Saturday, June 13, 2009

How to Choose a good Domain Name

By John Ferry

Your internet identity relies heavily on how well you chose your domain name. Some names are good, but to be able to get the most from the online community, you don't need a good name. You need a powerful one.

It will be rather complex to try to define what a powerful domain is. The rules are also varied and come with a lot of exceptions. However, there are a few basic tips to make sure that your name sticks to the minds of your audience well enough for them to be able to find it when needed and go back to it without difficulty.

Stick to Your Business Name

To create synergy, it is best to make your domain name the same as your business name. This way, when your clients need to check your products or services online, they can easily find them by typing in your business name. It is advisable to get a dot com extension, if it is still available, as many people are used to adding this extension over others.

Choose the Words Well

There is a battle between those who believe that short names are better and those who think otherwise. The important thing to remember here is that it does not matter much whether you chose a short or a long name. What matters more is that you choose a name that avoids confusing your audience. Stay away from those that are so long that they can easily be misspelled or those that are so short that they don't make sense anymore.

Are you thinking of adding hyphens to reduce the confusion that it may create? Think again. Most web surfers have a hard time remembering the hyphens. This will only lead to more potential clients lost before they even had the chance to view your products.

Get the Right Domain Name Extension

A lot of people think that a dot com is the best option in all cases. In reality, this is not actually the case. While a dot com extension creates a more universal appeal and lessens the chance of potential visitors getting lost, some websites may be better off with more specific extensions. If, for instance, your website sells and delivers specialty cakes in a specific country, like Australia, it will be best to put the dot au after the name. It minimizes confusion among site visitors about if they can order in the site or not. Having a dot au tells the visitor that this is a company from Australia.

When you have finally come up with a domain name and you try and register it but then it is no longer available, a domain registrar like 1and1.com will offer you several options. Getting a name will be as easy as scanning the list and picking the one that is closest to what you had or an entirely different one.

Most domain names are cheap, and so experts in website management would advise that you get as many variations as you can as soon as possible. You can never be certain when others will decide to get the names that you have been eyeing for.

About the Author:

No comments: