So what’s in a Domain Name anyway? Let’s discuss ways to find a cool one! Is .com better than .biz? Yes it is, but why?
If you haven’t got a domain name yet there are a number of things to take into account and it kind of depends what you want your name to do. “Do?” you say. Yep, your domain name alone can have a significant bearing on your Search Engine results and therefore on how people find you online.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What looks better to you: www.how-to-catch-more-fish.com or www.joesanglingsupplies.com ? Are hyphens a good idea?
- If .com isn’t available should you buy .net or .biz or another domain extension? What’s the difference?
- Do you know what the main keyword phrase for your site is yet?
- Is a memorable name a better way forward? www.gonefishingbackatsix.com
- Are you promoting a business, yourself, or targeting a niche market? Or all three…
- Are there any free tools to help you find out what your options are?
These questions and more I will attempt to answer in my, as usual, rambling audio below- it’s a bit ‘train of thought’ I admit but please get used to it as I know no other way. What’s that you say? “Write a script?” Come ON!
PLUS check out what I really think is a v. cool free resource, in the video tutorial which will save you a bunch of time in finding a super domain name! Can you sense how enthused I am about this free service?
AUDIO
[audio:domainthoughts2.mp3]
VIDEO
PS: Click on the ‘enlarge’ icon in the video controls for full screen version
Relevant links for this tutorial:
Glossary/Explanation of Techy Terms used in this tutorial:
- Domain Extension: i.e. .com, .co.uk, .net and dozens of others, all countries have multiple country specific suffixes/extensions too.
- Algorithm: What Google uses to rate your site. It’s a list of pluses and minuses ( possibly/probably hundreds) and they look at such things as domain extensions, age of the domain, backlinks etc. etc. to determine how they should rank your site. A lot of people spend a lot of time unsuccessfully trying to understand Google’s algorithm but it’s more secret than the recipe for Coca Cola!
- Prefixes/Suffixes: In the context of this tutorial refers to things you might put in front of or after a domain name (before the domain extension) such as an ‘i’ prefix as in www.ifishing.com or a ‘ter’ suffix as in www.fishter.com.
Got a question about any of the info above? Let us know in the Comments section below….
About the Author
About the Author:
Clive McGonigal is a full time Web Developer, Marketer, WordPress Evangelist and all round Decent Chap. He lives between London and France ( on a tiny rowing boat with an internet connection) and spends his offline time wining, dining and conversing with his dogs. He loves WordPress ( themes, plugins and tweaks) and blogs about them whenever he can.
More from this author.
Tagged With: Bustaname.com, Domain Extensions, Domain Names, Search Engines
That\’s way the bestest anwser so far!
Some quick tips ( just mine so don’t regard them as etched in stone)
1) Stick to .com or .net or .org (but the new .co is of interest)
2) Avoid hyphens. I used to use them but I think they look-really-crap-now.com and maybe Google does too?
3) Shorter is better and if you are going ‘purely’ for natural SEO then yes: BestHybridCar.com makes perfect sense.
But if you are looking to establish a ‘brand’ online maybe HybridHack.com would make more sense, be more memorable and PR ( i.e. Press Release) friendly?