Whatever the type of online presence you decide to have (blog or website), you need to get a domain
name. Don’t just hurry to register a domain name though. Take your time and choose it wisely because a
good domain name can be an extremely valuable asset for your business. Take your time to consider the
many and varied options available to you.
1. Choosing the perfect Domain name
Ideally, your domain name should be short, memorable, easy to spell & type and be descriptive of your
website. It’s strongly recommended that you perform keyword research prior to registering a domain name as a keyword-rich domain name can help you rank better in the Search Engines. For example if you want your site to rank well in the Search Engines for “fremont dentist”, you should try to get a domain name that contains the words “fremont” and “dentist”.
Once you’ve decided upon a domain name, we recommend registering it at godaddy.com and hosting it at Hostgator.com as both these providers have their own strong areas. And remember, Yahoo’s website support is REALLY bad.
We’re often asked how to go about picking an effective domain name. Here’s our essential domain name checklist below:
1) What’s the purpose of the domain name?
How are you planning to use this name? If the domain name will be your primary company website, try
finding the closest version to your company name that you can.
A domain name that clearly indicates what you do (customwebdesignseo.com), or a problem that you solve, or a solution that you provide will give a visitor a fairly clear picture of what he’ll/she’ll find on your website. Once you have a domain name in mind, head to Godaddy and confirm the domain’s availability. In case you already have a primary domain you bought long back- a domain name that does not include any of your important service keywords, get an additional domain that has keywords in it and redirect it to your existing site.
2) Compatibility with software/platform
When getting a hosting service for your new domain, always remember to consult your web developer to find out whether or not the software or platform you/the developer plan to use for the site is supported by the hosting service. e.g. Until a while back Yahoo did not support PHP versions above 4, whereas PHP 5 is necessary for certain shopping cart platforms to work.
3) Shorter is better, if it’s to be your primary domain.
If the domain name is going to be your primary domain where your primary email address will be
housed, you want your domain name to be as short, catchy and memorable as possible. After a few
times of spelling out your lengthy email address, you’ll come to appreciate the beauty of a short domain
name. Your domain name can contain up to 67 letters and numbers (although we would encourage you
NOT to have one of this length) and can contain no special characters other than hyphens.
4) Always buy the .COM version of the name if it is available.
Always prefer a .COM domain. When people hear a domain name, they “hear” .COM whether it’s .NET or .BIZ or .ORG or whatever. Also, a .COM domain is much easier to access. Simply type the domain name in your address bar and press control & Enter buttons. No need to type the entire thing!
So, it pays to find a domain name that you like that is part of the .COM family. If you just can’t get the name
you want, try a hyphenated version of the .COM name. Many S.E.O. specialists state that Search Engines
like hyphenated names and many online business owners use hyphenated keywords in their domain
names to be more attractive to the Search Engines. Some domain name holders may be willing to sell
you the domain name that you want.
5) Consider owning other versions of your primary domain name.
If you are registering the .COM version of a domain for your business, you may also want to secure
variations of the name, alternate spellings, common misspellings as well as the .NET and .ORG versions
of your domain and re-point them to your main site to keep them out of the hands of your competitors.
There. Your domain name is the beginning of the establishment of your presence online; take some time
and put some thought into the process and the domain name will serve you well in the years to come.
Already have a domain & hosting plan? Then Request a website quote from us today!
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