If you're considering buying a domain name, don't worry! Below are some very simple steps to take before, during, and after the process. It's easier than
you think to register a great domain name.
As the Internet grows, catchy domain names are becoming scarce. It can be difficult to
find a domain name that best suits your company because so many other people in your field might be thinking of the same domain name. So, you must be
creative and brainstorm a little while to decide on the right domain name for you.
Brainstorming to Choose a New Domain Name
Coming up with a great domain name can actually become a family event. You can spend quality time with your family while trying to brainstorm for the
right domain name. Even the kids will enjoy trying to think of great names - they might even hit the jackpot and pick a winning domain name!
Write down these four things before getting started:
*Your company name.
*Your products or services.
*Who is your target audience?
*Are you planning to do heavy advertising and branding for your domain name or small-business marketing?
These four factors can help you come up with a great domain name. When you buy or register a domain name, you must consider these things before getting
started because they will help determine how effective certain types of domain names will be.
For example, if you own a company called "The Hill Brothers" and sell children's toys, then the company name is not related to the product you sell.
Visitors to your site will have a difficult time remembering this domain name. However, if your company name is "Cool Toys, Inc." you could easily
secure the domain name "Cool-toys.com" or something similar if that one is not available, and you'll still have an effective domain name. This all
depends on what you have to offer and how the company name relates.
Otherwise, follow these simple rules to buy a domain name:
*Keep it simple.
*Keep it short.
*Avoid excessive dashes or other symbols within your main domain name.
*Choose a ".com" domain name if possible if you plan to operate an online business. Or, choose ".org" for an organization, ".edu" for an educational site,
and so on.
That's all there is to it for brainstorming! As you'll see in the next step, to buy a domain name is easy, choosing it is usually the hardest part!
Visitors recognize you by your name, hence choose a unique name that is easy to remember. It need not necessarily relate to the products that you sell,
but must leave an impression. For example, Amazon doesn't relate to books or any other products that they sell, but it sure conveys a certain image.
Incidentally, if your company has a long name, consider shortening it for use as the name of the website. Remember that many successful brands are
three-letter acronyms such as IBM, CNN and BBC.
Most single words in the english language have been taken. So often you will need to get a word thats either made up (like Squidoo.com) or from another
language (like Aykya.com, from Sanskrit).Sometimes a combination like MarketingSherpa.com also works.
I personally don't get excited by domain names that combine two or three common nouns. Its difficult to create an exciting brand out of these sort of names.
The best brands need to work in both the online AND offline worlds. Think of Virgin, Starbucks, Coca-cola, Google etc.
Choosing a Good Domain Name
Domains are hot again. After the bubble burst in the 90's, no one ever thought that anyone would pay a 5 years salary for a domain name again.
Think again. iFly.com was recently sold for $65.000 and Date.mobi sold for $40,000 this month. Thats not a wild sum, but it's not a wild domain either. SEO.com sold for $5,000,000 this year and CreditCards.com was sold for $2.750.000
last year. Someone did a pretty good investment there. See our Domain Market Sales Data for a more comprehensive listing.
So why do people spend a redicoulus amount of paper on something as silly as the right to use a certain address on the internet? Think of it as real estate. Buy and sell later. Another reason is that the clever SEO crowd discovered that anchor text is one of the strongest SEO tools availible.
That means if someone links to my site with the text "widgets" in the anchor tag, search engines will associate my site with "widgets" and give the site
higher rankings on that particular search phrase. So this means that if I own "widgets.com", chances are that many people will link me up with the
domain name, and since that contains my main keyword, half the SEO is already made.
