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  Category: Articles » Internet & Online Businesses » Domain Names » Article
 

Selecting A Domain Name




By Sammer Hakim

1. Your Keywords & Domain Name Are Directly Linked – Don't Ignore This!

We all know customers use keywords to find you online. Problem is, many people don't know what these key words are.

There is a way to find out exactly what key phrases/word/s your customers are using to look you up...

http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

It's very easy to use. You simply type in the phrase or word/s you think your customers will likely use and it will give you a list of exactly how many times any given word was searched for the previous month. There's no guesswork. The result is you get a rich list of the top most searched for words – your keywords.

One very critical point: Remember, when your customers search for your service online, they are not typing in what you would want them type in – yourdomain.com. You have to become your own customer for this exercise and you will see just how powerful and pinpoint you can be with your domain name. So jot down a few words that you would type into a search engine if you were in the market for your own services.

Then highlight your keywords and use each in the search tool. Once it gives you the listing, you can click on each term and it will give you a precise breakdown of other/related terms searched.

Let's take an example.

Suppose you are launching a site to sell educational toys. Your next step would be to jot down something describing what your business is all about. Like this:

"My website will be a one stop centre for educational toys"

Now ask yourself: 'If I am looking for educational toys, what words should I type into a search engine?

"Educational toys' - of course!

Entering this term into the tool gives these results:

147556
educational toy

2715
child educational toy

554
educational baby toy


So you would use the top term/s as part of your domain name. Notice in the table above, the first term reflects the majority of the results. Don't fall into the trap of trying to incorporate terms that don't exist just because they sound good.

Once you register a domain name rich in key words, your site will attract search engines like a magnet.

One last but very critical point:

Search engines give a higher category ranking depending on domain name:

·Numbers and dashes come before letters and;

·Letters sort alphabetically

So taking the educational toys example, 1stop-educationaltoy.com would be ideal.

Once you come up with a list of good domain names, make sure they are available by using a domain name search program.


2. You're looking for a domain name for an existing website.

If you already have a site and want to find or switch domain names, don't fret. There are still good domain names out there no matter how saturated you think the Web is.

The above formula of using dashes (-) and numbers before letters works wonders and gives you a lot of possibilities. You can use dashes between whole words as well to mimic more popular sites selling similar products and services.

So if you are selling educational toys and the domain 1stop-educationaltoy.com is already taken, you can simply use '1stopcentre-educational-toy.com.'

The search engines will rank both of these domains very similarly so visitors are highly likely to visit both sites and may even think they are one in the same.

If you still can't find the domain you really want, then you can always bid to buy the domain. But also realize that some domains command anywhere between a few hundred dollars to 6 figures for the more popular ones.



3. New rules for 67 character domain names.

You are now entitled to use up to 67 characters (instead of the previous 23 character rule) when registering your domain. But this includes the final extension ie: .com, .org, etc.

This affects you in many ways.

You probably remember a few years ago when people caught on to the trend of buying popular domain names and selling them for huge profits. Then after the media convinced the online world this was a dying practice because of the saturation of the Web, it fizzled out. Well, it's back again with a vengeance.

With this new 67 character rule, many are scrambling to buy popular domain names to sell them in the future. The owners of business.com had the right idea. They sold it for 7.5 million dollars! So register hot domain names that reflect popular future trends – it can pay huge dividends. Here's why:

· Right now, you can use the advancements n search engine rankings to develop powerful domain names that have a double advantage.

Firstly, they accurately describe the business which search engines crave and as a result, skyrocket the site in search engine placements. A common objection people unfamiliar with search engines is:

'Nobody is going to type out such a long, hyphenated domain name".

Well, exactly because they will register at the top of search engines so users don't need to type anything, they just click.

You can always register both – one with hyphens and one without to ensure no wandering visitors slip through.

You can use your web statistics to determine which site is more profitable and instead of totally eliminating the lesser site, you can simply keep it and redirect visitors to the more successful site.

· You can improve on what you already have. You can muster a potent domain name that drives qualified traffic to your site. Many wonder if they should use domain names ending in .biz, .net, .tv, etc.

NO!

Why? Because search engines give better treatment to .com's and the buying public pays more confidence and respect to .com's. So do everything within your power to get a domain ending in .com.

Stick with .com!


 
 
About the Author
Sammer hakim is a Dallas based copywriter who has put together a large domain name resource site to help current and future business owners with their domains. For more, see www.free-domain-name-articles.com

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