| It is very important to have not just a general idea, | | | | for one without a hyphen as it lowers value. |
| but to have a specific game plan in place. The | | | | Poor Domain Names: I would only recommend ".com" |
| common advice goes to start small, and grow over | | | | domain names. If the ".net" version of your favorite |
| time. Now that you have your niche in mind, let's talk | | | | name is available, keep it on standby and continue |
| about grabbing that all-important domain name to | | | | looking. You don't want more than two words (unless |
| direct traffic your way. Before I get ahead of | | | | its a prefix or suffix like "thenetfool.com" or |
| myself, lets start with the basics... what exactly is a | | | | "webhostingpro.com") in any domain name. |
| domain name? | | | | In all, you want a domain name that search engines |
| "Domain Name (noun): A series of alphanumeric | | | | will pick up on easily, giving you better rankings. Have |
| strings separated by periods, such as that is an | | | | your keywords in the domain name if possible, and |
| address of a computer network connection and that | | | | try to limit the length of your domain name to 16 |
| identifies the owner of the address." So a domain | | | | characters (not including .com, .net, etc) max. |
| name is that all important "example.com" that you | | | | Finding A Winner |
| use to direct people to the place on the internet | | | | There are a lot of domains taken, but don't think |
| where your website is stored, or your web hosting. | | | | there aren't a lot of good ones available. You might |
| Some people think initially that domain names are big | | | | have to be creative to get what you want... so there |
| and expensive purchases, they aren't. A domain | | | | are quite a few tools to get the creative juices |
| name can be bought in seconds, and readied within | | | | flowing. First of all, open up a word document and |
| 24 hours, for under $10 by a domain name client like | | | | load up a domain name website like This will be for |
| GoDaddy.com, NameCheap.com, or | | | | checking if a domain name is available, and recording |
| Before I take you through the process of finding and | | | | the ones that are in the word file. We want to start |
| registering that winning address, I want to define the | | | | building a list of available domain names that you can |
| two types of domain names: private and public. No, | | | | look back on when you are done to choose your |
| not referring to who can and who can't see your | | | | favorite. |
| website... I'm talking about the information you | | | | Basically, I recommend sitting down and plugging in |
| register with. I recommend to register domains (for | | | | different word combinations until you get something |
| now) because they offer free private registration | | | | you liked. You can see my thought process in the |
| with every .com name. When you register a domain | | | | text file above. Here is a list of tools to get you on |
| name, you are required to submit all your contact | | | | your way: |
| information... which becomes publicly available to | | | | - Dislexicon - A great tool that takes common words |
| anyone who looks. So basically, unless you register | | | | like "money" and generates short domain names that |
| privately (anonymously), you are going to be sharing | | | | look like they could be real words. |
| your contact information with the world. Most places | | | | - JustDropped - This site gets you a great list of |
| tack on a few bucks for a private registration, but | | | | domain names that have recently expired and are |
| some will give it to you for free... so be aware! | | | | fresh on the market. |
| Know What Makes A Good Domain Name | | | | - DomainsBot - A popular search engine that is |
| Okay, so you know what your website is about... but | | | | geared specifically to helping you come up with good |
| "money.com" is already registered, eh? Time to dig | | | | domain names. |
| deep and find that diamond in the rough domain | | | | The most important thing is to keep at it, you'll know |
| name that nobody has registered. Great domain | | | | when you found a good one. Keep tracking the |
| names exist, you just have to look for them. I want | | | | names that are available, add them to your list, and |
| to give you an idea of what you are looking for, | | | | keep searching. If you can build a list of 15-20 |
| before you actually start looking. Here's a list of good | | | | available domain names, you are sure to find a |
| and bad domain name formats: | | | | keeper! |
| Great Domain Names: Really good domain names are | | | | I hope you enjoyed this lesson on finding a good |
| going to be the one-word and two-word domain | | | | domain name. Some people stress the importance of |
| names that aren't separated by a hyphen, space or | | | | a domain name far too much for anyone's good. And |
| anything or wordword.com). Of course, the words | | | | while it's really important to have a brandable, easy |
| should always be somewhat related. | | | | to remember, and search engine friendly domain |
| Good Domain Names: Take those two word domain | | | | name, in the long run it is up to your content to get |
| names and add a hyphen in between the words if it | | | | your blog popular. Part three of our series here is |
| isn't available. If it's short (like ebook-rich.com), then | | | | going to take you through actually "registering" that |
| you have a good domain name. If it's longer, I'd | | | | domain name, as well as web hosting... so stay tuned! |
| suggest going back to the drawing board and looking | | | | |