This online marketing / SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) article will provide you with some information on how to choose and optimize your domain name so that you get a good start at marketing your website on all the search engines.

Step 1: Selecting a Domain Name

When selecting a domain name, you wish to SEO, you want to choose one that includes the keywords that your target market would search for on the internet. This helps you rank your website for the search terms that you would like to come up for when users search for your products or those keywords. e.g. If you sell tennis balls and are looking for a domain name that people would search for, the best thing to do is use those keywords i.e. tennis-balls.com or tennisballs.com

If you already have a well established brand that has not had a website in the past, but many internet users know of your brand, then use your brand name as the domain name. e.g. all tennis players know of Wilson, Head, Prince etc. so they would go straight to the brands website or search for that brand in Google, Yahoo or Bing.

Step 2: Targeting

Before you go ahead and buy your domain name, consider your targeting, where is your business, South Africa, India, Canada etc. Make sure you select a domain that is from your country or region. If you think you may want to expand your business in the future, then buy the other domains and hold onto them for the time being. I would recommend buying the .com and local domains for your website in the beginning.

It is good to get your local domain as it provides targeted search options to the public e.g. if you were searching for a mechanic in South Africa, you would use google.co.za (South Africa) not google.ca (Canada) and you would only select mechanic websites from your country.

There are many TLD (Top Level Domains) that you can choose from, here are just a few:

• .com
• .net
• .org
• .gov
• .info
• .edu

But like I said, the best to go for would be .com and your local domain extension (.co.za, .us, .com.au, .ca etc.).

Step 3: Breaking The Domain Name (Hyphen vs. Underscore)

Another thing to consider when getting your domain is to break up your keywords within the domain name e.g. tennis-balls.com or tennis_balls.com. Today they don't make a huge difference, but keep the following questions in mind when deciding this:

• How easy is it to tell someone over the phone my website address?
• Will users remember the url?
• Which is easier to remember? (No break, Hyphen or Underscore)
• Is it easy to read?

I would generally recommend going for the Hyphen (Dash), but if the Domain name seems a bit long, rethink your domain name. You don't want more than 2 breaks.

Step 4: Domain Registration

A good idea would be to register your domain name for more than a year as it adds a bit of authority to the domain. Search Engines will kind of get an idea that you will be around longer than a year, which is good for you. Ask your hosting service provider if they can register your domain for more than a year. Usually you can register domains for up to 10 years.

Step 5: Registering a Domain

When  you have finally chosen your domain name, a good idea is to see if it is available or for sale. You can do this using http://whois.domantools.com, but I would recommend using your hosting service when buying your domain as there will be no transfer issues and delays in getting this up and running.

You can get great hosting from:

• 1and1.com
• godaddy.com
• hetzner.com etc.

Final Thoughts

Don't go rushing into things when getting your domain name, take your time and do your research, make sure that there is a good search volume for your product or service, as there is no point in just getting a domain name that you like, when there is no one searching for your keywords.

A great tool to check the search volume for your keywords is the Google External Keyword Tool. This tool also provides you with alternative keywords.

Just take your time and do your research!