companies have been built around their domain name making it the brand
and the company. Choosing the right domain should be as important as
naming your product. Given that status, here are some pointers how to
find a name that will see you through it all.
Branding vs. Keywords
This is probably the most difficult to determine. Yet, should be the
first place to start because the rest of the considerations will one
way or another relate to this. There are two schools of thought. One
group believes you should have your keywords in the domain so that
search engines pick up on the keywords and rank you better. To what
extent this really affects your search engine ranking is not clearly
known or proven. Consider why you are putting the website up in the
first place. Most likely it's for your customers or visitors. So
choose a domain that also puts your audience first.
The other group believes a webmaster should go for brand. Most
successful companies start off with a brand, including online
companies. Brands make the product memorable, create differentiation
and encourage loyalty. In the early days of the Internet, everyone
wanted a generic domain like searchengine.com, books.com, auctions.com
and the likes. Today, very few of those are truly successful sites
that rival Google, Amazon and eBay.
A branded domain also ensures consistency throughout your marketing
efforts. As one web user describes, "Every time the company tells me
to visit their generic website, they lose the opportunity to reinforce
their brand name in my mind".
Whether you use keywords or brand for your domain depends much on what
you aim to do. If you plan to build a business or website that is
going to have staying power, branded domains are a better choice. It
might not be easy or cheap to build a brand but there are no shortcuts
when it comes to branding either. It's a slow process that can be very
rewarding if done right. Don't choose a domain simply because of its
keywords. First class content, links in and clever optimization are
more important to good ranking than anything else. Having said that, a
brand name made up of keywords could be best, and you would have the
best of both worlds – literally. Take CancerComforts.com. Owner Kathy
Browning chose the domain because of its keywords. But apart from
being keyword rich, CancerComforts.com is also very marketable and can
be a strong brand.
If you are building a resource website, a website for affiliate
programs or one that's temporary in nature, keyword rich and generic
domains would be a better choice. Finally, there is no harm in buying
both branded and keyword domains that point to the same site. Just
make sure you only use one for submissions, directory listings, link
exchanges and promotion. This way you build your link popularity.
You should also, make sure the site title or name matches your domain.
If your domain is ExtremeBiking.com and your site name is Smith
Brothers Biking Tours this makes visitors and directory editors wonder
if this is the correct website. It also causes confusion. People who
know you tend to look for a domain that reflects your brand and not
extreme biking. If you have yet to establish a company name or a site
name, it might be a good idea to name it after you find a domain name.
This is sensible, consistent marketing.
Company Name
This is the most common because in today's increasingly small and
competitive world, businesses tend to have rather creative and catchy
names. On the other hand, if your business name is very nondescript
such as The Smith Brothers, you might want to take the approach that
combines part of your company name and a keyword. Although the
importance of brand name was emphasized earlier, here the situation is
slightly different. Non-descriptive company names aren't particularly
helpful to audiences. Someone looking for you would find it difficult
to differentiate your company and the other company with a similar
name. In this case, keywords tied to your name are worth considering.
Domain Length
Short domains are supposed to be best but it's increasingly difficult
to find one without paying someone a lot of money to take over the
domain. There are alternatives though, such as expired domains which
we will explore a little later on.
Just because a domain is a little longer doesn't make it bad. For
example, TrashToTreasure.com is meaningful, to the point and memorable
even though it is rather long. On the other hand,
ThisIsAnExampleOfAVeryLongDomain.com is too long, difficult to
remember and prone to errors. The other extreme is needless
abbreviation. TTT.com is meaningless because TrashToTreasure.com works
much butter. Aim for some balance while taking into account ease of use.
.Com, .Net, .Info
Most people will agree a .com is best. A web user told us, "Whenever I
can't remember the domain name but I know the site name, brand or
company, I'll try for a .com first". If you have no good .com
alternative, start with .net and .org first. Also, be sure to
consistently promote your website as a .net or .org whatever you may
choose.
Hyphens, Suffixes and Prefixes
Hyphens aren't necessarily evil especially if it's in your brand name
or is the correct way to write a word. However, they are difficult to
remember, type and prone to user input mistakes. Avoid them as much as
you can.
Suffixes and prefixes are i's, e's, the's and numbers usually
suggested by domain search tools when your desired domain is
unavailable. If you choose such a domain, be very consistent in your
promotion. Promote the domain as a whole, do not leave out the suffix
or prefix. You might also want to avoid domains with very little
difference between them. These are usually between plurals and
singulars. Aim for singular names whenever possible. For example,
petfood.com and petfoods.com; If petfood.com is taken, resist the
temptation to opt for petfoods.com because people tend to leave out
the 's'.
Can You Say It?
This isn't always a top consideration but it makes sense you should
have a domain name that can be verbally communicated. Take your list
of chosen domains and tell it to someone. Does it confuse them? Do you
find yourself having to constantly repeat it or spell it? If that is
so, move on or go back to the drawing board.
Copyrights and Trademarks
In this day and age, many companies particularly those with strong
brand names are increasingly protective of their trademarks. Avoid the
trouble and expense of a lawsuit by spending some time to research
your chosen name. Start by looking up the name with the United States
Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov/) and your state's
trademark database. A More in depth look at this issue can be found
here (http://www.bcentral.com/articles/legal/109.asp).
Expiring Domains
Anyone who has looked for a domain name finds out soon enough more
than half the desired names are taken. If you cannot find a suitable
one despite numerous searches, why not explore expired domains?
Expired domains are those whose original registrant fails to renew
commonly are due to website closings or companies going out of
business. Within the list of expired domains are some real gems. There
are many services that allow you to monitor expired and soon to expire
domains for a fee. Before you sign up for them, a good place to start
researching for free is DeletedDomains.com
(http://www.deleteddomains.com).
Some believe recently expired domains with good traffic and rankings
allow you to benefit from someone else's hard work and give your site
a head start. Theoretically, that may be true. Realistically, you
shouldn't expect that to last. People consistently return to a website
for a reason. If your topic is very different from the original site,
visitors will stop coming back because the information or resource
they previously had access to is no longer there. If you assume such a
domain and want to convert as many visitors as possible, make sure
your content is very closely related or similar to that of the old
site. You might want to also check that the old site has completely
ceased operations. If the previous site still exists under a different
domain, loyalists eventually find their way back there; Word gets
around among them and could create a negative image on the old domain
that's now yours.
Ownership
When you do register as domain, have it registered under your name or
your company. If you are registering through your host, remember a lot
can happen within a short space of time. Companies go out of business
or you change hosts, scams, scandals and more. Making sure you own the
domain reduces the risk of losing your domain name in the future.
Check your host's domain registration policy. If there are unnecessary
expenses to transfer your domain, try to register it yourself instead.
Registering a domain is a very simple and straightforward affair. Some
good registrars to try are Enom (http://www.enom.com/) and GoDaddy
(http://www.godaddy.com).
Finally, when you do find the best available domain, get it
immediately. Any delays no matter how minor may cost you. Finding the
right domain is not easy. It takes a lot of brainstorming, patience
and creativity. Once you find it, don't let it slip.
Boris
HostVoice
"
see this forum at : http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=312988
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