Million Dollar Domain Names

Your domain name is often as valuable as your entire online business.  Having the right one is worth tens of thousands of dollars, even millions.  Getting the wrong domain name can get you blacklisted.  It’s that big of a deal.

This past week, I helped two coaching clients choose the right domain name for their business.  Each one had very different goals and needs.  But the process we used to choose the right name was very similar, and I wanted to help you as well.

Here are the top 3 things to consider
when choosing a great domain name.

1. Get Ranked in the Search Engines

I’m a big fan of using search engine optimization to get free organic traffic to a site.  For that reason, I recommend getting a domain name that will rank well in the search engines for your business.

Let’s take a look at two scenarios: using an existing domain name verses getting a new domain name.

If you have an existing domain name, consider its age and Google page rank before you decide to switch to a new domain name.  Google loves to put older, high-ranking sites on its coveted first page listings.

If the domain has been around for at least a year and has a page rank of two or better, it may be to your advantage to use the present domain name rather than get a new one.

Think of it this way: it’s like having a business in an older building that is on the busiest street in town.  Yes, you could move to a newer, nicer location.  But you may not get the same traffic.

If you don’t know your page rank, you can get it here.

If you’re getting a new domain name and want to have an advantage in the search engines, consider using your main keywords in the URL.

How powerful is this technique?  In November 2009, one of my new sites with a brand new domain name ranked #5 in Google out of 1 million results.  And it happened in just 3 days using this technique.

Four months later, the site is on the first page of Google for a keyword that gets 903 searches a day.  It ranks at #10 out of 24 million search results.  Needless to say, we’re getting good traffic to the site.  And having the keywords in the URL played a big part in making that happen.

2. Get Found by Potential Clients

You want potential clients to be able to easily find your site when looking for it.  Here are a few things to keep in mind to help make that happen.

• Make the domain name easy to spell when it is heard.  A name like “ClassicCoaching.com” is much better than “DeborahJeneaux.com,” pronounced “deb-rah-jen-oh.”
• Choose words that aren’t easy to misspell.  A good example is “enterperneur” “entreprenuer” “entreperneur” - oh, never mind.
• Get the singular and plural versions when appropriate. For example: “GoodGardenBook.com” and “GoodGardenBooks.com.”  That way if your client forgets the “s,” they will still get to your site instead of someone else’s site.
• If using numbers, get the numeral and written version. For example: “Toys4Us.com” and “ToysForUs.com.”
• Always get the “.com” extension of the domain name.  Most people won’t remember anything else and type in “.com” out of habit.

By the way, starting April 2010, you’ll be able to get a “.co” extension on domain names.  This opens up a whole new group of domain names with hot keywords in them.

However, I still don’t recommend getting a “.co” without getting the “.com” for most businesses.  People are creatures of habit. And most of us are very familiar with using “.com.” If someone sees “.co” on your marketing material, they’ll likely think that you forgot to type or print the “m.” Then they’ll type it in their browser bar as “.com” anyway.

3. Don’t Get Misread or Blacklisted

Put your chosen domain name in lower case letters with no spaces and look at it very carefully, like this: www.lookatitcarefully.com.  You might be surprised at what you see.

Some word combinations look very strange or can be read different ways.  Here are a few that may give you a smile:

• “get clients now” looks like “get client snow”
• “choose spain” looks like “chooses pain”
• “teachers talk”  looks like “teacher stalk”

Some word combinations will get your domain name ranked as adult content and your emails blacklisted.

Be really careful when using acronyms or words where one ends in “s” and the next one starts with “ex,” such as “Web Graphics Explained.”

Don’t Make the Mistake I Did

When I chose my domain name for our engineering and web design company - way back in 2003 - I knew nothing about search engine optimization or blacklisting.  I knew a little about keywords but not much.

As a result, I chose a domain name based on my brand (ESS) and added “dreamteam” because ESS.com was already taken.

I’ve stayed with www.ESSdreamteam.com because I now have a prestigious page rank of 4 for the domain and rank really well in the search engines for my chosen search terms.

But if I could do it all over again…

Well, I wouldn’t have chosen a domain name I have to spell out every time I say it in a teleseminar.  I would have chosen something much easier, like www.supercalafragalistic-expialadosish.com.  Just kidding!

Use the above strategies next time you need a domain name, and you, too, will be able to pick a million dollar domain name.