
		Webmaster Resource Directory \| Contact Us \| Submit Your Site

How To Choose The Best Domain Name

In this article we are going to look at the thought process you should go thru to choose your domain name.

First of all let's define what a domain name is.

A unique name that represents each computer on the Internet. (Some machines do have more than one domain name.) The DNS converts the domain name requested by an Internet user into an IP address.

The Domain Name System (DNS) helps users to find their way around the Internet. Every computer on the Internet has a unique address ? just like a telephone number ? which is a rather complicated string of numbers. It is called its "IP address" (IP stands for "Internet Protocol").

But it is hard to remember everyone's IP address. The DNS makes it easier by allowing a familiar string of letters (the "domain name") to be used instead of the arcane IP address. So instead of typing 64.65.51.245 , you can type www.team-schuman.com. It is a "mnemonic" device that makes addresses easier to remember.

So what makes the best internet domain name?

First of all don't pick a name that has nothing to do with your Web site. If you are selling flowers don't pick a name like apples.com. Picking an oddball name makes no sense and it will just confuse your audience.

Don't make your new domain name too long. The longer it is the harder it becomes to remember. Can you remember myflowers.com or lookatmyflowerswebsite.com?

Short names are not the way to go either. It is to your benefit to try and buy a domain name that has a few keywords that relate to the topic of you Web site when possible.

Keyword placement when choosing your domain name is helpful as your site develops a higher placement with the search engines. Having the name jeffsflowers.com will do better with a search engine than jeffssite.com. With jeffsflowers.com you know I have a flower website where with jeffssite.com you don't know what kind of Web site I have.

When registering your domain name in some cases you will need to determine if you want to use hyphens in the name itself. Personally I have found this to be a great way to get a domain name that otherwise my not be available. The domain name myflowers.com might already be taken whereas the name my-flowers.com might be available.

Everything I have read says try to get a .com domain name first before going to a .net or .org etc. As more and more domain names are taken this becomes harder to do and I think you are better off getting a keyword rich domain name like my-flowers.org than you are to buy a .com domain name like jeffssite.com.

Is buying a cheap domain name a bad idea? Absolutely not. I do it all of the time. I get all of my domain names here:

http://www.godaddy.com

Then I transfer them to my hosting company here:

http://www.team-schuman.com/host4profit.

I can buy a domain name for less than $10 from Godaddy.com and transfer it for free to Host4Profit. This saves me $20 on buying it from the hosting company itself. A domain name is a domain name and you might as well save a little money where you can.

Finding out what names are available is very easy to do. Let's use Godaddy.com as an example.

Go here: http://www.godaddy.com

Click on the icon for Domain Names

Enter a domain name and see if it is available

They will come back with a list of available names

Decide what one you want and buy it One last thing to consider. Protect your name by registering multiple extensions (.net, .org, etc.) This deters people from copying your name. For example, if you own my-flowers.com you can also register my-flowers.net and any other extension that's available. As you build up traffic to your site if someone types in an version other than the .com version you can forward it to your .com site and not lose any traffic.

In closing it is important to spend a little time when choosing the best domain name for your website. Try and get some keywords in your domain name. Don't stop at choosing just a .com version and save a little money by buying a cheap domain name whenever possible as long as it still contains some keywords.

About The Author

Jeff Schuman is the creator of several websites. His Sites-Plus.Com website is a small business website that contains the best of everything you need to start and run your own small business. Visit it here today:

http://www.sites-plus.com

http://www.team-schuman.com

More Domain Names Articles

Know How DNS Works
Domain name Servers (DNS) are an important but invisible part of the internet, and form one of the largest databases on it. Each machine on an internet is assigned a unique address, called an IP address, which is 32 bit number and is expressed as 4 octets.

Domain Name: Why Do You Need One Anyway?
I come across sites all the time that are obviously hosted for free. Why obviously? Because they have no domain.

Free eBook: Business Domain Names
Since every website needs a name, Dr. Steve Baba has written a free ebook that will help you obtain a brandable, memorable domain name at a reasonable cost, which will contribute to your brand equity and profits.

Its Raining ccTLDs
By now you've probably noticed the onslaught of unfamiliar domain name extensions popping up here and there. Like most domain name professionals, you've probably sat at your computer pondering whether or not you should kick out the extra cash to register some of these domain names.

Eu-Domains For Everybody
Cologne,10 July 2004. ICANN accredited registar Secura announces today, that the company is accepting applications for the sunrise and real time period of eu-domains (https://www.

The Growth of ru-Domains
The registry of ru-domains reports, that the number of domain names registered in Russia's national domain, the ru-domains, has increased 19.82% in the first half of 2004 to 256.

ICANN Registrar: Great promotion by is-domains!
ICANN accredited registar Secura is announcing today, that the company offers is-domains to persons and companies outside from Iceland.The is-domains, which are the domains from Iceland, belong to the domains, which become more and more attractive.

Liberalization of in-Domains?
Communications and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran has -as Hindustan Times reports-some advice for Indian patriots: use in-domains for Websites and e-mail IDs to popularise Indian identity in the world.With India emerging as a global "labor" for IT, Indian companies should change the domain names of their Websites and e-mail IDs to in-domains, just like other countries.

.info Freedom Frenzy
Whether you're someone that registers domain names on a regular basis, or you?re a person looking to register one domain name for your website or business, then it's likely that you've encountered the free .info registrations taking place at several registrars.

What is a Domain Name and Why Would I Want One?
In this article we will cover the basics of what a domain name is, how they work and why you need to have at least one. I am going to try and avoid complicated computer terms and stick to explanations that should be easily understood by someone without a computer science degree.

Helpful Tools

NetDownload
freeware and software downloads

Findahost
web hosting directory

FindaTechJob
new computer jobs daily

ManagedHostingPro
Managed Hosting and Colocation

Free Movies

LEARN

BUILD

PROMOTE

SELL

MANAGE

GET LISTED

How To Choose The Best Domain Name

More Domain Names Articles