Picking The Right Domain Name For SEO Purposes
Picking the right domain name for your website is an important first step in creating a successful website. First off, for those of you brand new to the whole website thing, a domain name is what you type in to the box at the top of your browser when you want to go to a site (www.rebaterabbit.com is a domain name). There are a couple things to consider when choosing your domain name.
Your domain name should represent who your company is and what it sells or provides. A domain name must be at least two characters long and it can’t include characters like $,%,&, etc. However, dashes and underscores are allowed in domain names.
Branding is as important to websites as it is to any other type of business You have to make sure that your domain name is catchy and can easily be remembered by people. Think of your domain name as the persona of your business. Being remembered is the goal of every company no matter what type of business you are in, so the catchier and more memorable your domain name is the easier it will be to remember.
With your domain name you need to create and fulfill expectations. By that I mean when someone hears your domain name they should immediately be able to tell what your site has to offer and what type of content they should expect to find. A website that is great at this is careerbuilder.com you can tell exactly what that is about. It is not impossible to be memorable without that though. Amazon.com took a little bit more branding to tell people what it was about, but I’d say they were slightly successful at that.
To coincide with this is the typeability of your domain name. Make sure it is short so people can type it in fast. Imagine if walmart.com was thebiggestretailstoreintheworld.com…would you type that in or go to another website?
It is important to pick a memorable top level domain (TLD). A TLD is the extension at the end of your sites name like .com, .org, .net, .biz, .info, etc. If at all possible find a .com name because they are the most memorable. However, if you can’t find a .com name that fits your company don’t be afraid to go to .org or .net because these TLD’s should not hurt your direct traffic too bad. Try to avoid other TLD’s if at all possible, if not pick the one that relates closest to your website.
Another important aspect of choosing a domain name is it’s search engine optimization (SEO) value. SEO is the process of getting up to the top of search engine’s organic search. Search engines look at domain names to help to determine what your website is about. Having keywords in your domain name that relate to the service or product you are selling can dramatically increase the amount of traffic you get to your site through search engines. When people search for a keyword and that keyword is in your domain name the search engine will see your website as one that can answer the query, so your site will show up at the top of that search result.
To get a domain online you must register it at an ICANN certified domain registrar. The most popular of which is GoDaddy.com. Registering a domain name costs very little to do, as low as $2. Tip: don’t register your domain name at the same company that is hosting your website just in case problems with your hosting arise you don’t have to worry about your domain name.
The internet has been around for enough time now that finding domain names has become somewhat tough. You can check the Whois database, which is a database of all registered domain names, at almost any domain registrar. My favorite site to check is whois.net to check domain names. If you know your business well enough and give it some creative thought you can come up with a domain that is catchy, tells the user what to expect, and has keywords in it.
Check out our article on Why You Want to Start an Online Business. If you start a business website make sure to check out our article on Small Business Web Hosting. Get your inexpensive web hosting today!
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