subject: Register a Web Domain [print this page] Register a Web Domain Register a Web Domain
Your very first step to getting that website online is to register a web domain name.
Now, quite often the term "web domain" and "website address" are used interchangeably but just so you know, a domain name and a website address are one in the same; they're just two different methods of saying the same thing.
Your domain name is your website address online. It's where you'll send people to get more details about you, your products, your affiliate products, or your services. (e.g. YourOwnWebsite.com).
But before heading out and just registering any old domain name, it's essential to first do some research.
After all, we want the absolute best web site address possible for the kind of business we run. In order to do this, you should think about "What is the main subject of my website?" and although that does seem very "basic" and "common-sense", we do need a jumping-off point.
As an example, your site may be about "candles". But odds are, your site isn't about candles generally speaking, but rather some details around that term.
For instance, is it...
...how to make them?
...how to sell them?
...a specific type of candle? Like beeswax, pillar, soy, jar, and the like?
...about candle safety?
Even though you start with a very generic term, you can very easily start to filter this down so that it is more specific.
This will let us do some excellent keyword research so that we get the absolute best web domain possible for our new web site.
It is essential that you really restrict what your actual topic of your site is instead of sticking with just a generic term because Google especially, will reward you for relevance.
If your site is about "golf swing techniques" and you register a domain name such as DonsGolfEquipment.com, the domain name is only a little bit relevant to what you actually talk about on your site.
We want someone who sees our new website address to know, without a doubt, what they can expect to see on our website.
Next, we'll want to discover what words people are actually typing into the search engines to find a website like yours.
If we use terms in our website address that people are already searching on in the search engines, then you'll have already accomplished what 90% of other website owners don't even take into consideration...and that's RELEVANCE!
To find out what words people are searching on that relate to what your business is about, just use the free Google Keyword Tool (which you can find by simply searching in Google for "Google Keyword Tool") and then enter in your refined term for your site.
Simply do a search on this phrase within the Google Keyword Tool and then sort the list by highest number of searches globally to lowest.
What you'll then be looking at is a list of phrases that people are actually using to find information within Google on the topic you've entered.
Make note of some of these phrases and incorporate them into a potential domain name. For example, if a search phrase you found was "improve my golf swing technique" you would try and see if "ImproveMyGolfSwingTechnique.com" was available.
Once you've made note of these head to a website such as NameCheap.com and do a search on these phrases to see if any of them come back as being available to purchase as a domain name.
Of course you'll want to make sure that your domain name is easy to remember, contains actual search phrases that people are using and that would make sense to someone who came across your website address but most often you can incorporate these search terms into a domain name that sounds great and will let people know at a glance what your site is all about.
Once you've found a website address you're happy with, simply register it and you'll be the proud new owner of a brand new website address that not only is specific to your website's topic but that people are already searching for within the search engines.
