What's in a Name?

[dramaqueen]

I am relatively new to domain names but I am interested in buying a few. Are there certain criteria I should be aware of before going out and purchasing a name? or do I just buy anything that catches my eye?

 

[CountryBoy]

I wouldn't just buy something that catches your eye. Before buying anything I always ask myself the questions: Why am I buying this and what am I planning to do with it? If I don't have a reasonable answer to either of those questions I save my money and my time.

 

[rider]

It depends on the business your are going to run.

 

[purple]

I definitely think its a good thing to think about what you will be doing with the domain before purchasing. After all the name you really think is keen may not appear so to others and thus reselling it might not make you enough to be worthwhile. So it depends on your ability to use it well and not just acquire it as a keen domain name.

 

[chatterbox]

Definitely depends on what you're using it for

If it's a business site, keywords are a good choice for a domain name. That makes it easier to find in search engines and easier for your customers to remember. Just don't stick together a bunch of keywords separated by hyphens like I see some doing. It won't help your ranking in the search engines as they frown on that.

 

[accuurrtt]

And it helps to get the higher PR of your web site.

 

[ldcdc]

It won't help your ranking in the search engines as they frown on that.

Never heard of them frowning on that. It's just that they don't put as much emphasis on the keywords stuffed in the domain as they used to, which means it's a silly thing to do, using hyphens, these days. It makes your domain very human unfriendly. Just think of dictating such a domain on the phone or in real life. "I own keyword1 hyphen keyword2 hyphen keyword3 dot com".

And it helps to get the higher PR of your web site.

What do you mean? PR has to do with incoming links, not keywords.

 

[Ash B]

Hi dramaqueen,

There little in the way of criteria you need to be aware of when purchasing a domain name. I would guess that you are new to purchasing a domain name, it's very unlikely you will run into any road blocks.


Following up from that, a few tips when purchasing a new domain name:

1) Choose a name that has something to do with what the website is about.

2) Choose a name that is not too long and is relatively easy to remember.