5 tips for Domain Virgins

• January 25, 2010
Steven

There are over 250,000 million registered domains worldwide. Picking a quality domain is now more important than ever.

Choosing the right domain name and domain name extension is a crucial factor for your website’s success.

What do domain extensions stand for?

.com: Stands for commercial. This is an internationally commercial domain and by the far the most popular domain extension.

.net: This is extension stands for network and is primarily used by internet provider companies. When that “absolutely perfect” .com domain is taken a .net domain is not such a bad idea.
Examples:bellsouth.net and Comcast.net

.org: Commonly reffered to as a “dot-org” . This was of the original domain extensions, established in January 1985. It was originally intended for organizations but now anybody can purchase a .org domain.

.edu: This extension is restricted to only post-secondary institutions and organizations that are accredited by nationally recognized accrediting agencies.

5 Tips for domain virgins

1) Keep it short,simple and memorable. The shorter your domain name is the easier it will be for clients to remember the name. For example Miami Web Design Pro works wonders. Not only does it help in optimization, it is also simple and short enough to remember.

2) Include target and descriptive keywords in your domain URL. For example, if your company sells detergent and some of your target keywords are “clothing detergent” then www.mikescloathingdetergent.com would be an excellent choice. A website that includes keywords in their domain name has a head start in the Search Engine Optimization battle. Many of the companies that use their locations in their domain thrive as well, like Miami Web Design, or Web Design Miami, or Miami Web Design Firm.

3) Avoid hyphens,numbers and plural words. Remember tip #1 keep it short and simple. Hyphens and plural words will only confuse your clients and probably send them directly to your competitors website.

4) Register your domain for a few years. If you forget to renew your domain on time anybody has the legal right to purchase it.

5)Make sure there are no trademark issues with the domain. You can visit The US Patent and Trademark office to verify.