How to Choose a Good Domain Name?

Over the last few weeks, I have been revising for a friend of mine an area of SEO that has been largely overlooked: selecting a keyword-rich domain name. Since I have been asked that question hundreds of times and I have been reviewing, suggesting, assessing & buying domain for 10 years, I thought it would be a good idea to put it out here. I will not be covering everything here but this is start. For those of you who have not been introduced to the concept of domain name selection, speculation, the value of a name and how to select a good name, please read on. This will allow you to take a second look at your own name.

As I am researching writing on this topic, I came across a great article which presents the points to consider when buying a domain name. For better results, your domain name should be memorable and easy to remember. Remember the following tips when purchasing a domain name.

* The domain name should be short.
* The domain name should be simple.
* It should be suggestive of your business category.
* It should be unique.
* It should be easy to interpret and pronounce.
* It should be personalized.
* It should not be difficult to spell.
* It should not be difficult to remember.

Selecting a domain name, your web address, the location of your store online is a critical decision. You must take your time reviewing all your options before you make that decision. You also need to talk to your favorite SEO specialist as he/she might add a few suggestions you may have overlooked. He/She will be able to point out previously owned domains, talk about link equity of each domain, identify the age of a domain name/site and explain how these are important Google ranking factors to consider as part of the decision making process. 

Examples:
In my previous job at a local phone dating company, buying domain names was a big part of my workload and it is not because I liked it. The president thought that the more names we own, regardless of the words it carried, was a great idea. At some point, we owned more than 500 domain names, most of which did not have any value and did not produce any traffic. It actually costs a lot to keep them as part of our inventory. One day, they asked me to assess/buy giggle.com. Are you serious? Giggle.com was too expensive to purchase without a proper business plan. For the matter of discussion and education, I then showed them sedo.com: a great website for buying and selling previously-owned domain names and websites. Few weeks later, I put half of their domain inventory up for sale. Bottom line: it is very hard to buy/sell something if you don’t have the knowledge to assess its value properly. That is why you need to educate yourself & document your ideas before you can actually make these important financial decisions.

Here is another example. A few years ago, I was working for finetravelcompany.com and I convinced them to change their name for luxuryvacation.bc.ca. My recommendation was that finetravelcompany.com did not say anything about their business and this was a serious drawback for their long term success. Since the name of your business and the promotion of your business online go hand in hand, make sure your initial plan of attack includes the decision of your business name and your domain name. They might be the same or complement one another.

If you are not sure about your domain name and what better options would be, feel free to get in touch with me. Your name will make a big difference between success and failure and it should be selected wisely. I can help. 

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Comments

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2. I m going to start a new website. it is about health tips. people can search and read health tips in my site. so i want to choose a good domain name. it is available medicalcafe.net ,curehut.com, curetips.net , freemeditips.com what is the good one? and i want to know .net domains are good or bad (traffic) .please suggest me a good domain please

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