4 Top Domain Name Tips
Selecting a top domain name is becoming more difficult every day. It’s an important choice, since picking a great domain name can, to a certain extend, make a big difference in search engine optimization.
So here a 4 top domain name tips, written by Emilia Johansson, director of AffiliateTips.com. Emilia is an expert in finding great programs that pay out high commissions which she publishes in a top 10. She looks at today’s topic from this respect.
Here goes. Enjoy!
The Importance of a Top Domain Name
When you’re starting your affiliate business there are many things to think about and one of the most important things is picking a domain name.
I wouldn’t say that it will make or break your business but it can make the difference between a successful and a mediocre affiliate.
How can that be, you might ask yourself, and the answer is quite easy; with a carefully chosen domain name you’ll be able to attract more visitors and that equals more money in your pocket at the end of the month.
If you stick to a few simple strategies you’ll get a head start to your competitors and to help you with this we’ve created this post. Read it and learn what to think about - in just picking up one or two of our pointers you’ll get an edge to your competitors when it comes to the domain name.
Matching Names
It might seem obvious but if possible you should try to match the domain name with the name of your website. If you do this chances are much greater that your visitors remember the name and in the end return to your site.
If the names don’t match people will be confused and as many are inpatient they won’t bother trying to find your site. This means less visitors and money for you.
Many of the top names are already taken - use free registry tools to find out if the one you want is free or not.
Keyword in the Domain Name
One of the best ways of attracting visitors to your website through a domain name is in picking a name that includes your website’s keyword. From an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) perspective this is ideal but it won’t be easy to do.
First of all, think about what your most important keywords are and then start thinking about what the domain name could be. This could take some time but it will be well-worth the effort.
Keep it Short and Simple
If you are thinking about using a long domain name then you really should reconsider. Most people won’t remember the name of your site if the name is too long – keep it short and simple.
Of course, this shouldn’t be done at any price – don’t sacrifice your memorability and branding just to keep the name. Maybe a deliberation is at its place…
Also try to avoid using to many dashes in your domain name as this will make it harder for you to use it when you are meeting with people face to face. One is fine but if you have problems pronouncing it in less than a few seconds it’s probably best to rethink it.
Creative Names
If you can’t come up with a generic domain name you might want to think about picking a creative domain name. In fact, in many cases can this prove to be more successful – it all comes down to how creative you are.
To test if your chosen domain name is creative enough to be remember, simply mention it casually to a few friends and check back with them after a day or so. If they still remember the domain name – it’s for sure a keeper.
Warm up your creative muscles and start brainstorming!
About the author: Emilia Johansson is the director of AffiliateTips.com - an affiliate marketing site with a large selection of affiliate program reviews that makes it easier to find affiliate programs for your site.
Have any other domain name tips? Let us know.
Post them below or give us your comments.
Tags: affiliate, domain names
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August 29th, 2008 at 1:10 am
Great article. I think the domain matching with your business name is the most important point made. Ive purchased a number of domain names only to find there are already businesses trading under the name, so before you buy check all the popular extensions to see if anyone is already trading under the name. My wife is quite creative when it comes to picking domain names she has a few that don’t have keywords in but are very memorable (Smelly Piggies and Scruffy Moo). So sometimes if you intend to be online a long time it can be a good trade off to choose something that’s more memorable than a domain name with keywords (as most of the good ones have gone).
Khaled
August 29th, 2008 at 3:23 am
August 29th, 2008 at 10:19 am
I have to agree with the article. Domain names are your trademark. There’s a big difference when people remember your trademark almost immediately.
Rona “Internet Business Opportunity”
August 29th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
It is obviously extremely important to have a good domain name. I like to have a part of the domain name in my title tags as well if it is relevant to the product or service I am trying to promote. Thanks for the tips.
August 30th, 2008 at 2:35 am
Good tips,
Don’t get me started on domain names. I used to own about 300. Now I “only” have 40.
I buy domains relevant to my businesses or interests. I use keyword popularity to put mine together.
I added you to myBlogLog.com
Thanks,
Jorge Olson
August 30th, 2008 at 3:29 am
Keywords within domain name does carry weight in SEO context. However, as the search engine gets more and more complex, we can have work around methods to compensate for not having keyword rich domains.
August 30th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Good sharing, domain name is very important for page ranking, choose a good domain name it really help a lot to our own web page. A domain name do represent a web page as well.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Used domains, as long as they haven’t been slapped by Google, are my personal favorite way to rank sites. You can generally find good, creative domains that are 5+ years old for less than fifty bucks, and these are so much easier to get ranked by the big G.
August 31st, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Thanks for the informative tips. I struggle with this aspect of website creation all the time. It’s really getting hard to find a great domain name (that’s available) that’s keyword rich and accurately describes your business.
Brenda Ross
September 1st, 2008 at 6:00 am
Definitely some good information that newbies can relate to. However, personally, I’m not the biggest fan of keyword packed domains and infact, for branding purposes, I believe that only using maybe one keyword in your domain might be the best.
