Before
you set up a business website you will be faced with choosing a domain
name.
This is a very important step, so do not just go for the first name
that comes
to mind. Think of your domain name as a kind of marketing product that
has a
market value of its own and one that will help you to promote your
website.
Thinking
of a domain name as a product may help you to understand the value of
choosing
a good name for your site. Domain names are traded on domain auction
sites and
are priced according to the perceived value of the keywords that make
up the
URL.
Nonetheless,
if you are able to select a domain name for your internet site that
hasn't been
employed before, you'll be able to register it for less than $20 per
year
without needing to buy it at an auction site.
How
to select A URL
There
are two basic approaches to choosing a domain name that will be
suitable for
your website. The first is based on the idea of branding your business
and the
second is based on promoting your business through keywords.
1.
Branding - employ your own name or your business name as your URL.
If
you wish to enhance the visibility of your company and convert it into
a brand,
it is a good idea to use your business name as your domain name. That
is what
all the big name retailers do, whereas people with a prominent public
profile,
will frequently secure their own name as their brand name.
All
the same, if you're just starting out, you may prefer to look at using
some
pertinent keywords in your URL to help you enhance the visibility of
your
internet site. This is a good approach whenever you're advertising to a
clearly
defined niche market.
2.
Keywords - Pick out a domain name to convey the type of product or
service you
are promoting.
A
keyword rich web address offers some key advantages. First of all, it
sends out
a clear-cut message to anyone looking for the merchandise
you're
marketing. Second, your URL will add some weight to your
website's search
engine ranking for those keywords.
Choosing
a domain name that is rich in keywords
Draw
up a list of keywords connected to the main theme of your internet
site. Try to
include two or even three of your keywords in your URL. While a shorter
URL is
better, you'll need to use more than one keyword to come up with a URL
that's
obtainable.
The
simplest way for choosing a domain name is to type your ideas into a
free URL
research site such as http://www.instantdomainsearch.com/
to find out which options are obtainable. Find a combination that reads
well,
accurately reflects your business sector and, of course, is available.
When
setting up a business site, make sure you use the.com extension.
Broadly
speaking, URLs that end in .com are less demanding for people to recall
and
also seem more professional. One exception to that rule is if your
business
scope is limited to a particular country, then you might want to go for
a
national ending such as .co.uk and so forth.
If
your preferred URL isn't obtainable, you could offer to buy it from the
owner.
Be prepared to pay quite a lot of money for a domain name that includes
high
ranking keywords. While you will be able to register a new domain name
for just
a few bucks, you should be prepared to spend a few hundred dollars or
more to
procure a cracking URL from a domain auction site.
