Four Keys to Selecting A Domain Name

A domain name is frequently overlooked as a critically important tool in online marketing strategy. We may spend significantly on advertising, building web sites and writing interesting blog posts, but how much time, or money, have you spent on the domain name for your web site or blog?

Here is a little surprise - a keyword rich domain name can have a huge impact on the success, or failure, of your online marketing strategy. A keyword rich domain name helps with search engine optimization …

A great domain will make it easier for customers to find you the first time, as well as easier to return again and again.

Here are 4 keys to picking a great domain name:

1. Always use a .com - Over the last decade American corporations have spent billions of dollars promoting .com web sites. Out of habit, .com is the automatic default suffix that consumers use and remember. If you have a .net, .info or any other domain suffix, you are only making it more difficult for people to remember where to find you. Even worse, you are probably driving mistyped traffic to the owner of the .com version of your domain. Save yourself the aggravation and use only .com domains.

2. Use a city, town, county or neighborhood name – In the domain industry these are called ‘Geo’ domains. Using the name of the geographic area you’re working in your domain helps brand you as an expert in that area. It is also easier for the search engine spiders to identify that your web site contains information about the area. Don’t be afraid to get very focused on small geographic areas.

3. Use a descriptive keyword – Keywords are any word, or words, that someone would type into a search engine. For example: real estate, home, homes, agent, mortgage, broker, mortgage broker, home loan, etc. Using a descriptive key word helps identify you as a specialist in that field. It is also easier for the search engine spiders to identify that your web site contains information about the specific topic.

4. Keep it short and clean – Never use hyphens or numbers in your domain and avoid extra words. As stated in #1 above, you are only making it more difficult for people to remember where to find you if you add extra words or characters to your domain.

In early 1999 I started experimenting with online lead generation for my own real estate business. One of my first web sites was Price-Your-Home.com – an absolutely awful domain name. But, the lead generation concept worked well and within a couple of months I bought the domain HouseValues.com.

Ideally your domain name should be easy to remember, reflect the geographic area you work in and the product or service you offer. We have a nice selection of local keyword domain names at GeoBroker.