Thanks for Asking!
Choosing a domain name is definitely personal preference. What I think
of a domain name, even from the perspective of owning a couple dozen
of them, isn't as useful to you as finding a domain name you are
captivated by, that fits your business marketing strategy, and one you
want to promote to the maximum. Imagine your domain name on print
advertising, or as a sign on your car. You want to find a domain name
that you'll be proud to promote. Fortunately, there ARE some good
resources available to help. I'll outline information from several
sources of expertise, and list the steps and tools to use to find the
best domain name presently available.
Christopher S.L. Heng, thesitewizard.com makes recommendations for
domain naming based upon a number of factors:
"Naming your site after your domain may seem obvious to some of you,
but you'll be surprised to learn that not every website is named after
the domain name even when the webmaster owns that domain name.
Naming a site after its domain name is important, for the simple
reason that when people think of your website, they'll think of it by
name. If your name is also your URL, they'll automatically know where
to go. For example, when people think of thefreecountry.com, they
don't have to wonder what URL to type into their browser to get there.
The name of the site is also the URL." TheSiteWizard.com, Tips on
Choosing a Domain Name, by Christopher S.L. Heng
Important factors include:
Domain Name and Website Name
Generic Names of Brand Names
Long or Short Domain Names
Hyphenated Names
Plurals, and other Additions
Domain Name Extensions
http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/domainname.shtml
A domain name should be:
"Easy to remember: Try and find names that are both short and easy to
remember. If you are in a networking situation, the last thing you
want happen is for them to forget your Web address.
Make it memorable: Have you noticed that almost every site is starting
to sound the same. There are way too many sites that start with "i" or
"e". There are also just as many sites that include the words "net"
"web" "biz" and "cyber". If you want people to remember your site, do
your research and find something different. You can even use your own
name in the address. Examples: MattsMarketing.com or
FredsFlowers.com." E-Zine Tips.com, Choosing a Great Domain Name, by
Ryan Lee.
http://ezine-tips.com/articles/strategy/20000608.shtml
Some thought should be given to selecting a domain name as a marketing
tool.
"Search Engines - This type of domain name is usually stuffed with
keywords which are often separated by hyphens and used to create
better search engine rankings. For instance, a business whose target
market is "computer buyers" might register
"computer-computer-computer.com" with hopes of ranking much higher in
the search engines if the keyword computer is entered. (By the way,
this domain name is already taken by "computerhouse.com".) Note that
the effectiveness of this strategy is highly debated and questionable.
For latest discussions on this topic visit
"www.SearchEngineWatch.com".
Traffic Generation - These are usually one word domain names that are
very scarce and companies have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars
to acquire them from their previous owners. The reason why these types
of names are valuable are quite simple - instant traffic! Many
Internet users, when searching for a particular business, will try to
guess domain names that relate to what they are looking for. For
example, it is quite natural for many people, who are looking for a
loan, to type "www.loans.com" in the address bar of their internet
browser. Surely, a company that provides loan services would highly
benefit from this volume of highly targeted walk-in traffic. That is
why "Loans.com" was purchased for $3 million by an established company
that already had other domain names!" Selecting Domain Names, Tips on
Choosing Strategically, Domains Illustrated.com
http://www.domainsillustrated.com/knowledge/choos2.asp
Next step, a name generator and availability check:
To get started, make a list of several words which describe your
product, as you have with people, world and college. Next, expand that
list into synonyms such as learning, school, global. Add to the list a
few words which you would feel apply to describing your company or
website, adjectives such as amazing, online, or education.
Take your list over to http://www.NameBoy.com. and enter different
combinations of words into the text boxes for primary and secondary
words. You'll be given lists of which domain names are available with
which extensions. Even if it were possible to save and link those
lists here, it wouldn't be a good idea, because domain names are
sometimes only available for minutes after a search. New ones are
being registered constantly. Additionally, it's simply not a good idea
to publish any domain name you're thinking of registering in public
view on the Internet. It could be snapped up before you have the
chance.
You'll find additional Domain Name Generators in the Google Directory:
http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/Domain_Names/Name_Search/Name_Generators/
I'm including a link to the Google Directory Domain Names category.
You'll find an alphabetic listing of Domain Name Registries, as well
as a number of helpful resource categories.
http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/Domain_Names/
Search Terms Used:
choose good domain name
Thanks for using Google Answers. If I can provide additional
clarification, please feel free to ask. Best of luck in your domain
name quest.
~larre-ga |
