How to Choose a Domain Name That Attracts The Right Customers
The quickest way to getting eyeballs on your business these days is by establishing an online presence and central to establishing a powerful online presence is choosing a domain name that will attract the right customers.
Unfortunately, many people overlook this important step. Let’s look at a few tips for getting a domain that will attract the right customers to your site.
1. Make Sure Your Domain Describes Your Business
Your domain name should aptly let your visitors know what your website is all about even before visiting your site. In other words, give away as much information in your domain name as possible, leaving no room for your visitors to guess what your website is selling.
eg. If your name is Lisa Barstow and you run a hair salon, get a domain like lisashairsalon.com instead of lisabarstow.com. Unless you already famous, or want to become famous, your own name isn’t the best option.
Also, shorter is better because it’s easier to remember. It’s also easier for them to type, with less chance of spelling mistakes.
2. Get A Domain That Includes Your Keywords
Most websites rely on the search engines to a certain degree for getting visitors. If you use your keywords in your domain name, it can help with getting ranked higher in the search results.
If you’d done the research and used these customer-specific keyword phrases in your domain name, more than likely your website will be listed on the very first page of the search engines, outranking your competitors because you had exercised due diligence where keyword-rich domain names were concerned.
There are plenty of other things you’ll need to do to get good rankings in the search engines, but your domain name sets the foundation for everything else. Also, avoid using dashes in your domain even if it makes it easier to find a keyword-rich name. Hyphens are believed to hurt your rankings in some search engines.
3. Can You Use A Different Extension Than .com?
In a word, ‘No.’ You could very well use .net, .biz, .org or .info as an extension and no one would complain, except that you’ll likely regret that decision in the long run. Here’s why. Websites ending with any other extension besides a .com usually requires extra marketing efforts to establish credibility because everybody assumes a .com extension to be the standard in domain name branding.
How would you feel if you spend time and money marketing your website and some of those people wound up on your competitor’s customer list instead?
In some cases it makes sense to use a different extension, such as a non-profit society using .org, but generally you should stick with .com.
Don’t rush into picking a domain name. Take the time to research your market and find keyword phrases that people actually search for. Websites such as Wordtracker.com and GoodKeywords.com can help you with this. Taking the time to plan correctly in the beginning will pay off well in the long term.
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