Choosing the Right Domain Name for Your Business

The first real step to bringing your business online is finding a domain name. The worst thing someone can do is think that the domain name is unimportant, when it is anything but that. Think about it, the domain name is what people need to remember, and what search engines place the highest weight on. Therefore, your domain name cannot just be the title of your business, it must be descriptive. In the case your business name has the keywords or keyphrase you are targeting in it, then it may be okay to use that as your domain name. The best domain name to use is one that describes your business while incorporating targeted keywords. The process of finding a domain name that sounds right, is SEO friendly, and represents your business appropriately can be time consuming, but it is one of the most important things you will ever do for your business.

Keywords and keyphrases keep being mentioned, but what are those? Keywords are words that you want to be ranked high for on Google, and keyphrases are phrases you want to be ranked high for. By having those keywords or keyphrases in your domain name, you have a heavy advantage over your competitors who do not have those words in their domain names. Of course, if you do not use proper SEO and link building tactics, the name will mean very little, but if you do, then the name will give you a significant boost.

Since keywords and keyphrases are so important, then it is obvious you must perform keyword research to find a keyword to target. If you just pick one you think sounds good, you are doomed to fail. The goal of keyword research is finding a word/phrase that is highly searched for but has little competition. Once you find that, you have found success. How do you do keyword research? There are a variety of online tools out there that facilitate the process. One of the most popular is WordTracker. WordTracker is one of the most acclaimed keyword research tools, and they even give you a free trial to test out the service. While you may not decide to purchase the service, it is suggested that you at least take the trial. DigitalPoint.com also has a keyword suggestion tool that utilizes WordTracker and another system, Overture, to give you data. See what phrases are searched for the most, and then search them yourself on Google, Yahoo, and MSN to see your competition. If they look really tough and unbeatable, find a less competitive keyphrase. Who knows, maybe in six months or a year you will be strong enough to tackle that strong keyword and overthrow the other websites (anything can be done with time, perseverance, and hard work).

Do not sacrifice "brandability" for a keyword-rich domain name. If you are selling chairs, while the domain name "chairs-chairs-and-more-chairs.com" would be great for SEO, it is hard to remember and does not sound very good. It is critical to find a medium between brandability and keyword density (although keyword density in terms of domain names is much different than in terms of website content), so that the domain will be easy to optimize and easy to brand.