To Make a Successful Website Start With a Good Domain Name!

by Harriet Bond
(San Francisco, CA, USA)

Some people get very overwhelmed thinking about their lack of ability in making a website. It doesn’t have to be hard and it will be quick and easy if you break the steps down into bite sized tasks. You’re going to start by choosing a solid domain name.

When choosing a domain you’re going to need to think of a name and find an available extension. An extension is the last part of the domain, such as .com, org, or .net. There are many options – some cheaper than others – but you’re not going to want to go with just anything.

The name can go two ways. You can follow the safe route and choose a keyword-laden domain name, or go with something catchy that you hope takes off in a viral manner all across the web (think Yahoo, Google, or Twitter).

Most people prefer to go with a keyword domain. You want your website to rank well for your chosen niche, and keywords are the prime way you’ll achieve that goal. You can use a free or paid keyword tool to make a list of the top keywords in your niche.

You can choose one with a high search volume (if it’s available as a domain), or go with a lower search volume that you’ll rank high for more quickly. These keywords are called long tail keyword phrases and they have more words strung together, so the search volume is less, but so is the competition.

Let’s look at a couple of examples from the dog training niche. A prime keyword domain would be something like dogtraining.com. It’s probably not available because the phrase has 1.5 million searches per month. But another phrase like protectiondogtraining.com might be available because it has fewer searches (over 12k).

When you buy your domain, you’ll be typing in the URL you hope to land, such as dogtrainingtips.com. If it’s not available, the system will usually show you some alternatives that are available, such as dogtrainingtips.net.

Most online marketers usually only want to go with a dot com, dot org or dot net. A few will go with a dot info domain, but it’s always best to find a dot com available in your niche because it’s the default URL most people remember when they go online to visit a website.

As you check out with your domain, many registrars will try to upsell you with all sorts of things, like hosting, privacy, site building tools and more. You probably won’t need any of these from your registrar, but if you do, you can always add them on later.

There’s a bit of discussion about whether you should pay for a domain for one year or more. Some people argue that Google prefers domains that have a longer commitment but you can always lengthen that later if you decide that you’re committed to the niche for the long haul.

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