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Advice on choosing your Site Build It domain name.
When choosing a domain name, it is always tempting to include one's primary key word or phrase within the name.
And if you are fortunate enough to find a key phrase that is short (2 words), highly profitable – and for which the corresponding domain name is still available, go for it.
But beyond that happy meeting of key phrase, profit potential and domain availability, one has to think a little harder.
And, I believe, one should avoid thinking only in terms of a domain's potential as a "search engine magnet".
As an example, I'm going to talk about my own SBI site domain, CoffeeDetective.com
From an SEO point of view, the domain name is useless. Nobody types in the search terms "coffee detective" or "coffeedetective".
So why did I choose it?
I chose it for the same reason that "Mr. Clean" is called "Mr. Clean" and is not called "All-Purpose-House-Cleaner".
Read that last sentence again.
The name "Mr. Clean" does two things. First, the promise of keeping your home clean is implicit within the name. Second, it has the potential to become a brand, simply because it is short and very memorable.
That's what I tried to achieve, albeit on a smaller scale, with CoffeeDetective.com
Implicit in the name is the promise that my site will reveal information about coffee that you might not find elsewhere. And at its simplest level, the name lets you know the site is about coffee.
Also, it is much easier to remember than, Gourmet-Coffee-Secrets-Revealed.com.
And there is a little something about long, hyphenated domain names that feels dated, and whispers, "Dude, this is a weekend warrior website."
"Hot sites" tend to have short, memorable domain names: Google, eBay, Digg, YouTube, FaceBook, Yahoo!, Flickr.
Best of all, it's easy to remember short domain names.
This means someone can be pouring coffee at work and say to a co-worker, "Check out CoffeeDetective.com"
It's easy to remember. There's no uncertainty about how it is spelled. You don't have to ask for the name twice.
So I can get more direct traffic, coming from people who type the domain into their browser, rather than arrive via a click. (My direct traffic is about 10% of my total right now.)
As with all content, I believe a domain name should be written first for the reader, and only second for the search engines.
Finally, just for the pleasure of it...
Take a few moments to watch this video, made by an SBI owner, all about "the way of the totoise" It's really good...
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