The name of your business is one of those decisions that feels monumental. It’s like naming a child. It represents you, your passions, your goals and your new life. Additionally, the name of a business is a powerful marketing tool. Jane’s Store may feel right to the owner however it doesn’t communicate the benefits and uniqueness of the business to potential customers.

Step One: Give yourself time to come up with a business name that feels right and fits your business niche or theme. Your domain name will 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.

For example: if your name happens to be Jane Smith and you own a shoe store then www.janesshoes.com would be much more appropriate and informative than www.janesmith.com. Try to keep your domain name within a range of 13-15 characters, as shorter domain names tend to stick in people’s minds. It also makes it easier for them to type out your web address in their browsers without misspelling or leaving out characters.

Step Two: Use Strategic Keywords
When you are able to place your keywords into your domain name, it helps increase your search engine ranking because your domain name is one of the primary places the search engines like Google and Yahoo look to when indexing websites.

Avoid using any extra characters in your domain name like apostrophes and hyphens because they affect rankings and they’re more difficult to remember.

In addition to choosing a name that fits your business and utilizes strategic keywords, there are a few more considerations.

• Make it easy to remember.
• Make it unique.
• Make it easy to spell.
• Make sure it is available.

A quick note. You might be wondering if a .com is the best type of site to have. It is the easiest to remember and offers more credibility. Other options are .net .org .tv .us and so on. Because your business will be internet based, having an extension that is easy to remember will serve your business better.

Once you’ve chosen a domain name, your next step is to register your domain. Be 100% ready to register when you sit down to your computer. Domain names can be snatched up quickly and you will want to capture your ideal domain name as soon as you know it’s available.

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So, you want to create a website.  You already know that having a website puts you in the realm of cyberspace and the entire world.  But, before you create your website, you need to give it a name.

The domain name is how you will be recognized online.  You will be referred to as www dot whatever dot com.  A domain name can have various extensions: .net, .com, .us, .uk, .org, and so on.  What goes between the www and the extension is what is most important.

Choosing a name is like choosing a fine wine.  You want to get it right the first time and every time.  Before choosing a name, consider the reach of your website.  For instance, if you have a storefront business that you want to promote on the Internet, the website will be mainly for your local customers.  A domain name that includes the business name is okay here.

If you want to operate an online business where people all over the world can find you and buy your products, your domain name will need to be more universal.  Here, you will make use of keywords, not necessarily your business name.  The most useful keywords will be the ones people use to find search results.  If you are into jewelry, use keyword tools to determine the most frequent keywords used by someone searching for items in the jewelry category.  Your domain name will include one or two of those.

• Perform a domain name search. See if anyone has your name or any variation of that name.  Also check for different domain name extensions.  If the name is not registered, you can use it.  It is highly recommended that you also register your chosen domain name under other available extensions to avoid copycatting by others.

• Find a website host. Once you have a website, you need someone to host it so you can create your pages.  Choose a web host with large enough bandwidth for your needs, 24 hour support, and tutorials to help you get started.  There is nothing worse than contracting with a web host who provides nothing other than the bandwidth.

• Now that you’ve chosen a name, you’ll want to register it. There are several website registrars who will gladly register your domain name.  Since all registrars do the same thing, choose one with a reasonable yearly rate.  When you register, that domain name(s) is yours for one year unless you register for a longer period.  You will need to renew to keep your names.

The process is simple.  You’ll need your domain name and some information from your website host (DNS IP addresses).  The registrar will ask for a credit card or PayPal account to pay for the domain name.

Here is a partial list of domain registrars:

• Register.com
• Dotster.com
• GoDaddy.com

Registering a domain name is easy and it legitimizes your website and your business.

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