Choosing A Domain Name To Attract Targeted Customers
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.
Somehow, there hasn’t been enough emphasis placed on choosing a domain name that attracts the right customers, so allow me to expound on this subject with some tips you can put to immediate use for your next website or blog.
1. Choose A Descriptive Domain
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. Choose a Domain With Your Keywords in It
It’s becoming increasingly important for business owners to have their websites indexed and ranked well in search engines like Google.com, MSN.com and Yahoo.com. And it helps this cause tremendously if you have a keyword-rich domain name. The reason for this is simple: Your potential customers search using specific keyword phrases to find what they’re looking for.
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 other things you can and should do to get better rankings in the search results, but starting with a good domain sets a strong foundation. Avoid using hyphens in your domain name as well since it’s believed they can hurt your rankings. Take the time to find a good domain rather than taking a shortcut and using a couple of dashes.
3. Must A Domain Name End With .com?
In a word, ‘No.’ You could very well use .net, .biz, .org or .info as an extension and no one would complain, except that you’ll likely regret that decision in the long run. Here’s why. Websites ending with any other extension besides a .com usually requires extra marketing efforts to establish credibility because everybody assumes a .com extension to be the standard in domain name branding.
How would you feel if you spend time and money marketing your website and some of those people wound up on your competitor’s customer list instead?
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.
So, don’t rush headlong into purchasing a domain name without first taking the time to research keyword phrases that would be a perfect match for your product or service. You can perform this much needed research at websites such as www.wordtracker.com, www.keywordtumbler.com and www.goodkeywords.com. It requires some effort, but acquiring the keyword phrases that are used by prospects and incorporating them into your domain name will pay off handsomely for years to come.
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