How to Choose a Domain Name to Maximize Your Success

My first piece of advice is not to choose a domain too quickly; make sure you have taken the time to fully plan your website or product before searching for available names.


Here are three questions to ask yourself BEFORE choosing a domain name:

What you will be offering?
Who you will be targeting?
What will your ‘keywords’

will be? (There’s more on ‘keywords’ a little later on.)

If you can’t answer these questions, have another think or you might have to buy another domain if you change your idea at a later date. If you do have to change it, don’t just forget about the domain and let it expire, try and sell it at www.sedo.com or www.sitepoint.com for a profit; or at least to break even on the cost of the original purchase.

Try hard to think of a name that people will remember and do your best to make it catchy! Even though some of the most successful online businesses, such as ‘Google’ and ‘Yahoo’ have names that in no way relate to their services, their names are very easy to remember and as a result they can be successfully promoted as a brand. However, trying to find a good unregistered 5 or 6 letter .com domain is almost impossible. You could buy one but it will probably cost you in excess of $10,000 so only take this risk if you are 100% sure your idea is going to quickly turn a profit.


Finding a free .com extension:

Trying to find any name that hasn’t already been taken can be surprisingly difficult let alone finding a good ‘.com’. The vast majority of quality .com extensions were taken long-ago so you might have to look at a few other options. Here’s a list of some other extensions you can use but having said that, try your utmost to get a .com if you possibly can:

.org   - Non-profit organizations.
.biz   - For business and Corporations.
.pro   - For Professionals such as lawyers.
.info   - For information based websites.
.us   - United States.
.co.uk   - United Kingdom/England.
.tv   - Vanity domain from the island of Tuvalu in the south pacific.
.net   - General internet usage.

You will also need to make sure that your domain extension relates to both your website genre and your location.  For example, if you’re creating a website for selling beds in Washington DC, you obviously don’t want to use a .cn (China) extension. Obvious I know, but the mistake is often made. If the .com isn’t available go for a .net, .biz or a .info.

As I’ve just mentioned, the other option is you can buy an already registered domain name at www.sedo.com. It’s certainly something to consider and I’ll tell you why a bit later on. I will also tell you how to make thousands of dollars using Sedo.com with only a few hours work.

Here are ten more questions to ask yourself once you have thought of a domain name for your business or website:
1. Is your name short and memorable?
2. Does your name promise a benefit?
3. Does your name accurately reflect what you’re selling?
4. Does your name distinguish your business from your competitors?
5. Does your name create a visual image?
6. Does your name appeal to your target market and does it reflect their values, needs, and lifestyles?
7. Does your name have graphic possibilities?
8. Is your name unique and has it already been trademarked?
9. Will your name allow you to expand your business with different products and services and still make sense?
10. Does your name reflect a position in the marketplace that is unique to your company?
Once you have your name decided, go to domain or a similar site to register it.