5 Easy Steps to Finding Your Perfect Domain Name

It is true that a good SEO can get good rankings for any domain name, but if you want to have an advantage before you even have a site designed, putting some time into choosing the right domain name can really pay off. Here is a step-by-step guide to choosing the right domain name.

1. The first thing you need to do, is some keyword research. You can use many keyword tools out there, but my personal favorite is the Google Adwords Keyword Tool located here : https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal. You can enter in as many applicable keywords as you can think of and it will suggest keywords and key phrases for you. Remember to choose only those that apply strictly to your business as that will ensure that most of your traffic from organic web searches is highly targeted. Include geographic factors: cities, states, abbreviations, nicknames.

2. When you get your results, make a list of the keywords and key phrases that show the highest monthly searches. Remember to choose the ones that suit your business or the aim of this new web site the best. For example, if you do web design in Sacramento, California, targeting the key phrase "web design" is going to bring in visitors from all over the world. You are also going to be competing for one of the most competitive key phrases out there and will probably A) have no success finding an available domain name and B) have no success beating your competitors unless you are a professional SEO or have millions to spend on your SEO campaign. A more appropriate key phrase would be "sacramento web design" or "sacramento web development" or "sacramento web services", etc.

3. Find one or two of the keywords you saved that, in the results, list web sites with low PR and low backlinks. You can check both of these stats using the Google Toolbar, located here: http://toolbar.google.com/. If you can also find a keyword that, when searched, delivers very irrelevant results and a lot of web sites that don't have the keyword in the site titles, then you have found a really good one. This is your niche. A keyword or key phrase that gets significant monthly searches, but that is poorly represented in the search results.

4. Locate a domain name suggestion tool. Here are a few that I find useful:

http://www.dotomator.com/ - This tool will help you find a domain name based on keywords and allows you to store them to your "scratch board"

http://www.bustaname.com/ - Does the same thing, with a list of keywords.

https://domize.com/ - real-time availability search

http://domai.nr/ - This tool helps you find domain names that, combined with the domain extension, complete a keyword or keyphrase, eg. http://deli.cio.us

5. Use the domain tool to find your new domain name with your niche keyword in it. Register the domain name!

Technorati Tags: seo, search engine optimization, domain name, domain name registration, keywords, keyword suggestion tools

By Courtney @ 1:18 PM