Choosing a domain name for your Internet marketing business is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. Whether you’re creating a flagship blog for your business or registering a domain for your niche site, you need to take some time to find the right domain. Look at these following guidelines to help you find an ideal domain name for your site.

Purpose

First you’ll need to figure out the purpose of your website.

Is it to establish yourself in a niche?

If so, you’ll need to do some keyword research to figure out which phrases would naturally attract traffic. Are you buying a domain to sell a product? If so, your product name or a variation of the product name should be your domain name. Ideally, your website’s domain should either describe what the website is about (CountdownMonkey.com for example is a web app platform that creates countdown timers for web pages) or it should include keywords related to your domain (FatLossHelp.com is about losing weight, and it includes a popular keyword phrase). Determining the purpose of you website will help you decide what phrases to use.

Presence

How important is it to you to have an exact keyword phrase in your domain? For some websites, you may be able to use another similar phrase. But for others you may need that exact phrase. In the second case, you can try adding hyphens, prefixes or suffixes to your domain name if your exact phrase is taken. This way you’ll still be able to use the phrase and establish yourself in the niche. A general rule of thumb is to use no more than two hyphens in a domain name.

Potential

How big is your website going to grow in the coming months and years? Are you buying a domain name to build a niche mini-site that acts as a feeder site to your sales page? Are you looking to build an authority site in your niche? Your domain name choice should be determined by how much growth you are expecting for your website. A niche mini-site domain name can be a lot more specific and long tail than an authority site.

For example, beginnersheirloomtomatotips.com is a very niche specific domain whereas heirloomgrowing.com has enough leeway for you to build an authority site.

Price

You can get virtually any domain name you want, if you’re willing to pay for it. In most cases though, you’ll want to register an unused domain name. These domain names cost anywhere between $7 and $12 depending on what company you’re registering them through (I recommend: NameCheap.com)  However, if you have a very specific business name and want to lock in a domain that has been registered, but isn’t being used, you can try contacting the domain owner. Look up the domain name owner’s information in the WhoIs directory and try making a deal.

All of these factors will come into play when you are choosing a domain name for your website. Make sure to carefully consider how your domain name will be used before you buy.

TIP:  If you’re struggling to come up with just the right one (or if you need to purchase multiple domains on a regular basis) consider using a service like NameStation.com

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Domain Name Resources:

Domain Name Analysis:

• DomainTools.com  for Domain history, reverse Whois, reverse IP lookup, DNS tools.
• iWhois See who owns a domain name.

Domain Name Aftermarket:

• Sedo.com Acquire registered domains from the domain name aftermarket and sell your domains on auctions.

Domain Registration:

• NameCheap.com – Our preferred provider.