How
To Choose The Best Domain Name
by:
Jeff Schuman
In
this article we are going to look at the thought process
you should go thru to choose your domain name.
First
of all let's define what a domain name is.
A
unique name that represents each computer on the Internet.
(Some machines do have more than one domain name.) The
DNS converts the domain name requested by an Internet
user into an IP address.
The
Domain Name System (DNS) helps users to find their way
around the Internet. Every computer on the Internet
has a unique address – just like a telephone number
– which is a rather complicated string of numbers.
It is called its "IP address" (IP stands for
"Internet Protocol").
But
it is hard to remember everyone's IP address. The DNS
makes it easier by allowing a familiar string of letters
(the "domain name") to be used instead of
the arcane IP address. So instead of typing 64.65.51.245
, you can type www.team-schuman.com. It is a "mnemonic"
device that makes addresses easier to remember.
So
what makes the best internet domain name?
First
of all don't pick a name that has nothing to do with
your Web site. If you are selling flowers don't pick
a name like apples.com. Picking an oddball name makes
no sense and it will just confuse your audience.
Don't
make your new domain name too long. The longer it is
the harder it becomes to remember. Can you remember
myflowers.com or lookatmyflowerswebsite.com?
Short
names are not the way to go either. It is to your benefit
to try and buy a domain name that has a few keywords
that relate to the topic of you Web site when possible.
Keyword
placement when choosing your domain name is helpful
as your site develops a higher placement with the search
engines. Having the name jeffsflowers.com will do better
with a search engine than jeffssite.com. With jeffsflowers.com
you know I have a flower website where with jeffssite.com
you don't know what kind of Web site I have.
When
registering your domain name in some cases you will
need to determine if you want to use hyphens in the
name itself. Personally I have found this to be a great
way to get a domain name that otherwise my not be available.
The domain name myflowers.com might already be taken
whereas the name my-flowers.com might be available.
Everything
I have read says try to get a .com domain name first
before going to a .net or .org etc. As more and more
domain names are taken this becomes harder to do and
I think you are better off getting a keyword rich domain
name like my-flowers.org than you are to buy a .com
domain name like jeffssite.com.
Is
buying a cheap domain name a bad idea? Absolutely not.
I do it all of the time. I get all of my domain names
here:
http://www.godaddy.com
Then
I transfer them to my hosting company here:
http://www.team-schuman.com/host4profit.
I
can buy a domain name for less than $10 from Godaddy.com
and transfer it for free to Host4Profit. This saves
me $20 on buying it from the hosting company itself.
A domain name is a domain name and you might as well
save a little money where you can.
Finding
out what names are available is very easy to do. Let's
use Godaddy.com as an example.
Go
here: http://www.godaddy.com
Click on the icon for Domain Names
Enter a domain name and see if it is available
They will come back with a list of available names
Decide what one you want and buy it
One last thing to consider. Protect your name by registering
multiple extensions (.net, .org, etc.) This deters people
from copying your name. For example, if you own my-flowers.com
you can also register my-flowers.net and any other extension
that's available. As you build up traffic to your site
if someone types in an version other than the .com version
you can forward it to your .com site and not lose any
traffic.
In
closing it is important to spend a little time when
choosing the best domain name for your website. Try
and get some keywords in your domain name. Don't stop
at choosing just a .com version and save a little money
by buying a cheap domain name whenever possible as long
as it still contains some keywords.
Copyright
2004 Jeff Schuman
About
The Author
Jeff Schuman is the creator of several websites. His
Sites-Plus.Com website is a small business website that
contains the best of everything you need to start and
run your own small business. Visit it here today:
http://www.sites-plus.com
http://www.team-schuman.com
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