It can be easy to forget the importance of a good domain name. But there’s almost nothing else as crucial for the well being of your site as a simple, short, relevant domain name URL. Your domain name isn’t just a random string of letters, it’s a great big marker indicating how professional and reliable your site is.
Even more important is the power a domain name has over your site’s ranking in search engines. Getting to the top of that search list means you need to get just the right kind of domain name to give off a shiny public image.Here are a few tips to make that easier for you:
If you’re using keywords in your site (and you should be), then you want your domain name to also use those keywords. This makes your URL more memorable, since people come to your site in the first place by searching for those keywords. It also bumps your site ranking up on the search engine results because the search engines will feel that your site is actually relevant to the keywords you use. It also strengthens your site’s presence in other places throughout the web, as no one can link to you without using your URL-embedded keywords.
Some search engines sort URLs based on included numbers. Take advantage of this! Don’t use the word version of a number in your URL, instead use the symbol. For instance, use ’2′ instead of ‘two.’ This helps get your site ranked more effectively.
Another side benefit of following that tip is that it keeps your URL short, and that’s what you want. The longer your domain name is, the more difficult it is to recall or get to. So stick with small but powerful words in your URL instead of long explanatory ones.
Whenever possible, use popular TLDs or top level domains. If you make use of a popular TLD yourself, your site seems more respectable. People trust the names they know!
Finally, don’t jumble together multiple words without separation. Use a minus sign to separate words to make each specific word more distinct and memorable. Many words tossed together without any separation makes your URL sound like a rushed run-on sentence. You don’t want that, do you? So follow these tips and you’ll be on your way to internet fame in no time with an URL you can rely on to publicize your site. Don’t follow this simple, free advice, and you could regret it for a long time to come, so don’t be hasty with grabbing domain names. There’s no point in saddling yourself with a domain name that doesn’t make you and your site’s visitors feel great.
