How To Choose The Best Domain Name
2004 Jeff D. Schuman
http://www.team-schuman.com

In this article we are going to look at the thought process you
should go thru to choose your domain name.

First of all lets define what a domain title is.

A unique name that represents each computer on the Internet.
(Some machines do have more than one domain name.) The DNS
converts the domain name requested by an Internet user into an
IP address.

The Domain Name System (DNS) helps users to find their way
around the Internet. Every computer on the Internet has a unique
address just like a telephone number which is a rather
complicated string of numbers. It is called its "IP address" (IP
stands for "Internet Protocol").

But it is hard to remember everyones IP address. The DNS makes
it easier by allowing a familiar string of letters (the "domain
title ") to be used instead of the arcane IP address. So instead
of typing 64.65.51.245 , you may type www.team-schuman.com. It
is a "mnemonic" device that makes addresses easier to remember.

So what makes the best internet domain title ?

First of all do not pick a title that has nothing to do with your
Web page . If you are selling flowers dont pick a name like
apples.com. Picking an oddball name makes no sense and it will
just confuse your audience.

Do not generate your new domain name too long. The longer it is the
harder it becomes to remember. Can you remember myflowers.com or
lookatmyflowerswebsite.com?

Short names are not the way to go either. It is to your benefit
to try and buy a domain name that has a few keywords that relate
to the topic of you Web page when possible.

Keyword placement when choosing your domain title is helpful as
your web page develops a higher placement with the search engines.
Having the title jeffsflowers.com will do better with a search
engine than jeffssite.com. With jeffsflowers.com you understand I have
a flower web site where with jeffssite.com you dont understand what
kind of Web site I have.

When registering your domain title in some cases you will positive need to
determine if you want to make use of hyphens in the name itself.
Personally I have found this to be a great way to get a domain
name that otherwise my not be available. The domain title
myflowers.com might already be taken whereas the title
my-flowers.com might be available.

Everything I have read says try to get a .com domain name first
before going to a .net or .org etc. As more and more domain
names are taken this becomes harder to do and I think you are
better off acquiring a keyword rich domain name like
my-flowers.org than you are to buy a .com domain title like
jeffssite.com.

Is buying a cheap domain name a bad idea? Absolutely not. I do
it all of the instant. I get all of my domain names here:
http://www.godaddy.com

Then I transfer them to my hosting business here:
http://www.team-schuman.com/host4profit.

I may buy a domain title for less than $10 from Godaddy.com and
transfer it for free of price to Host4Profit. This saves me $20 on buying
it from the hosting business itself. A domain name is a domain
title and you might as well save a little money where you may.

Finding out what names are available is very user friendly to do. Lets
make use of Godaddy.com as an example.

1. Go here: http://www.godaddy.com

2. Click on the icon for Domain Names

3. Enter a domain name and see if it is available

4. They will come back with a list of available names

5. Decide what one you want and buy it

One last thing to consider. Protect your title by registering
multiple extensions (.net, .org, etc.) This deters all the people from
copying your name. For example, if you own my-flowers.com you
might also register my-flowers.net and any other extension thats
available. As you contruct up traffic to your website if someone types
in an version other than the .com version you might forward it to
your .com site and not lose any traffic.

In closing it is important to spend a little measure when choosing
the best domain name for your web site. Try and get some keywords
in your domain title . Dont stop at choosing just a .com version
and save a little funds by buying a cheap domain title whenever
possible as long as it still contains some keywords.