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A Cautionary Note
Picking a domain name is like getting married. You are going to have to stick with it till the bitter end. People the use your site will come to know it by the domain name. Repeat visitors will often simply type in the domain name to get to the site, better known as type in traffic. As an example, do you search for Amazon when you want to buy a book or do simply type in amazon.com? If Amazon were to change its domain name to Desert, there would be a lot of confusion. The same goes with your domain. Once you pick something, stick with it.
Your Choices
Well, the obvious choice is your business name, but it may not be the best. There are four significant issues to consider.
The Benefits Of Having a Country Top Level Domain (TLD) Name
Most new websites tend to look for a domain name with a .com or .net tld (Top Level Domain). They feel this gives the site a more professional appearance and will appeal to a more international audience and in many cases this is true. However, it can also be beneficial to look at purchasing a domain name with a country specific tld.
There are a number of benefits that can be gained from choosing a domain name with a country specific tld, especially if you conduct your business primarily in one particular country.
Search Engine Benefits
Most of the large search engines will give you a hig ..
First, is there something about your business name that makes using it as a domain an unwise choice? This situation typically arises if you have a long business name or have plural words. Halstatts Ripn Marketing Campaigns, Inc. is going to be a horrible domain name. Clients are going to find it difficult to type in such a domain name.
Double letter problems are a second issue that is entirely unique to the Internet. What if Sams Salon wants to use its business name as a domain? The s at the end of first word and beginning of the second can cause confusion. Is the domain name Samssalon.com or Samsalon.com? Confusing your users is a bad way to run a site.
The third issue concerns the nature of your site and search engine optimization. If you are shooting for a particular keyword phrase, you may be better off using that keyword phrase in your domain name. Google, for instance, looks at the domain name when evaluating a site. If the words in your domain name are spaced with dashes, many believe it will help in the ranking process. This is why you see so many xxx-xxxx-xxx.com domain names on the net. If your business focuses on a very specific area, strong consideration should be given to using relevant keywords in your domain name.
Top 10 Powerful free Domain Name Tools
There are numerous free tools online that help you research and find good keyword domain names to register for your online business. Or simply to buy and resell domain names for profits. I am certain you already use a few of these from time to time.
Here then is my Top Ten list of the best free domain tools in no particular order.
1. http://www.whois-search.com
Gives you a list of the best domain names pending delete. Also shows you which drop catchers are successfully catching which names daily.
2 http://www.whois.sc
Helps you find active, inactive, and available domain names. A personal favorite of mine.
3. http://www.domainname-search.com
Page rank predictor t ..
Finally, your domain name should end in .com and I dont want to hear any argument or see any rolling of the eyes. The simple fact is that when people think of sites, they always type in .com. Yes, there are other extensions and .us, .net, .biz, etc., may seem unique, but it kills your traffic. Pavlov and his dog experiments had it right. People have been mentally conditioned to type in .com, so dont select any other ending. If you do, a smart competitor will register the .com version of your name to get some free traffic. If you are really lucky, a porn site will do it!
Take a breath before you select a domain name. Like a spouse, it can be either a good or bad choice.
About the Author: Halstatt Pires is with http://www.marketingtitan.com" target="_blank"> http://www.marketingtitan.com - an Internet marketing and advertising company comprised of a search engine optimization specialist providing meta tag optimization services and Internet marketing consultant providing internet marketing solutions through integrated design and programming services.
Source: http://www.isnare.com Halstatt PiresPicking A Domain Name
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