.: 7 Strategies to Choosing an Effective Domain Name
By:Donna Gunter
Category:Home / Internet / Domain Names
Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter
A friend of mine calls me the "Domain Queen", since at one time I owned around 50 domains. I've let many of them go (I own only 22 now) as my business has changed and developed, or I've just simply lost interest in the project. I'm often asked how I go about picking effective domain names, so as the "Domain Queen", I'll share my thought process with you.
1.What's the purpose of the domain name? Are you planning on using this name as the main website for your company, as a one page sales letter site, or squeeze page site? If the domain name will be your primary company website, try and find the closest version to your company name that you can. If you're just starting out, choose your business name and domain name with care. When I started my virtual assistant practice, I chose the name SOHO Business Solutions, as I thought everyone knew that SOHO stood for Small Office, Home Office. I think I've run into 2 people in my 7 years in business who knew what that acronym stood for. If I had it to do over again for this business, I would choose a business name and domain name with virtual assistant in the title, like InternetMarketingVirtualAssistant.com, a name I just recently purchased.
If the purpose of a domain is for a one-page sales letter site or a squeeze page, think ahead as to how you might promote this site. Because content is king in today's internet marketing world, there's little chance that either of these types of sites would be picked up by the search engines on key words. Therefore, your best promotion strategy is PPC, or "pay per click", where you're buying keywords for placement in search engines. If you're buying keywords from Google, for example, the paid listings appear at the top of a search in a blue box, or down the right-hand side of your screen. You want to be sure that the info displayed there is compelling enough to get someone to click and visit your site. So, for example, I've created a squeeze page, GetMoreClientsOnline.com, which has a compelling solution to a common problem that my clients have, as a side door gateway to my OnlineBizCoachingCompany.com coaching website.
2. Brainstorm a list of ideas of the problem you're trying to solve or the solution that you have. A domain name that clearly indicates what you do, or a problem that you solve, or a solution that you have to a problem will give a visitor a fairly clear picture of what s/he'll find on your website. What I typically do is go to my domain registrar, www.UltraNetDomains.com, and just start plugging in the names I'm brainstorming until I come up with 3 or 4 that are available. If the domain name that you type in isn't available, the service will come up with 10 or so alternates for you to consider. I found this alternate listing quite helpful recently in picking the name of an article directory site that I want to create.
3. For SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes, it helps to have your keywords in your domain name. Marla Regan, who's a professional organizer, has put two keywords in her domain name, OrganizedTime.com. Retirement Coach Lin Schreiber has her keyword niche in her domain, RevolutionizeRetirement.com. Consultant John Reddish has the desired outcome keywords in his domain, GetResults.com. I own a domain that I haven't yet developed for house sitters, BecomeAHouseSitter.com. Before buying your domain, make a list of keywords that someone might use to find you online. This list could include your industry, your target market or niche, a problem your target market has, or a solution that you can offer.
4. Shorter is better, if it's to be your primary domain. I haven't always followed my own rules here, as I tend to have business names that are quite lengthy. If the domain name is going to be your primary domain where your primary email address will be housed, you want your domain name to be as short, catchy, and memorable as possible. After a few times of spelling out your lengthy email address, you'll come to appreciate the beauty of a short domain name. Your domain name can contain up to 67 letters and numbers, although I would encourage you not to have one of this length, and can contain no special characters other than hyphens.
5. Purchase your your given name as a domain name. I typically tell my clients not to try and brand their given name as their business name, as that takes many years, much money, and lots of hard work to have the name recognition of Oprah, for example. However, it still pays to purchase your given name as a domain name, as well as any common misspellings of your name. Many people think my name is Donna Gunther, with an "h" in the last name, but I've been unable to register that common misspelling of my name, as a photographer in Venice, CA, has owned in since 2000. Once you've purchased your name as a domain, you can redirect it to your primary website. This means that when someone types in a domain, they land at the website to which you pointed that domain. So, currently DonnaGunter.com redirects to OnlineBizCoachingCompany.com because I don't want to use my name as a website, although that might change in the future.
6. Buy the .COM version of the name if it is available. When people hear a domain name, they "hear" .COM whether it's .NET or .BIZ or .ORG or whatever. So, it pays to find a domain name that you like that is part of the .COM family. If you just can't get the name you want, try a hyphenated version of the .COM name. For example, when I was seeking a domain name for my Self-Employment Coaching Gym, I really wanted SelfEmploymentSuccess.com, but it wasn't available. However, Self-Employment-Success.com was available, so I grabbed that. Many SEO specialists state that search engines like hyphenated names, and many online business owners use hyphenated keywords in their domain names to be more attractive to search engines. I don't have a clear answer as to the validity of this theory, so I just advocate going this route before having to resort to the .NET or .BIZ of the name you desire. Some domain name holders may be willing to sell you the domain name that you want. You can find out who owns a domain name by checking the WhoIs Registry at Internic, http://www.internic.net/whois.html. For info about country codes (two-letter) top-level domains (.UK or .CA, for example) visit http://www.uwhois.com/cgi/domains.cgi?User=NoAds
7. Consider owning other versions of your primary domain name. If you are registering the .COM version of a domain for your business, you may also want to secure variations of the name, alternate spellings, common misspellings, and the .NET and .ORG versions of your domain and repoint them to your main site to keep them out of the hands of your competitors. You can also go broke very quickly by purchasing all of these variations, so exercise some restraint in your purchases and don't go crazy with purchasing every single variation of your domain name. For my coaching company site, I own both the OnlineBizCoachingCompany.com and OnlineBusinessCoachingCompany.com and decided that was good enough.
