Promote Your Business

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.

Somehow, there hasn’t been enough emphasis placed on choosing a domain name that attracts the right customers, so allow me to expound on this subject with some tips you can put to immediate use for your next website or blog.

1. Choose A Descriptive Domain

Your domain name should aptly let your visitors know what your website is all about even before visiting your site. In other words, give away as much information in your domain name as possible, leaving no room for your visitors to guess what your website is selling.

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, shorter is better because it’s easier to remember. It’s also easier for them to type, with less chance of spelling mistakes.

2. Select A Keyword-Rich Domain Name

Most websites rely on the search engines to a certain degree for getting visitors. If you use your keywords in your domain name, it can help with getting ranked higher in the search results.

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.

There are other things you can and should do to get better rankings in the search results, but starting with a good domain sets a strong foundation. Avoid using hyphens in your domain name as well since it’s believed they can hurt your rankings. Take the time to find a good domain rather than taking a shortcut and using a couple of dashes.

3. Do You Really Need .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.

Another reason is when emailing, customers automatically assume every company ends with a .com extension and this can be devastating to your business if your customers’ emails keep ending up in your competitors’ database.

Unless you’re intentionally targeting to brand your business as, let’s say, a nonprofit organization, in which case the .org extension is highly recommended, then sticking to the instantly recognizable .com extension is the best way to go.

Don’t rush into picking a domain name. Take the time to research your market and find keyword phrases that people actually search for. Websites such as Wordtracker.com and GoodKeywords.com can help you with this. Taking the time to plan correctly in the beginning will pay off well in the long term.