Choosing An Effective
Domain Name

Clearly, a good domain name has become a must in online commerce in this day and age.  People can’t just expect earnings from a site hosted by Lycos or Geocities.  In a venue where anonymity has given birth to a lot of hesitation and distrust, a good domain name has become one of the primary barometers in gauging the credibility and reliability of your business venture.

Before search engine optimization tactics, before marketing strategies, before content formulation, before anything else, our business would be judged by the domain name we will choose.

Here’s a guide that would help you in determining the most effective domain name for your online enterprise.

• Select a keyword that should be related to your business.  As much as possible, try to come up with a domain name that shall include this keyword.  This may not guarantee top placement in search engine results, but it should benefit your business in two fronts. 
  
  First, because the keyword would make your URL easier to remember, as your potential customers could easily associate what they are looking for with your web address. 
  
  Second, because this would provide a slight boost in your search engine ranking.

• Try to think of a domain name that is easy to remember, but would perfectly represent your business.  Naturally, you’ll find all the domain names referring to general subjects taken.  So it would be wise to look for domain names that are actually formulated as phrases. 
  
  Example on dog grooming: www.doggrooming.com is sure to have been bought already.  You could try adding another word, however, like www.bestdoggrooming.com or www.doggroomingohio.com , or any similar variation. 
  
  This can pertain to the locality that your business would serve, or an adjective that would describe your venture.

• Monitor expiring domain names.  As we’ve previously discussed, the best domain names are most probably taken.  Usually, they are reserved for a 2 year period. 
  
  If the owner of the domain name failed to reserve the same upon expiration, you could snatch it the very second the domain expires!

• Always opt for .com extensions.  There are others available, like .org, .us, .info, .biz and the likes, but .com is the most familiar adjunct for most Internet users.  It is easier to remember as well.

Your domain name is tantamount to the title of your online enterprise.  It is the name by which it will be known in the World Wide Web.  Find one that is truly fabulous, and it would provide for you good business for many, many years.

To Your Success!