How To Choose a Domain Name

March 8, 2010 By Jackie Lee 28 Comments

You’ve brainstormed, you’ve mind mapped, you’ve created an editorial calendar, the next step is getting started with your site. The first step to doing that is choosing your domain name.

How to choose a domain name

Now before I get into this let me say this first.

For this type of site there is NO right or wrong answer. Really. I know everything we’ve done thus far has demanded extensive keyword research, and doing it wrong could prove fatal to your entire campaign.

Well… this ain’t that.

Authority blogging is much more forgiving. You can make choices that you’re not so happy with later, you can tweak them, and continue on to have a successful site. There’s not MUCH that’s going to blow it for you (if anything really). So please, please, please!!!!! I’m begging you to lighten up. Really.

Choosing a domain name and a theme for your blog really could be the most fun part ~ if you let it. I know it is for me. That’s half the reason I have so many 1/2 done sites. I love domain names and picking themes lol. I digress. Back to how to choose a domain name.

Quick Easy Steps to Choose a Domain Name

Some of the best bloggers out there don’t have keywords in their blog. Some of the best bloggers out there have pretty crappy domain names for their blogs (I mean really entrepreneur[dash]journey ~ how many people can actually spell entreprenuer? It’s a tough domain name ~ but his blog is great and HUGELY successful!

Problogger? Copyblogger? IttyBiz?

These are NOT keyword rich domain names and yet, they are some of the most popular blogs around. Tons of traffic and making LOTS of money to be sure.

Please don’t get stuck in finding the “perfect” keyword for your domain name, because with this type of site it’s really quite secondary.

Let’s look at some more:

5dollardinners, balancejunkie, tipjunkie, thechangeblog, notimeforflashcards, fedupwithschoollunch, paleoperogative, zenhabits

You see, these are not about keyword stuffing. I read everyone of these blogs regularly, along with a bunch of other people. It’s NOT about the keywords.

Ok… did you hear that?

How to choose a domain name

You’ve done some brainstorming, you’ve created a mind map, you’ve got an editorial calendar done. Answer me this.

What is your site about?

Is it about caring for horses? Is it about planning a themed birthday party for your kiddo, is it about finding balance in your life?

Great. Now we know what the site is about.

Figure out 3 or 4 words that express that thought and call it a domain name.

Now before all the SEO people out there start squawking at me Once you’ve got your domain name idea let’s dial it in with a little research.

We’re not looking for the best keywords here. We’re not looking for any specific numbers at all. We’re not worried about competition. We’re thinking about 1 thing and 1 thing only. The semantics.

How are people searching for your domain name?

Let’s say your site is about finding balance in everyday life. You know, balancing work, kids, fun, health, your sanity. All those good things. That’s what it’s about.

Finding balance in everyday life.

Let’s look at the keyword tool and see if anyone’s looking for my topic this way.

The answer is a big fat no. OK. No problem. Let’s break it down a little bit. We’re talking about everyday life, and life and balance right? Let’s look at those then and see what we see.

Everyday life:

Ummm.. yeah there’s a few people searching for that term.

Life and Balance:

Uh… yep, there’s some people looking for that term too!

While these numbers are pretty big it’s not the number that is important. It’s the semantics, HOW people are searching. So look for something that makes sense when you say it out loud. Since these aren’t super niche sites you’ll probably find your numbers are pretty big too.

How do I create my domain name from this information?

Put the pieces together.

Everydaylifeandbalance ~ It expresses what my site is about. Succinct. Searches are there. There you go.

From that point you can use your tagline to make your message more clear, but this is a good domain name.

Once you have chosen your domain name you can get your url for $7.49 .com at GoDaddy

Basic steps to choose a domain name:

1. Know what you’re going to talk about ~ the focus of your site.

2. Come up with a short phrase that tells people what your site is about.

3. Use that phrase to find the words people are using to search for that topic.

4. Don’t worry about competition ~ it’s not important.

There you have it. 4 Easy steps to answer the question how to choose a domain name. I’d love to hear how it’s going for you. If you’re struggling, leave a comment or take it to the fanpage. We can help each other out. (If you start a new thread/discussion on the fanpage stop by here and let us know. Then we can all participate (and I’ll know new stuff’s going on over there)