subject: How a Catchy Domain Name Can Help an Online Business [print this page] How a Catchy Domain Name Can Help an Online Business
Second, search engines evaluate the quality of a domain name, in terms of deciding the topical relevance of a site, and it can be a major determinant in your site's rankings.
A good domain name is one that can do both of these things, and usually has the following attributes:
It's keyword rich. Simply repeating your business name as a domain (e.g. JohnDoeAuto dot com) doesn't tell the search engines much about the site, and potential customers would never be able to predict the name. A much better name would focus on the keywords, such as CheapUsedCars dot com.
It's as short of possible. Most domain names over 14-15 characters are still available, but they're too long for people to remember, and search engines ignore any keywords in very long domains, suspecting them of gaming the algorithm.
It's a dot com: despite all the other extensions available, most Internet users still expect a site to have a.com extension rather than.net,.org, etc. If your site is outside the US, you may find that the local country's extension does have value, but even then Google Analytics often shows a large portion of even local traffic going to the.com version.
If you find that your ideal domain name is already taken - and many are 'parked' by third parties hoping to resell the name in the future, you have a few options:
Approach the existing owner, and either inquire about a sale price or make an offer. You can usually discover the owner through the WhoIS database, or by sending a generic email to info@ or webmaster@ at the domain name.
Wait for the ownership to expire: WhoIS shows the expiration date of ownership. While it's a long shot, some domain owners forget to renew their name, at which point it becomes available for purchase just like any new domain. There are some automated services on the web that will handle this approach for you.
Add a subtle variant: if there's no way to retrieve the domain name you want, trying making a slight change to the name, such as adding a state code, location or something else relevant to your business. In some cases, adding a hyphen between words may help, though visitors often do not remember the hyphenated versions of a name.
Your domain name is one of the most important factors in defining your online presence prior to building a website, which is why some domain names sell for millions of dollars in the secondary market. Spending the time to select a good name can have a significant impact on your success on the Internet.
James Beswick is the author of "Ranking #1: 50 Essential Tips to Boost Your Search Engine Results" available on Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1452849900?ie=UTF8&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&qid=1279571154&sr=1-1&linkCode=shr&camp=213733&creative=393177&tag=ekcy-20.
For more information, visit http://ranking-number1.com.
