How To Choose A Domain Name That Attracts The Right Customers

by Theo McLanahan

One of the fastest ways of getting attention for your business in today’s world is to have a good online presence. And the first step to getting your business online is a good domain name.

Unfortunately, many people overlook this important step. Let’s look at a few tips for getting a domain that will attract the right customers to your site.

1. Make Sure Your Domain Describes Your Business

What your website offers should be clear from the domain name. Don’t make your potential visitors guess at what they’ll find on your website.

For example, if your name is Veronica Smith and you own a hair salon, get a domain like veronicashairsalon.com instead of veronicasmith.com. Unless you’re famous, or want to become that way, your own name isn’t the best option as your domain.

Also, try to keep your domain name within a range of 13-15 characters, as shorter domain names tend to stick in people’s minds. It also makes it easier for them to type out your web address in their browsers without too much head scratching.

2. Get A Domain That Includes Your Keywords

It’s becoming increasingly important for business owners to have their websites indexed and ranked well in search engines like Google.com, MSN.com and Yahoo.com. And it helps this cause tremendously if you have a keyword-rich domain name. The reason for this is simple: Your potential customers search using specific keyword phrases to find what they’re looking for.

Spending the time to research your keywords and find a domain that uses them, while still meeting the first criteria (descriptive, short as possible) is well worth the time.

Of course, there are other SEO tactics to implement for better rankings, but getting a keyword-rich domain name is the first step towards ensuring your website will be search engine friendly. Avoid using any weird characters like apostrophes and even hyphens in your domain name as this will eventually affect rankings.

3. Can You Use A Different Extension Than .com?

In a word, ‘No.’ You could very well use .net, .biz, .org or .info as an extension and no one would complain, except that you’ll likely regret that decision in the long run. Here’s why. Websites ending with any other extension besides a .com usually requires extra marketing efforts to establish credibility because everybody assumes a .com extension to be the standard in domain name branding.

How would you feel if you spend time and money marketing your website and some of those people wound up on your competitor’s customer list instead?

In some cases it makes sense to use a different extension, such as a non-profit society using .org, but generally you should stick with .com.

So don’t rush into picking your domain name. Research your market and find the keyword phrases that people are searching for. There are quite a few websites that let you research this information, such as Wordtracker.com and GoodKeywords.com. Putting the effort in up front will pay off in the long run.

About the Author:

Struggling to get your internet business off the ground but feel adrift in a sea of gurus and products promising the world? Visit the Internet Marketing Chaos blog for a hype-free look at how to run your business. Visit http://www.netmarketingchaos.com for more helpful info