Choosing A Domain Name To Attract Targeted Customers

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. Make Sure Your Domain Describes Your Business

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

It’s becoming increasingly important for business owners to have their websites indexed and ranked well in search engines like Google.com, MSN.com and Yahoo.com. And it helps this cause tremendously if you have a keyword-rich domain name. The reason for this is simple: Your potential customers search using specific keyword phrases to find what they’re looking for.

Taking the time to do some research to find your best keywords, and a domain that includes them, is important. Make sure it still meets the first criteria though - short and descriptive.

Of course, there are other SEO tactics to implement for better rankings, but getting a keyword-rich domain name is the first step towards ensuring your website will be search engine friendly. Avoid using any weird characters like apostrophes and even hyphens in your domain name as this will eventually affect rankings.

3. Must A Domain Name End With .com?

Yes and no. You could use other extensions like .net, .biz or .info but it’s not the best choice. Everybody knows .com but if your site uses something else, you’re going to have to market it a lot harder to get the correct extension in people’s minds. And if someone else already has the .com version, they’ll probably get a lot of traffic from people looking for you.

How would you like your potential customers to end up on your competitor’s client list thanks to the time and money you spend on marketing?

In some cases it makes sense to use a different extension, such as a non-profit society using .org, but generally you should stick with .com.

So, don’t rush headlong into purchasing a domain name without first taking the time to research keyword phrases that would be a perfect match for your product or service. You can perform this much needed research at websites such as www.wordtracker.com, www.keywordtumbler.com and www.goodkeywords.com. It requires some effort, but acquiring the keyword phrases that are used by prospects and incorporating them into your domain name will pay off handsomely for years to come.