Monday, January 14, 2008

Choosing the Right Domain Name

There are millions of blogs and websites already in existence on the world wide web. Yet, many more are being launched each day. Each one is christened with a name that is deemed unique enough to differentiate it from the millions that are already in existence.

So, how do I choose a name that is: (1) Unique (2) Easy to remember (3) Relevant to my content (4) Contains my keywords for SEO

I have been reading a lot of materials and visiting websites in the past one week. I desire to have my blog on a paid hosting platform. But choosing a name that reflects what I want to achieve has been a difficult decision to make.

The blog is meant to be a business blog. Not a diary like this one. It will be focusing on making money by rendering services online. My target audiences are: Newbie bloggers looking for tips, Newbie Online Entrepreneurs and bloggers from the developing nations. (A very large market ;-)

I have been made to understand that choosing the right name is like having a solid foundation for my website. Here are the issues I need to take into consideration:

  • The name must be unique, else there will be branding problem. Imagine me registering JohnChow.com (lol) of course it is impossible to register a name that is already in use. Also, I don’t want to be a copycat or a duplicate, so I won’t register JohnChowJr.com
  • The domain name must be simple and easy for any dummy to remember without searching in Google (lol). The ability of would be visitors to remember the website name without assistance is very crucial. Their repeated visit might just depend on it. So it is better to combine simple meaningful words to form the domain name than to use complicated words such as w9jfq4gy.com
  • I should avoid hypens and dash. They can be confusing. During my tour, I came across some beautiful sites that I would have love to revisit. However, since I failed to write their address down, and I wasn’t in the mood to add them to my bookmarks, attempts to return to same sites were frustrating. I couldn’t remember where the hyphens and dash were suppose to be this_is-an_example.com
  • My domain name must be relevant to the goal of the website. It is needless naming a website that deals with pets as motherandchilddelight.com this will attract the wrong category of visitors and the goal of the website will most likely be defeated.
    The domain name if possible should contain at least one or two of my keywords (SEO). That one is the greatest headache I’m having now. It seems all the keywords have been overused!

That’s about the summary of all I have learnt. Now, I want to appeal to you my reader to come to my help. What is your advice? Should I use a name like nigerianbloggers.com or just my personal name like johnchow.com Thanks in advance.


1 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm certainly no expert, but I would suggest you try something geared toward content for the name of a specialized blog. Not only will it help your SEO, but it will also help keep you focussed as time rolls by.