Finding the Right Domain Name?

December 20th, 2007 by Jon Waraas

In most cultures names have a profound significance on both the individual and the path the individual takes in their life. Does a domain name have the same significance? If you choose a name for your domain poorly, will your website suffer in the darkest depths of the internet?

What is one man’s trash is another’s treasure. So finding the right domain name is largely a personal choice. There really is no “right” domain name for you website. You can use these simple suggestions to help you make your next domain name selection.

Tip #1
For those who are seeking SEO Zen, finding a domain name that carries significance for the theme of your website is a definite plus. Especially if it contains the primary terms you are targeting in your SEO campaign. Depending on who you talk to, you will get different beliefs regarding this aspect of the selection process for domain names.

There are some that say that having the keywords you are targeting with your SEO campaign in your URL isn’t important. Other’s say it is. No matter who is right, its sure money that it can’t hurt. When you are optimizing your site, there is strong research that indicates that having your keywords appear in your URL somewhere will help to give you an edge over your competition.

Tip#2
Another thing that is very important is to be sure that your domain name is easily remembered and can be recalled instantly. When I say to you “Just Do It!” what do you think. Have you visited JustDoIt.com lately? Who do you think owns it? Making an URL memorable is extremely important. You want your prospect to remember it well after they have seen it, no matter where you are displaying it.

Tip #3
A domain name should also be creative. Most of us won’t be as creative as Joshua Schachter, but we all know the domain of the company that he sold to Yahoo in 2006 - del.icio.us. Spend time brainstorming possible URLs. Write down several and then research their availability. There are several tools out there that can not only help with the brainstorming; they can tell you if the domain name is available.

Tip #4
Finally, expired domains - ones that have been registered previously, whose owners have let the registration expire - may be valuable. In some cases, these domains already have back links in the major search engines. If they are contextually related to the content you are creating for your site, you can build instant creditability. Even if they don’t have many back links they can still be valuable. Most search engines feel the credibility of a website is partially linked to the amount of time it is registered. It is not believed to be a large part of the calculation for ranking, but every little bit helps.

When you sit down to consider the purchase of your next domain, take into consideration a few of these points. After all, it could put you ahead of your competition before they know you even exist.

SEO for Domain Names

Contains the primary terms you are optimizing for
— This allows for targeting your primary keywords. Though never outright proven, it can’t hurt

Is simple and can be recalled instantly
— Always important when you are marketing. When I say “Nike” you instantly think of Just Do It!. Mazda - Zoom, Zoom! Coke? You get the picture.

Is creative (this is relative)
— Think del.icio.us. That’s catchy.

Has some legs (has been registered for a while)
— Search engines like domains that have been around for more than a year (preferably several)

May already have some contextual links
— Domains that have been owned previously and let go may still have residual value.

** This blog post was done by Phil. One of the writers I am looking over for Whois Seo

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