Let's see the second tip ...

2. The domain name

Another vital factor that requires consideration when you are building an affiliate website from scratch.

And there are also 3 relevant issues here ...

2.1 Broad vs. exact match

You'll have to choose between a broad industry-related name and an exact match for a specific keyword.

If you are planning to focus on reviews or product promotions, the latter choice could be a better option. A keyword-specific domain usually will "generate" faster SEO results.

However, if you are planning to build a personal brand or to create an authority website, the former option could be a better choice.

2.2 Avoid using any brand names

It's very straightforward. Using brand names to create attractive "branded domains", is definitely not a good idea if you don't want to face a lawsuit for infringing on a brand name.

2.3 Checking the domain history

Yes, domain names could have their own history ... If the renewal fee isn't covered by the actual owner, the domain domain name will become publicly available (again).

But here's the catch ... The old domain-related data will be kept by search engines! This is why is important to check the domain history, if you don't want to purchase a "new" domain name that already spammed Google with bad content or bad links.

You can easily check a domain name history with DomainTools:

https://research.domaintools.com/research/whois-history/

Finally, here are some general tips that could help you to choose a good domain name:

• make it short and memorable; don’t choose long, tough-to-spell domain names! take your time and try to be creative in order to find a short and euphonious domain name; what do you think, which one is better: “smartketeer.com” or “smart-marketing-methods-to-become-a-successful-marketer.com”? a short domain name is memorable, leaves less room for mistyping errors, and is good for word-of-mouth marketing; finally, make sure there is only one way to pronounce and spell it

• make it unique and descriptive; do your best to find a name that truly reflects who you are and what you care about! a name that perfectly describes the main purpose of your blog; a unique name that will help you to build your online identity

• use a trustworthy extension; the best solution is to use a “.com” extension; other extensions like “.net” or “.biz” are less trusted; and for God’s sake, avoid any crazy or ridiculous extension like “.rock”, “.venture”, “.coach”, “.website”, etc

• try to incorporate your main keyword; it’s a well-known fact, the domain name is an important ranking factor; a smoothly, elegantly incorporated keyword will help search engines to decide what your blog is about

• avoid using hyphens in your domain name; I know, there are hundreds of tutorials telling you that you should use them; it’s an eternal debate and everyone must take a side; and I am against hyphens; they have only two advantages: hyphens are said to identify keywords to search engines more clearly, and they can help you to create “new” names using other – already taken – good names; BUT, a hyphenated domain name is logically longer, it’s difficult to memorize or communicate, often correlates with spammy websites and leaves more room for mistyping errors; the point: you’ll have to pick a side, but I recommend you to avoid those-ugly-and-annoying-hyphenated-domain-names

• avoid using numbers in your domain name; another debated issue; when a topic is very crowded, and you are trying to create a good domain without hyphens, the next very obvious solution is to include a number at the beginning or end of your domain name; my opinion: there is no difference between hyphens and numbers; it’s pretty much the same thing

• don’t neglect the future-factor; I’ve seen many cases where a blog simply outgrow the initial domain name down the track; try to find a domain name that will suit your needs even if you’ll have to expand your topics! a name that will reflect your identity even if the industry has changed! and of course, avoid any domain name that is time-specific in any way

• avoid using previously registered domain names; spammers often buy up domain names just to abandon them later (once they’ve used them up), and usually these domain names are already banned by Google! launching your blog using a domain name which is already banned by Google, probably won’t help you in your SEO efforts …

• always keep it legal; avoid trademarked names and pay attention to any possible legal implications of the words you use in your domain name!