Domain Names
You just have to
register a domain name. A site without its own domain name looks
unprofessional. It looks like you are a here-today-gone-tomorrow type of
site.
I would really
think twice before buying from or trusting such a site.
Besides, if your
web host goes out of business, a lot of your promotion efforts will be
wasted.
Before deciding on
a name, use the following tips to give you an idea of how to choose a
better name.
Your Domain Name Should be Catchy, Short and/or Easy to Remember
Take a name like
"KeliBooks.com". Think you can remember it?
Maybe.
Now imagine that
you have been surfing the web for the last hour looking for a certain
book and have been encountering names like "Books-n-Such.com",
"MyBooks.com" and "PrestigeBookshop.com".
Do you think
"KeliBooks.com" will stand out? I don't think so.
Now...how about a
bookshop by the name of "Fatbrain.com"?
Bet you can
remember it. It'll probably stick like a leech to your mind. I think
you'd be hard pressed to forget it.
That's the kind of
name you want for your site.
Make Sure it is Easy to Pronounce and Easy to Spell
Think of
"QuittingYourJob.com". It's easy for you to tell your friend the name of
this site over the phone, right? You'd just say, "Quitting your job dot
com".
How about a site
with a name like "GoodJobs4U.com"? Going to be a bit of a problem,
right?
Also, don't use
hard to spell words like, "avalanche" or"phenomenon".
Word of mouth can
be a good way of promoting your site. Try to make it easier for surfers
to spread the word about your site.
Try For a Generic Name
Generic names are
names like:
www.business.com
www.lampshade.com
www.parrots.com
You get the idea.
Generic names are
great because surfers might type it in without ever knowing about your
site.
Say, you have a
company that sells monitors at www.monitors.com. If a surfer wants to
buy a monitor, he might just type in "monitors.com" to see what comes
up. More traffic for you.
Practically all
the generic names would already have been taken up but you can try for
names that are not in common use but is very common in your field of
business or expertise.
Try to Start the First Character of Your Domain Name With "A"
Not always
possible but do it if you can. Or at least try to get the first
character as close to "A" as possible. In fact, it would be even better
if you can start with a digit.
Why the fuss with
the letter "A"?
Many directories
list sites sorted by their domain names. Sites with "A" in their
domain name will be very close to the top of the list. :)
