That Slippery Elusive Domain Name

bydixiekris

134 followers

11 years ago

I hope this will be helpful for the ones here in the WA community who are in the midst of their domain name search. In my own search, I've come across a lot of good information, facts, ideas, and inspiration I'd like to share with you.

FACTS:

• your domain name IS important for the long run
• shorter is better, but not always so easily attainable
• your domain name does not have to include keywords, but should reflect what your site is about - at least if you are going for branding
• it is not a quick process in choosing - most one-word names are taken so you need to spend time with pen & paper or note editor to play around with words and meanings
• your domain name is most important for your readers and potential readers, not for you (nor the search engines) - they need to be able to understand the name, spell it, remember it, key it in as easily as possible
• you shouldn't have to explain how it is spelled or worded - if you mentioned your domain name over the radio, would listeners "get it" without explanation?
• the search engines crawl your site for good, clean, consistent and relatable content overall, and do not pay as much attention to the domain name as to headlines, titles, and inside content

IDEAS:

• google "search for domain name" (without quotes) - there are many sites for you to play around with your idea, before making a purchase; you don't have to sign up
• bring up a dictionary/thesaurus on your computer and toggle back and forth from your search site
• make yourself a list of topic/post ideas that you want to use for your website; refer to your list while searching for domain name to come up with more ideas
• when a name you've chosen shows it's available, write it down, keep adding to the list
• take a breather about every 30 minutes or less, look over your "available" list and your topic/post ideas while letting your brain simmer down; take a walk, eat a snack, look out the window, talk to the dog, watch those poor souls on TV in the Alaskan wilderness/frozen tundra struggle for daily subsistence (who wouldn't be thrilled for the drudgery of finding that elusive domain name?!!!)

INSPIRATION:

• You will learn stuff you hadn't even thought of yet! Including, The Art & Science of Finding Your Domain Name When You Thought It Was Frozen In Hell!
• Are you grinding to a halt? Call the Domain Police and file a theft report against the Thought Police - you'll be up and running again in no time!
• Look forward to seeing the final "product" in neon cyber lights - you worked hard for it!! Stand tall, be proud, shout to the masses, "the new phone book is here, the new phone book is here, I'm somebody!"
• Yes, YOU ARE SOMEBODY!!!

Hope this was helpful to some of you!

Do you have any further ideas, facts, or musings to add here? Chat on!!!