Thursday, November 13, 2008

Tips for Making a Wise Domain Purchase for Your Online Business

By Cindy McKie

When it comes time to make a domain purchase for your business the name you choose can make or break the early success of your online venture. Choose wisely and it can give an early boon to your Internet business. Choose the wrong one and it could confuse your visitors, loose you sales or even have you ignored by the search engines.

Getting Specific with Your Domain Name

When buying domain names for a business it's a good idea to choose one that reflects your business' products or services. If your business is breeding poodles you'll want to choose a domain name that will tell those that see it that you're in the business of breeding poodles. For example, the name 'poodlebreeder.com' is a better domain purchase than a more generic 'dogbreeders.com'.

Long and Lean or Short and Sweet?

Generally speaking there are two routes a business owner can take when buying domain names. One is to choose the slightly longer, more descriptive long tail domain name while the other is to find a short and unique name for their website.

In short a long tail keyword is a string of related words put together to form a search phrase. Search phrases like "puppy potty training" indicate the searcher is not only looking to potty train their dog but that the dog is still a puppy. A business that chooses a longer keyword phrase such as this relating to their product or service stands a better chance of their website ranking near the top for that specific phrase.

Ranking well in certain niches can be difficult, especially in competitive niches. By finding a two or three word phrase related to your product or service which has slightly less competition but still gets many searches you stand a good chance of receiving targeted traffic to your website simply by choosing a specific domain name phrase.

On the other side of the coin is the short and sassy domain name. Companies such as Geico and eBay have had enormous success by choosing a domain name that, while not being terribly descriptive, has ingrained itself into the minds of consumers through a distinct and easy to remember domain name.

While choosing a more descriptive domain name is the safer bet, if you've got a good marketing plan and the time to implement it a one word domain name can pay off. Create a unique logo to represent your unique domain and spread it far and wide across the Internet.

What to Avoid During Your Domain Purchase

In the hunt for the perfect and available domain name it has become common practice to use hyphens in between words in a domain name when all the non-hyphenated .com and .net options aren't available. While it may be tempting to insert a hyphen in order to grab that perfect domain name it is strongly advised that you do so only as a last resort. For the most part domains with hyphens look tacky, are harder to remember and a nightmare to verbally convey to others.

While buying a domain name with a .com extension is highly recommended for businesses the benefits of a professional looking .com domain name is usually undermined when hyphens are thrown in. Instead you would be better off making a domain purchase with the acceptable .net or even .org extension instead.

It Gets Better with Age

Want to give your new business in instant boost? Then out with the new and in with the old domain names. It's not widely known but purchasing an older, expired domain name can often give your business a head start. Search engines such as Google prefer older domain names to new ones when judging the respectability and importance of a website attached to that domain. As an added bonus these older domain names often come with built-in backlinks earned from their previous life.

By spending a little more money for a seasoned domain purchase your business can reap the rewards of these built-in benefits with no extra work on your part. Sure, you will still have to market your business as the new tenant on that particular domain but you can avoid some of the growing pains of a new domain by purchasing an expired domain instead.

In the end it takes careful thought and research to come up with a domain name that will best suit your online business. Your domain name should make a statement, be it keyword orientated or short and catchy. Your domain purchase will be your business' face to the online world so choose carefully before hitting that "add to cart" button.

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