September 1st, 2008 at 9:41 am
I must admit I 100% agree with the article. it’s so important to have a good domain name.
For those who are interested, there a website that will suggest available domain names based on the keywords you specify, it’s called bustaname.com
Thank
Bruno
September 1st, 2008 at 1:44 pm
I think in the web 2.0 era the good sound of your domain name is a bit more important than the name itself. You should be able to market it with modern ways without having people to find it by its “telling name” IMO…
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:56 am
good idea, having a domain name that isn’t so long. unfortunately, it can be easy when thinking about optimizing a site for search engines, to put too many keywords in the url.
you’re right that a balance must be struck so that the url isn’t so difficult for persons to remember (as shorter is usually easier in this regard).
kind of you to allow keywords. i appreciate it.
kouji
September 3rd, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I’d definitely go along with the ‘keyword in the domain name’ suggestion as many people do link to your site via the domain name so it makes optimizing it for search engines a lot easier.
The only problem with creative names is when you’re on a limited budget. Not only are they harder to optimize but you have to educate your audience and visitors about what you your site actually does.
Sometimes using a service can be worth it - in the past I’ve used the domain name service PickyDomains.com and have had great success with it.
Charles
September 4th, 2008 at 2:20 am
I personally wouldn’t worry too much about keywords in the domain, as the algo changes this will probably become less important anyway, if it suddenly lost all importance I expect the SERP’s would change dramatically, I personally don’t want to be in a position where one non-changeable thing could have such an impact.
September 4th, 2008 at 6:07 am
I agree with you. Your article is very informative and really good for beginners. These all tips will really help your site to have a good PR and good traffic flow. Thanks for the lovely post
September 4th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Good article! Domain names are very important in todays market. Like how you said domains should be short and simple, lots of people now just make really long domains for their first few ones to fit all their thoughts in, then wonder why they don’t get lots of view, even if they have a great site. People just want something short and easy.
September 5th, 2008 at 2:53 am
I couldn’t agree more. Domain names represent what company are you. It is your trademark.
Make it simple so that others could memorize it easily. Don’t make things complicated.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Looking at the SERP’s these days, the domain name doesn’t seem to matter that much anymore from an SEO perspective. Totally different thing a few years back, but now it hardly makes a difference. Just quality links that seem to persist
September 7th, 2008 at 12:40 am
I think that the domain name still is important, but more so in niches that aren’t extremely competitive. In uncompetitive niches, a good domain name and quality content go a long way. Throw just a couple links in there and you can keyword snipe your way into the top 5 of the SERPs. In more competitive niches a good domain name can only get you so far, it all comes down to links there.
September 7th, 2008 at 3:45 am
Excellent article!
I have chosen a domain name being guided by the same reasons which are written in article.
I think, that I have made a true choice.
But, unfortunately, only the domain name will not provide success achievement.
September 7th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
I have a new domain now. The domain name is the combination of two places-Leyte, where I came from and Star, since I am in the Lone Star state right now. I hope you can give me you opinion if my domain name is cool for my site.
tnx,
marly
September 12th, 2008 at 2:33 am
Don’t get me started on domains, trying to transfer them is much worse than thinking of a new one. I know what I would rather do. Domains are so important though and Something has to be done with new extensions being needed.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:44 am
The actual seo gain of keywords on the domain is marginal.
But there are other benefits in:
Domain is bolded when those keywords are searched for.
Your able to use keywords in your dmoz and other directory listings.
September 17th, 2008 at 1:02 am
I wish I had read this article BEFORE I proceeded to buy 150+ domains of which 95% are garbage! I was stupid but I just didn’t understand about domains.
May I post this article on my site?
Please let me know.
Thanks, Ed
September 17th, 2008 at 11:45 am
@Ed
Yes you may, provided you leave the author’s bio intact with live links.
September 18th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Nice article. I believe keywords are still playing an important role in domain name. But its not the only domain name that will give you success an rankings. Its just one thing among 1000 things that matter.
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:47 am
Good sharing, if domain name not matches whit business name it’s important at least to be creative, so people can easily remember. It’s good for page rank
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:57 am
people in general use to remember a url with .com by default. so i think its better to use .com unless u hav a country specific site.
& use of “-” or “_” is also not a good idea.
October 1st, 2008 at 1:42 am
I think it is an overall plus to have the keyword in the domain, but only if it makes sense. Not as a replacement of the company name.
I find it extremely annoying when you can’t match a website with a company. Branding is very important when marketing your business.
Dave
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:03 am
I totally agreed with the above tips. However the main problem now is mostly .com are taken by someone. In fact, most premium .net domain taken too. So, unless you have huge money to buy from aftermarket, or else you properly couldn’t get any good + short + easy remeber .com domain.
October 9th, 2008 at 7:39 am
good information
another point is that optimizing for serps is often different than optimizing for human beings - in my book, a memorable domain name and good content that people really want trumps seo considerations over the long run