Choosing the right domain name, and how it relates to Search Engine Optimization.

A very important step on the road to optimizing your website for search engines, and more importantly being memorable to visitors is choosing the right domain name. What is a domain name?

Let’s look at what wikipedia says: A domain name is an identification label to define a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet, based on the Domain Name System (DNS).

Having worked in the domain industry for a number of years, I understand the definition, but most people probably have no clue. In layman’s terms, it is the address that internet users type into the address bar of their browser in order to display a website. In short: An internet web site address. For Example TopHatRank.com (on a side note, domain names will resolve regardless of capitalization, and are always registered using lower case letters.)

Registering a good domain name is one of the most important things for your online presence. Most visitors remember the name of your website by memorizing your web address, so the shorter the better. All domains contain two elements. The name itself: TopHatRank, for the domain TopHatRank.com and the extension, in this case .com .

The domain name market, although fairly young is becoming smaller and smaller each day. Domain names are unique addresses, which means that the best domain names have been registered long ago and are either in use or for sale at ridiculously high prices. That doesn’t mean that all the good names have been taken.

The first step in coming up with a good domain name is to Brainstorm. Try to come up with a domain name that clearly indicates what you do, a problem that you solve or a solution that you have to a problem. This will give visitors a fairly clear picture of what he or she will find on your website. When I need to register a domain name I go to my favorite domain registrar FrugalName.com and type in a prospective domain into the search box. If the domain I type in isn’t available with the extension I wanted, the site will present me with available extensions, as well as a long list of domain names under the