What's in a Name - The Importance of Your Domain Name

(Archived in: Online Usability Weblogs and Business)

Don't be flip about choosing a domain name for your SOHO business, website, or blog. First impressions are still lasting impressions and, in particular, since the vast majority of people search via "keywords" and "key phrases", take the time to research and claim a proper domain name to register.

If you are testing the Internet waters with a popular blogging platform like "Blogger" or "Wordpress", you probably also will want to secure the same name as your blog, or a similar name as a website url that you will own. For some good strategies and techniques for choosing domain names visit this site Web Marketing Today.

This post is not a tutorial on domain name strategies, just a general observation on what you don't want to do. I came across an article at "Dummies Guide to Blogger", a blog written by Peter Chen. Chen posted a reference to a funny article titled: "The top 10 unintentionally worst company urls" from www.independentsources.com (close new window to return to this page).

The point is you don't want to get stuck with a url that conveys something other than what is your intended target market or niche. Another important point that Peter makes is that search engines cannot distinguish combined words (phrases), unless they are separated with dashes. You will find that strategies keep changing though, as there aren't enough keyword combinations to meet the demand.

Peter Chen writes two other blogs that I find myself referring to often for advice. You may want to bookmark , "Blogger Tips and Tricks" and "Testing Blogger Beta". Both are excellent resources for the Small Office-Home Office entrepreneur.

Making Money Ideas for The Online Entrepreneur