Choosing A Domain Name

February 26th, 2010


Choosing the right domain name i.e. (www.example.com) is very important to the success of a new online business. The selection of a domain name may seem fairly simple at first, but considerable thought and research should be involved in your decision. I’ve assembled some tips to help you avoid common mistakes.

1. List Your Keywords

The first thing you want to do is come up with a list of terms or phrases that describe the online business you have in mind. Think of phrases people might input into a search engine when searching for your product or service. Once you have a list, then you can perhaps pair some of them or add prefixes or suffixes to get good ideas.

Something you should probably do, that many people overlook, is a little keyword research when you choose your domain name. You want to have key phrases that get enough searches on the engines, but you don’t want to have to compete with millions of other sites ranking for your key words.

2. Create An Expectation

When someone hears your domain name for the first time, they should easily and accurately guess what will be found at your website. Think “www.cheapdogfood.com” Try to stay away from strange names and spellings. This will also help make your domain name easier to remember, which is important. And always avoid trademarked names at all costs.

3. Keep It Simple

People need to be able to remember your domain name and type it into their address bar. Try to get the shortest domain name possible that is still relevant to your site and that’s memorable.

If your domain name is hard to type correctly due to the use of strange spellings, multiple hyphens or numbers, you will lose a good number of potential customers. Also, hyphens and numbers make it much harder to give your domain name verbally.

4. .com, .org, .net?

You might hear many different opinions on this subject, that is, what extension to use on a domain name. I won’t go into this too much, but I do have a few opinions.

Keep in mind that .com is the first extension many people try when searching for a website. Some browsers will search for the .com extension if none is typed in.

Just be sure to promote your website with the full domain name, especially if you choose an extension other than .com.

5. Use A Domain Selection Tool

After you have some good domain names in mind, you will need to know whether they are still available or not. Many domain registrars (godaddy) have an ajax based tool that can determine the availability of the domain name. Or try sites like instantdomainsearch.com or domdig.com. You can find the name you want and use the registrar of your choice.

Final Word

The thoughtful selection of a good, relevant domain name should be one of the first steps in creating your online presence. A well chosen domain name helps with name recognition, search engine position, advertising and more. It is important but shouldn’t be hard to find a winner. Just remember to keep these simple tips in mind when deciding.

Wishing you online success,

Legitimate Surveys for Cash

January 19th, 2010

When I first started out trying to make money online, I wasn’t sure where to begin. One of the first things that sounded interesting was filling out legitimate surveys for cash. I didn’t want to pay someone a bunch of money, so I had to do the research for myself. I wanted to find cash paying survey companies that would offer lots of surveys and would not fill my inbox with junk. This is much harder than it sounds, because there are hundreds of sites that don’t deliver on what they promise.

Legitimate Surveys for Cash

So, after months of signing up with many survey sites and filtering out the marketing fluff, I started to find legitimate companies paying cash for answering surveys. It really was frustrating to get so many emails and try to separate what was going to make money from the scams.

I finally figured out what really worked and started to get lots of cash paying surveys. I have also been included in focus groups and forums that pay very well too. But, you need to know where to look for the right paid cash surveys.

The Only Companies That Really Pay

I have decided to share this hard to find information for free with 500 people. After the test period, I plan to start charging a fee. Right now, all that is needed is a valid email address in order to receive your free membership and eveything you will need to get started. Take legitimate surveys for cash now.

Wishing you online success,