WHAT IS A GOOD DOMAIN NAME?

CHOOSING THE RIGHT DOMAIN NAME FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Domain Age?

In this section I hope to help you choose a good domain name for your business, brand service or product, the do's and don'ts, tips and advice the simple errors that can be made when choosing either you company and or your domain name.
The very same mistakes I made when I first started out. And those that I am still dealing with

Take this website's domain name for example:
http://www.seowebsiteoptimisationlondon.com/

Some may say this is a reasonably good domain name as it contains many of the keywords I am looking to rank for. And yes having your keywords in your domain name does help when you are initially trying to rank highly in search engines. But you should not be swayed by this too much. Actually the shorter and more unique your domain name the better. As this will make it easier for people to remember and make you stand out. Also this domain name does not help when trying to build up a brand or identity. As there basically is none visible! 

Oh how I wish I had chosen something simple!

However you may also note that I have chosen a .com domain name?

Why did I choose a .com extension over a .co.uk domain name extension? I personally think .com extensions look better and gives the impression of a larger company or business that is vying for global customers. Which I am, even though I have stupidly used one of my keywords "london" in the domain name.

Although this is one of my key areas/locations for marketing

Yes .co.uk would have worked better for local searches intially but I was looking to the future.

Also longer looking domain names don't look as clean and can even look spammy

Additionally when creating new pages on your website you may end up repeating many of these keywords in not only your pages and posts but blogs also. This may look like or even have the effect of keyword stuffing.

• Long domain names and subsequent long page names may actually dilute the ranking of any given keyword that is contained in your urls and pages.
• May actually hurt usability and click through rates because it looks spammy
• Long domain names can get cut off when people copy and paste your url
• Makes it harder to spot mistakes and url errors
• Long urls will get cut off by many social media applications like facebook, twitter etc
• And are almost impossible to remember
• Long and Keyword Stuffed domain names Look unprofessional and spammy

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DOMAIN NAME DO's and DOn't

Tips

Here is my list of quick tips for choosing the right domain name
Making the right choices at this stage can really make a big difference not only with SEO, but with business identity and longevity .

• Find a domain name that you plan on using as your business identity or your business name,
• Choose a good domain name registrar, I use Godaddy and I'm very happy with them. They have lots of additional services and products that other domain registrars just can't compete with and when upgrading or adding these services this could not be made simpler. Also they have great online support, should you run into any issues.
• Check for copyright issues and stay away from brand related keywords in your domain name or face the possible risk of being sued,
• Do not choose a domain-name-with-hyphens, this can in some cases seriously affect your ability to rank highly.
• You should not worry about keywords as this will only help initially, so think about the bigger picture and your identity.
• Choose your domain suffix (extension) based on your marketplace, but you should be realistic about what your long term marketing goals.
  

                      .london if your business is only going to operate in London
                      .co.uk or .uk of you business is going to operate in the whole of the UK
                      and .com if you want to operate worldwide.
in many cases if you are looking to expand globally you would use a suffix for that country. Like .de for Germany or .com.au for austrailia

• Register your domain name for the maximum of 10 years, do not have a recurring annual renewals on your domain name.
• Choose the right web designer /web builder, software or CMS (see choosing the right CMS). Most of the mistakes are made in the design stage and can subsequently end up being both costly, ineffective and can set you back years!
• Once you have built or set up the website register it as soon as possible with WHois, DMoz and with Yahoo Directory.
• And be careful with submitting your site to other directories

NEXT: IS AN OLDER DOMAIN NAME BETTER?

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ADVICE ON How to choose a good domain name and Extension

Good Domain Name

SEO TIPS

SOCIAL MEDIA

WEB DESIGN

INTERNET MARKETING

SEO CONSULTANT

DRIVE MORE TRAFFIC

PPC CAMPAIGNS

EXAMPLES

SEO PRICES

SEO BLOG

Google vs Bing

TIPS ON BUYING DOMAIN NAMES

I know people who buy domain names like they are going out of fashion. NOTE: You can not hinder your competition by buying up all the domain names in your marketplace. 

Follow the tips opposite
And once you have found your ideal domain name I would look at securing the .london, .uk. co.uk, and .com versions and this maybe the deciding factor when you come to purchase a domain name, are these all available? That way you can secure your brand and identity. And make it easier to expand your business in the future.