A good domain name is one that both humans and search engines will love, so as a rule it should be expressive of your site theme, which the spiders will recognize, and memorable for the site's human visitors. It is worth while trying to keep both types of visitors happy.

If it's going to pass both of those tests then a good domain name will need to be short, even just one expressive word or maybe a short phrase separated with dashes. This makes it easier for humans to remember and better for the search engine spiders to understand.

When the search engines visit, they use automated programs to interpret the information on the web site. When they find the words are separated it helps them to determine what the keywords are and hence what the site is all about.

You will need to put your creativity to the test and apply a bit of experimentation, but the best technique to use in the long term is to start with your site concept' and refine it down to a short catchy phrase containing words which are highly relevant to your site content.

For example if you have a web site that sells books and equipment for golfers, people searching for your site will be using keywords such as "golf books" or "golf clubs" and "golfing equipment" so these are some of the keywords you would want in your domain name. These keywords help with the search engine optimization for your site.

A good site or business name will also closely describe what the site is about. In most cases it's important for a person to be able to get an idea of what the website is about just by reading the domain name. If it doesn't make sense they probably won't stay.

The following domain name would include the keywords you're looking for:
www.golfclubsandbooks.com but would not necessarily be as good as www.golf-clubs-and-books.com because the words are easier for people to read and remember and more easily interpreted by the search engine spiders.

When people are surfing around looking for a site and they know the name, they will try typing the site name.com. Therefore for the web site to be found, the golden rule is: get a .com name because that is what most people expect.

If you go to a domain name registrar such as Hostgator and use their domain name search facility, you will not only see if your chosen name is available but in their case they also offer you a list of similar names and available extensions such as .com or .net which is a good way to see if something else fits the bill for a good domain name better than the one you chose.

Finally whatever you choose, test it on somebody before you buy it. See how they react; is it as you would hope? Do they recognize what it's about? Would they instinctively know how to spell it? You don't want to have to keep on repeating it to people every time you tell them about your website.

Learn more about this author, Peter Fisher.
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