What To Do When Buying A Domain Name

Sounds simple, doesn't it? Surely when you buy a domain name you just pick the name of your business, right?

Well,YES that would be the obvious answer but there is something else you should consider first.

Simply buying your business name and leaving at that will waste an awful lot of opportunity.

Want to rank high in the search engines? Want to be found on at least page one of Google and other important search engines?

If you have answered YES and you have a branded business name as a domain name your marketing efforts and advertising costs have just exploded. Well done.

Try getting on the first page of Google for "Harry's Homes"

If you intend to utilize the search engines for all the benefits its got then you have to think outside the square. No longer are you able to slap up a website and leave it on the internet and have hoards of people find you. If it was really that simple there would be no such thing as ranking or positioning. And everybody who had a site would be celebrating and be filthy rich.

Simply put, you have to help yourselves...

One way to help yourself be found is by putting your website on a 'KEYWORD' domain name. Much like the following keywords.

"lose weight fast"
"homes for sale"
"auckland plumber"

These keywords are the search terms people type into the search engines to find what they are looking for. Sure some keywords look terrible but if you're lucky you can find a good one that has not been taken. You can use Google's Keyword Tool to find a popular keyword.

The trick is to put your website on the keyword domain name so that you can take advantage of natural search. Don't expect floods of people to find you though even if you have picked a keyword domain name but it most certainly helps. Google's algorithm gives a thumbs up to keyword domain names so it shouldn't surprise you to see that pattern follow suit in the search engines.

Once you have the website up buy your branded domain named ie: "Harry's Homes" and redirect it to your main keyword website.

On your business cards you can still use your branded name but just for the search engines you have your keyword domain name.

This is called a url redirection.

I'll give you an example of some people who use them. Australians are quite infamous for buying our tourism names and redirecting them to tourist places in Australia.

Cheeky eh?

I know. And do you know what? They're successful. They've just captured the New Zealand public and for FREE.

I would be lying to say other factors don't come into it if you want to rank high and really I could write a book on the matter. Owning a website doubles the amount of work or costs if you want to utilize it to its full potential however having a website also extends your reach and promotes your brand. If you're just after a website without the added work or cost then by all means buy your branded domain name but if you want to build value and help yourself go further, rather than just having a website for the sake of it, buy a keyword domain name. Competition is fierce. What is your competition doing?