Tips For Choosing A Domain Name
By Sammer Hakim

Your domain name acts as a lure for visitors to your site. It diffuses all over the Web into various search engines, discussion boards and forums to attract users to your site. Once it draws them in, the rest of your site is responsible for selling them your idea. But this initial period of drawing customers in requires a dynamite domain name. When selecting your domain name…

1. Keep It As Concise As Possible
You have the luxury of using up to 67 characters to register your domain but only use this space if you have to. Otherwise, keep it as short and sweet as possible. Although nearly all of site visits are via click-throughs and not typed in URL’s, having a domain that’s easy to remember can help you in both your online and offline promotions. So use the keyword search wisely and use the most popular search terms for a high impact domain.

2. Dot What?
.com – plain and simple.
Although there are numerous suffixes, don’t use them. Even today, the most recognizable and most associated Web address is .com so stick with what works. If you feel a compelling urge to try something different like .net, .biz, etc. run the site parallel to a .com and prove to yourself which site is performing better. Also, many web browsers will automatically insert a .com by default if the ending suffix isn’t inserted – another reason to use .com.

3. Avoid Trademarked Names
Unless you have an endless supply of time and money to spend fighting trademarked names, keep clear of other people’s identities. Use an original domain name that is rich in keyword content to attract quality traffic. If you knock off somebody else’s name/identity, it only harms your online reputation and can result in very costly lawsuits. And companies are more than willing to pay. Are you?

4. Register Your Domain NOW
Don’t delay! The euphoria domain name buying has created is seeing droves of people rushing to grab the best names they can get their hands on. Don’t con yourself thinking ‘nobody will ever think up of this domain’ – they are probably saying the same thing to themselves too. Don’t talk yourself out of getting a hot domain name because of what might or might not happen. Just grab it first, and then you can do what you want with it later. And you don’t need to be a computer nerd to get one. Just follow the simple instructions on this site and you will have your domain name minutes from now.

5. One Domain Name May Not Be Enough
You may have to register different versions of your domain if you are selling a large variety of products. You can do this by registering similar addresses consistent with your business and have them all direct to one website. You can increase your visibility on search engines by doing this and it gives the impression your company is a lot bigger (hence more secure and established) than what it really is. This helps to build faster credibility with your customers.

6. Character Types
This is pretty straightforward: Letters, dashes and numbers are ok, spaces and symbols aren’t. Also domain names are not case-sensitive; it doesn’t matter how you enter the address ie: domain.com is the same as DOMAIN.com.

7. Ask Around
Before you finalize your domain selection, make sure you use the appropriate keyword search tools and include the most frequently searched terms into your domain. Keep in mind, most people will find your domain name via search engines, not direct URL entries. This is more reason to ensure your keyword selection is relevant to your business. Also, ask reputable online experts if you aren’t sure.

8. Don’t Shell Out Large Amounts of $$$
In the Dark Ages of 1998, companies were charging enormous amounts of money plus a "mandatory" $70 InterNIC fee to register and host your domain. And customers were shelling out money only to realize, it was eating away at their profit margins. Since ‘e’ is for electronic, it was supposed to be streamlined and more efficient right? So why the high costs? Well, things have literally changed overnight. There are hundreds of companies now offering domain name registration services for very competitive rates.
You can get yours for next to pennies. Active-Domain has incredibly low prices together with several FREE services other companies still charge for like e-mail, sub-domains and site redirection.
One final tip: We can’t emphasize this enough - as soon as you find your ‘dream’ domain and are excited about it – register it! Don’t kick yourself later and lament on ‘what could have been’. New domains are being registered every minute – don’t let yours fall into the ‘other guy’s’ hands.

Sammer Hakim has been instrumental in helping business owners select appropriate domain names through his site www.free-domain-name-articles.com. A copywrityer by profession, other topics he's extensively written about include website promotion, boosting response rates from sales materials and advertising.

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