Your domain name is the beginning of the establishment of your presence online, Take some time and put some thought into the process so that the domain name serves you well in the years to come, and is an effective tool for helping you get more clients online.
Article keywords: domain, domain name, choosing a domain name, how to choose a domain name, internet marketing, Donna Gunter, Online Business Coaching Company
Article Source: http://www.articles32.com
Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Business Coach Donna Gunter helps self-employed service professionals learn how to get more clients online at www.OnlineBizCoachingCompany.com . To sign up for more FREE tips like these and claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at www.GetMoreClientsOnline.com . Read about running an online biz at our blog,
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.: New Domain Names Articles
1). How Do I Change My Domain Name
The fact is that there really are some times that you need to change your domain name. Changing domain names is not in fact a rare situation, but is widely common today. Many people are changing domain names for all kinds of reasons, and along with that, many people are also encountering problems.
2). Warning! Your Website Domain Can Be Taken
Your domain name can get hijacked and a price quoted back to you on how much it will cost to get it back. There is some easy measures that will stop this.
3). International Domain Names with Internet Explorer 7
IDN stands for Internationalized Domain Name, also known as multilingual domain names. It allows you the possibility to use more characters in domains names, besides letters and numbers. It uses characters available in other alphabets and other languages.
4). Name Your Business Not to Dos
Whether you are naming your baby or your new business you can make a powerful positive impact if you do it correctly
5). You Need Your Own Domain Name...
A unique domain name. That's one of the first and most important steps that a new home business website builders must consider. All too often, you see websites created with a free host with a domain name that includes the free host company's business name. If you are planning to market your website and internet business as a professional entity, then you really should buy your own domain name.
6). Make Profit from Buying and Selling Domain Names
The Internet domain market has become more and more lucrative in the past few years. Almost all companies as well as many individual people these days have websites, and most would prefer their websites to be immediately recognizable. Domain names tell people what websites are about, and this can be a big plus when someone is doing a search and looking for something specific.
7). The Public Domain: Ten Things You May Not Know About It
There's a little known world of free-to-claim products with unlimited profit potential, an Aladdin’s Cave of ready-made products for you to locate in minutes, re-package in hours, and sell as your own. It’s called ‘The Public Domain’ and it means you can legally copy and sell other people’s books, maps, films, and more, with no ongoing fees or royalties of any kind to pay … EVER! Here are ten more things you may not know about the public domain ….
.: Top Domain Names Articles
1). Mom discovered 16 year old son with $70,000 earned from Adsense.
This interesting article addresses some of the key issues regarding Adsense. A careful reading of this material could make a big difference in how you think about Adsense.
If your Adsense facts are out-of-date, how will that affect your actions and decisions? Make certain you don't let important Adsense information slip by you.
Who Else Wants To Make Money With Adsense?
Fact number 1: Kids in high school are making thousands of dollars every month with Adsense.
2). Choosing a Domain Name for Your Domain Hosting
Your domain hosting name is not something to be chosen lightly. Your domain hosting name is your front line in your branding campaign for your online business (or your offline business’s online presence). Careful consideration needs to go into choosing just the right domain hosting name to represent your business. The following are some key points to consider:
The Right Extension for the Right Site
Each type of site you want domain hosting for may serve a different market.
3). The Value of Finance and Debt Related Domain Names
Why domain names can be a good investment!
We have a number of generic finance related domain names and have recently added to these through the £14,000 investment in debtconsolidation.co.uk and the purchase of debtfree.co.uk.
It's true that debt consolidation is one of the hottest terms especially in respect of PPC's and we believe we will get free traffic from people guessing the domains when they are looking for debt consolidation or debt free i.
4). Internet Marketing: The importance of a Domain Name
The domain name is the entry to your site. The address people type in their browsers to get to it. You need to pay attention to it, because your company name will not always be the best domain name you can get for your website. There are certain considerations you should keep in mind when choosing the domain name you will use:
· your domain name should be easy to remember for the intended audience
· your domain name should contain keywords so it helps your site positioning in search engines.
5). Expired Domain Name – What’s It All About?
Expired domain name is just a common status in the place of domain names. This certain status of the domain name takes place when the domain name holder forgot to renew the registered domain name, and so when a certain domain name is given as “expired domain name”, it is understandable that such expired domain name is on the way to deletion from the domain name registry.
6). GDI - Global Domains International Reviewed.
If you have been on the internet for any length of time looking at business options you will eventually come across someone promoting GDI to you. So this article is to answer some of the basic questions about GDI. Is this Business opportunity a scam? Do they have a product or service that is worthwhile? What is the potential of this opportunity? I will seek to answer these questions as objectively as possible.
7). Choose a Market You’re Passionate About and Stay Focussed
Choosing the right market is instrumental to your online success. It’s much more difficult to create a new market than to enter an existing market that is already highly profitable for existing businesses. The good thing about online business is that you can start a new business in a new market without as much overhead and headache as in the real world.