A Domain Name is one of the most important things to consider if you are to build an online presence. If you are totally new to the internet and you are about to enter the field of internet marketing, it is advisable that you understand the significance of the domain name first. In fact, if you are starting a new business venture, I believe it should be the first thing you look at before anything else. Choosing the right domain name could have a great impact to your whole business strategy & online marketing success.
Your domain name is one of the key criteria (and there are many) that ticks the box when it comes to Search Engine Optimisation and being found in the major search engines.
What is Domain Name?
A domain name is an identification label that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control on the Internet, based on the Domain Name System (DNS). It is often called a URL (Universal Resource Locator) and it is what you type into the address bar on your browser. To make it short, it is like your website’s unique identification name.
Below are Six (6) simple tips you can use in selecting a great domain name:
1. Come up with the right Keywords or Phrase
If you want to get found in the major search engines, research the keywords or phrases that people will search for. Remember that no one knows your business name when they are searching for a service on the web, for example if you company’s name is WYSIWYG Pty Ltd and you sell toy trains, you would be better off with www.toytrains.com than www.WYWIWYG.com for all your web based marketing – It’s that simple?
2. Make it Unique
While there are over 120 million top level (.com, .org etc.) domains registered and over 3 trillion IP addresses worldwide, it may be hard to find a totally unique name, it would be a total disaster if your domain name is being confused with a popular site which is already owned by someone else. It is also advisable not to choose a domain name that is either too long or an abbreviated version of a domain name that is already present on the web. Of course, you don’t want to be termed and known as someone else’s shadow, right?
3. Don’t Stop at One Domain Name
As mentioned earlier, you are better off to have a search term as your main domain name as it improved your chances of being found by search engines, but this does not stop you from owning more than one name. You can still have your URL in your company name; this could be used on your business cards and other printed matter. I also recommend that you have similar names plus other countries suffix if you intend to go global even if it’s only a dream at this stage. For example, here in Australia you can get www.yoururl.com.au, plus I also recommend that you get the www.yourUrl.com version as well.
If you don’t get it now, your opposition will – and then they will benefit from your traffic.
All your URLS’s can be simply redirected to your main site or even pages within your site.
I have also seen some commonly misspelt names plus hyphenated names used as well.
4. Dot-Com Domains are More Preferred
Be aware that most people who use the web globally have the assumption that .com is the only thing that exists on the web. If you wish to target just local traffic (only in your own country), then by all means use your local suffix ie – .com.au for Australia, .com.uk for Great Britain and so on, but, you don’t want to miss their clicks, right? These people can add traffic to your site and that can improve sales!
5. Make your Domain Name Easy to Remember
Of course, you want to leave a mark on everybody’s mind, right? So to help your target market recall your domain name, make it simple yet attractive. My main site is www.VisualMarketing.com.au (we have 16 names) which is easy to remeber and describes what we do.
It should also be easy to type; this is why some people get easily misspelt words as well as a secondary domain name.
With a simple domain name, they can easily talk about your site to their friends and businesses partners, and that, can helping you promote your site. Remember, a complicated domain name = less traffic!
6. Make it short as possible
What is the significance of short domain name? It is easy to remember and type as well. People prefer to type as little as possible when it comes to finding products and services online.
By making your URL as short as possible, you are more likely to be remembered –and that can lead to increased traffic and increased revenues.
Source: www.VisualMarketing.com.au
