Weblog Bucks

One of the fastest ways of getting attention for your business in today’s world is to have a good online presence. And the first step to getting your business online is a good domain name.

Unfortunately, many people overlook this important step. Let’s look at a few tips for getting a domain that will attract the right customers to your site.

1. Choose A Name That Describes Your Website

Your domain name should make it clear to your visitors what your website is about, even before they land on the site. Don’t make them guess what you’re offering.

For example, if your name happens to be Sue Brown and you own a hair salon called Sue’s Hair Salon, get a domain name like, www.sueshairsalon.com instead of www.suebrown.com. Seems pretty obvious, but you’ll be amazed at how many business owners use their personal names as domain names instead of choosing one that specifically describes their business.

Also, shorter is better because it’s easier to remember. It’s also easier for them to type, with less chance of spelling mistakes.

2. Get A Domain That Includes Your Keywords

Most websites rely on Google, Yahoo and other search engines for some (or most) of their traffic. If your business’s keywords are included in your domain, you’re more likely to rank higher in the results.

Taking the time to do some research to find your best keywords, and a domain that includes them, is important. Make sure it still meets the first criteria though - short and descriptive.

There are plenty of other things you’ll need to do to get good rankings in the search engines, but your domain name sets the foundation for everything else. Also, avoid using dashes in your domain even if it makes it easier to find a keyword-rich name. Hyphens are believed to hurt your rankings in some search engines.

3. Must A Domain Name End With .com?

Yes and no. You could use other extensions like .net, .biz or .info but it’s not the best choice. Everybody knows .com but if your site uses something else, you’re going to have to market it a lot harder to get the correct extension in people’s minds. And if someone else already has the .com version, they’ll probably get a lot of traffic from people looking for you.

How would you like your potential customers to end up on your competitor’s client list thanks to the time and money you spend on marketing?

In some cases it makes sense to use a different extension, such as a non-profit society using .org, but generally you should stick with .com.

Don’t rush into picking a domain name. Take the time to research your market and find keyword phrases that people actually search for. Websites such as Wordtracker.com and GoodKeywords.com can help you with this. Taking the time to plan correctly in the beginning will pay off well in the long term.