One of the most
important things you will do for your online business is to choose a
name for your web site. It can be extremely difficult to find a name
that reflects the business that you do, especially if you have a
great deal of competition and most of the names you are thinking
about have already been purchased.
1. You are going
to have to put some thought into your web site name, and a good
starting point is to list some terms that are extremely relevant to
the type of business that you do. When you create a list, be sure
to write down about 15 or 20 different terms. Short domain names
are a lot easier to remember than long ones, so be sure to choose
shorter terms.
2. Your next step
will be to navigate to a name registrar site to purchase your domain
name. Start by typing in your first term and viewing the results.
In many instances the .com name may already be taken, and if the
term is quite popular, all of the other extensions will be taken
too. If this is the case, you may not want to choose that name
because it is apparent there is a lot of competition in place
already.
3. Never choose a
domain name that contains hyphens if you cannot have the original
name you were hoping to purchase. Most people will not include the
hyphens when they search for your site and will instead be taken to
your competitor’s website. These are a few simple rules to
choosing a decent web site name. Always keep them in mind when you
are looking for and purchasing your business domain.
4. Try an online
tool that helps you to build domain names, such as “Panabee”.
This tool allows you to type in your main domain “word”
combination. It will then let you know if the .com is available,
and other available variations of your phrase. If your .com comes
up, you can purchase it, if not, it’s back to the drawing board.
The one drawback of online name generator sites is that they can
consume a lot of your valuable time, and the results are less than
amazing.
5. Try searching
recently expired domain names if you have your heart set on a
certain name or phrase. You might be surprised on what you can find
with domains that people have allowed to lapse. Sometimes people
purchase domain names with great intentions of doing something with
the name and having an amazing website, but their plans fall short
and they let the domain expire. Their loss becomes your gain, so
don’t feel sad or feel that you are taking advantage of someone,
just purchase that domain before it gets snapped up by someone else!
6. A good website
name will not always come to you right away. Sometimes it is a good
idea to “sleep on it” or think about your potential choice for a
few days. Once you register a domain name and start building out
your website, it is going to become a lot more difficult to change
the name of your site.
Source: The Site Wizard
