Ryan Hache's – Online Marketing Training

The preliminary step to start up a website is the registration of a domain name.  Whether you are a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker, or if you want to start up a website to advertise your garage band, the entire enterprise begins with the selection of your domain name.

Then again you might ask- “What is the best domain name choice?”.  Well, what type of website are you planning on publishing?  For example, if you are someone who wants to build a website devoted to your newborn infant, then your choice of a domain name really doesn’t matter.  What’s the difference?  Most likely in that case you’re not looking for tons of traffic, your site is probably only something you are going to produce for family and friends, to keep them informed.  In a case like this, it does not matter whatsoever if you find a domain name like “bobswebplace.net” or not, since most likely you will only be giving out the name of the site to a few friends and family and maybe your crazy Uncle Bill.

So you can name a website anything as long as it is only meant for a select few.  It’s only if traffic is a factor and you want to attract customers, and as many as possible, that the domain name you choose to register really matters.  So……

What if the website is for business?  What if you want it to attract attention?

It pays to have a domain name that reflects your site or business.  If your website is about car parts for example, do you really expect the average web surfer to remember how to get to your website if it is named “bobsthingsforsale.com” or some other unrelated name?  The best strategy is to find a domain name that directly relates to your business, whether it is the business name itself or related to the category of business.  For example, a jewelry website should have a domain name like jewelry.com or jensjewelry.com, something that immediately associates the domain name with the theme of the site.  It’s all about branding, and making a lasting impression on the target audience or customers.

The WhoIs database contains all domain names registered, and when you are searching it will show whether or not your desired name is already registered.  For your convenience in searching, I have conveniently placed a domain name search engine on StartYourWebsiteToday.com for this very purpose.  When searching for the domain name, the results given will instantly show whether or not the domain name is available, and if so, give you the option to immediately register it.  If it’s not available, several alternative domain names will be proposed, to help you fine tune your search, or possibly giving you an acceptable alternative domain name to register instead.