No Comments Written by Robert on August 13, 2008 – 3:05 pm

Choosing a good domain name has two potential benefits. First, domain names work towards forming impressions about your online credibility. A well-thought-out domain name gives users the impression of value and trust. The second reason why you need to choose a relevant domain name is that a domain name is often the first thing the search-engine spiders see when indexing your Web site.

Search-engine spiders are programs written by the software engineers at the search engines that jump from Web site to Web site, reading content and following links. Search engines and potential Web site visitors view a poor domain name as noncredible and unreliable.

Your domain name is one of the primary factors that search engines use to rank your Web site. Selecting a domain that relates directly to the theme of your Web site increases the likelihood that search engines such as Google and Yahoo will rank your Web site for related keywords.

Generally speaking, you have two options: Choose a domain name that contains the keywords and phrases that your Web site is about, or choose a domain name that is brandable.

Domain names are important for your rankings.

Many Web sites, such as Amazon and eBay, began with generic or obscure domain names to build successful Web sites and brand awareness. Such an approach can be more difficult in the beginning when trying to rank for certain search terms, because the search engines do use your domain name as a ranking factor. When choosing a domain name, try to include, if possible, one or two of the major keywords your Web site is trying to rank for. For example, if your Web site is about designer shoes, an ideal domain name would be www.designershoes.com.

If your Web site is trying to create a new brand or develop a new niche in the market, consider registering a domain name that contains as few characters as possible. Make it short and easily recognizable for even the least experienced Web users. Avoid using multiple hyphens in your domain name because hyphens may be seen negatively by search engines.

Spammers are known to register multiple hyphen domain names in order to stuff as many keywords as possible into the domain name of the Web site they are creating, in an effort to fool the search engines into top rankings. Visit reputable registrars such as GoDaddy at www.godaddy.com or 1&1 Web Hosting at www.1and1.com to register your domain.

Web sites like these offer easy-to-use tools to help you select relevant domain names based on the keywords you want your Web site to rank for, and also make recommendations for similar domains if the domain you are searching for is unavailable.

It is often necessary to secure variations of your primary domain name in order to prevent cybersquatting. Cybersquatting occurs when someone registers a variation of your current domain name. The cybersquatter often profits from the traffic that comes from the domain or may attempt to sell you the domain at an inflated price. At the same time you register your primary domain name you should also register that same domain with common domain and country extensions.

Choose a domain name that contains your main keywords

At the least you should register the .com, .net, .and org extensions, as well as .co.uk and any other country with which you may want to eventually conduct direct business. You should also register common misspellings of your domain name.

For example, if your domain name is www.pepperjam.com, you should also purchase www.peperjam.com and www.peppperjam.com, if they are available. Securing a good domain name is not easy, especially because of a business known as domaining. Domaining is a business where domain names are purchased, usually in bulk, and monetized. In many cases, domainers own thousands and thousands of domain names, making premium domain names unavailable.

If the domain you are looking for is unavailable, you may consider purchasing that domain in the domain secondary market from a Web site such as www.sedo.com, which brokers single domain names for as little as $10 to as much as $10 million.