How to Choose a Valuable Domain Name
If you’re looking into starting an online business, then having a valuable domain name is key. There are two options really…
- Get a cheap domain name on GoDaddy or some other registrar and work your butt off to market it to your clients, prospects, and anybody else who will listen.
- Purchase a premium domain name that is highly recognizable, easy to optimize, and ideal for monetizing.
Now, I understand many of you probably don’t need a premium domain name for the kind of business that you’re running - perhaps you have a portfolio, blog, or about page. But if you have a website that you’re looking to sell stuff on, then a premium domain name makes a lot of sense, especially for small businesses.
Here are five keys to purchasing a valuable domain name:
- Keyword Oriented: If you’re selling wedding services, then do your best to have “Wedding” in the domain name. Not only will it help you with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), but it will also help your visitors realize they’re in the right place.
- Extension: Everybody knows this, but it must be said anyways: .com is king. Sure, you could save a few thousand dollars and settle for a .net, .org, .info, .us, or something else…but all you’ll be doing is settling. You’re bound to lose 10% of your visitors to your direct competition - the person who has the .com - and spend more money marketing your extension than you would have spent if you just purchased the .com in the first place. It’s no coincidence that almost every successful .net company has gone on to eventually buy the .com extension as well. ***note, if you’re a small-time local business, sometimes the local country code (.us, .ca, .de…) will be better than the .com.***
- Pronounceable: If you have to take time spelling out your domain name, then you could’ve done better. Hyphens, numbers, and fancy spelling can doom an online business before it even begins. A good rule of thumb is to see if your domain name passes the radio test. RightFotos4U.com fails every time (”right, photos with an ‘F’, the number 4, and the letter ‘U’ dot com).
- Grammatically Correct: The arrangement of the keywords in your domain name will either cause people to remember it or forget it very quickly. “AmericanCars” sounds much better than “AmericansCar”, “CarsAmerican”, or “AmericansCars” - don’t ya think?
- Brandability: Lastly, you want your domain name to be brandable. Sometimes this will be a catchy four or five letter domain (eBay, Meebo, etc) while other times it will simply describe the essence of your services. I consider AdviceNetwork.com to be a very good example.
If you’re having trouble figuring out the value of domain names, then you should visit some domain auction websites and see what things are going for (just Google “Domain Name Auction” to find the best ones).
You shouldn’t purchase your domain name on impulse (or you’ll likely buy a few before you settle on the right one), but you should start looking into finding a good name for your business if you’re serious about establishing yourself online.
Good luck!
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