How to Choose the Right Domain Name for Your Website
Step 3- Pick the Right Domain Name
Creating a domain name is the next step to how to build a website. What is a domain name? A domain name is the “.com”, “.net”, “.org”, and so on for your website. For example, when you visit Google, the domain name is “Google.com”. In order to build a website, you must have a domain name. This article will explore all of the ends and outs of picking the right domain name and then buying the domain name. We’ll take a look at why your domain name is so important and how it can heavily influence the success or failure of your website. We’ll also take a look at the advantages owning your own domain name.
Choosing the Right Domain Name
I think it’s safe to assume that you will want people to visit your website once it’s built- right? You also probably want people to find your website through search engines like Google and Yahoo.
Choose the right domain name, and you’ll be on your way to helping the search engines find your website.
You see, search engines have closely guarded algorithms that they use to rank websites. That’s why when you do a Google search, there is an order. The websites that the search engines think is most relevant to your search are the ones that show up. In fact, they show up in the order that the search engine thinks is the most relevant. The first listing in Google is what Google thinks you’re searching for.
One of the factors that affects this ranking is your domain name. If your domain name matches what people may be looking for, then you are helping visitors find your website.
The domain name for this website, for example, is Build-a-Website-Guide.com. I chose this domain name because I wanted to build a website for people who may be wanting to build their own website and may need a guide to help them. I wanted to be sure to let the search engines know what this website is about too. That’s why I chose a domain name with words that reflect what people may be looking for.
So how do you go about picking a good domain name? Well, you need to pick words that you think people might be searching for but you also want to keep your domain name short and easy to remember. This will help keep your visitors returning and it will help establish a brand for your website.
The words that you will consider your website domain name are called “keywords”. You may want to write down words that reflect what your website is about and decide on a way to incorporate them into your domain name.
*A note on free hosting and how it will affect your domain name- There are many places on the web where you can create your own website and host it for free. One of the most popular of these is Blogger.com. Another is WordPress.com. These are great for people getting their feet wet with blogging. However, there are several dangers in using free hosted sites. One of these dangers lies in the fact that your domain name is not yours. You do not own it. You therefore do not have control over it. Your website could be eradicated over night!
Secondly, your domain name will have the word of the host in the url. In other words, your domain is really a sub-domain. It may read, “www.yourwebsite.blogspot.com”, instead of “www.yourwebsite.com”. Which one do you think looks more professional?
So, pick a good domain name, and purchase it. It is inexpensive and will directly affect your ability to attract visitors to your website.
Okay, so now you have a general idea of what you want you domain name to be. Now, it’s time to purchase that domain name.
There are a variety of different places to purchase your domain name. I strongly suggest using GoDaddy.com. GoDaddy has great prices and makes buying a domain name easy. When you purchase your domain, you will be offered to buy various products. The only thing that you will want to purchase is the domain name! I would not purchase hosting from GoDaddy.com.
So where should you buy hosting, and what exactly is hosting? Let’s take a look at that in the next step.
