Selecting the Best Domain Name

Domain names are to websites as book covers are to books. If they are not interesting enough, or don’t properly convey what a website is about, visitors will have no desire to enter them into their browsers. Yet, excessive creativity could also lead to your website receiving little traffic as well. Why? Because if a domain name is creative but not keyword-rich, search engine bots will not be able to index it in the search engine listings. So, ultimately, your domain name must be both eye catching and search engine optimized. This article will explain how you can achieve both objectives.

First and foremost you can utilize a keyword generator tool that can be incorporated into your domain name. There are many keyword analyzers that can help you in this task. These can be found pretty easily with a basic search engine query. When you find one, enter in a keyword that best summarizes the purpose of your website. The keyword analyzer will return different versions of the keyword you typed in. If the more specific instances can also fit within the nature of your website, choose one. This is because when it comes to search engine optimization, more specific keywords are better since they are less likely to be used by other webmasters.

Now you can start selecting your actual domain name. Most domain name companies will allow you to see whether or not your domain name is available. If it is not available, it will return a list of recommended domain names. Take advantage of this tool by first entering your selected keyword. If your keyword as a domain name is not available, consider the suggestions the domain name company gives. If the main keyword is still included in these suggestions and it ends with the infamous “dot com,” then naturally consider it. Otherwise, you will have to be more creative.

For example, you can use what are known as “filler” words, numbers or phrases within your domain name to still include your selected keyword. Fillers could be ‘a,’ ‘an’ or ‘the.’ Search engines tend to not look at these words, so you still have a good shot at getting indexed while having a domain name that is memorable and catchy. You can also consider fillers at the end of a phrase, such as “101,” “teaches” or “thebestchoice.”

What if you do these things and you are still unable to get the all wanted “dot com”? Well, there are some situations where it is best to stick with a lesser-used extension because the keyword is still so popular. Extensions that still get noticed include .net, .biz and .org. Additionally, you can also consider using country or state-based extensions if you don’t mind international or local-based marketing. It would naturally be better to rank number 1 in France’s version of Google than to be number 200 in America’s Google.

In conclusion, choosing a domain name that will get the best activity from both humans and search engines does not have to be difficult. A keyword analyzer will help you with 90% of your domain name, while your experimenting with filler words can help you with the other 10%. And, if you are still unable to land the “dot com” for your extension, you can always opt for one of the other choices and still achieve excellent rankings and web traffic.