Ask Julie – Tell me about domain name registration…

First, let’s start by explaining what a domain name registration is. Your domain name is what people type into their browser to get to your website.  When you register your domain, you buy the right to use that name from a “domain name registrar.”

I’ve had several people ask me about buying the domain name for their website, and in case you are interested also, here is my response:

So Julie, do you use “Godaddy” to establish new website or do you have another favorite?

GoDaddy does a great job, and I have some of my original domain names with them. I actually am a reseller for their service and sell domain names at
http://www.OrganizedWebsite.com

At the time, this post was written, my domain names cost $8.95, and I think GoDaddy is $9.99.

Also, if we set up and host a site for you through YourBlogTeam.com, you only need to buy the domain (don’t buy hosting or email or the other add-ons.  We provide that for you).  Make sure you buy the domain for two years (some theories think Google gives a domain more weight if the owners are committed to them and buy at least two years right away).

One quick thought though about domain names — you want to think about what people are searching for and make sure your domain name matches the keyword phrases they are using.

Why?  Because it’s much, much easier to rank for a phrase in your domain name (for example, one of my clients is WellnessCoach.com and she ranks really well for the keyword phrase “wellness coach”).  One of the best places to search for commonly used keyword phrases is
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Google will tell you how often a specific keyword phrase is searched for online.

So when you are picking a domain name, there are several things to consider:

1) What is the purpose of your business?  Does your domain name make that obvious? Or could people be confused by your name?

2) Do people search for the name you are considering?  If not, is there a better keyword phrase to use?

3) Is it easy to spell?  I came across at least two sites this weekend that were impossible to spell.  Don’t use a domain that people may misspell!

4) Make sure you can get the .com.  Why?  Because if you have any other domain extension like .net, .info, etc., your customers will forget and send your email to the .com address.  I had this happen with my FinallyOrganized.com website.  Someone else purchased FinallyOrganized.net and now I get a lot of her email because it’s so automatic to use .com.

Hope that helps you pick out the best domain name!

Best,
Julie

YourBlogTeam said,

May 12, 2009 @ 12:30 pm

When we create blogs at YourBlogTeam.com, we use this exact process to select our domain names. Several of our clients have gotten their best search engine rankings for their domain name so we try to pick names that are search engine friendly.

(FYI – This is an example comment post to illustrate how you can use blog comments to generate links to your site. We are examining the best ways to do this in Module 6 of TLCforYourWebsite.com. Make sure every comment is relevant and resourceful for the reader!)

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