, making your business name and domain name critical branding elements.

If your business name alone (like 'jones.com') is not available, try a variation with your business name and your product or service (i.e., 'joneswidgets.com').

• Use keywords for the search engines 

Including keywords that identify your products and / or services in your domain name helps your prospects, your customers and the search engines.

Specifically, the search engines tend to reward web sites that include keywords in their domain names and web page titles as well as in the text of their sites.

And what is this "reward" I speak of?

It is higher postioning on the results pages for your search terms and, if you have a sufficient amount of quality content on your site, a higher page rank (meaning a higher "authority rating") for your site.

For help in finding keywords that will help you build your brand and your business, we recommend Traffic Travis a free keyword research tool.

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Learn More About Domain Names and How To Profit From Them

To help you stay informed about domain names and how the right ones can make you money check out these articles:

• Domain Names 101
  
  Learn the basics of domain names: the parts that make them up and what they mean.
• Choosing A Domain Name - Getting It Right
  
  Find out how choosing the right domain name will help your site get better search engine rankings and bring FREE traffic to your site.
• Domain Names - What's In A Name
  
  For those without technical skills, domain name investing can be a great way to generate an online income.