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Registering a domain name for your website is essential in order for your potential customers to locate you on the Internet. The following are some of the important considerations you have to make before registering a domain name.

Brandability VS Search Engine friendly

Most Internet Entrepreneurs will have to decide between brandability and Search Engine friendly domain name when they are starting their online business. Some examples of brandable domain names are Yahoo and Google. Search Engine friendly domain names are like SearchEngine.com or TopDirectory.com in which the domain name itself contains keywords relating to your product or services.

Some people believe that choosing a search engine friendly domain name will help in increasing your search engine rankings. This is only partly correct, search engine will take domain name into consideration when ranking websites but you should never let this be part of your decision when choosing a domain name. You may be surprised that Google Search Engine takes in more than 200 signals to rank a site. Hence, there are many other areas that you can work on to increase your search engine rankings.

You can use this free tool, MakeWords, to help you generate some domain name ideas and availability.

Domain name extension options

It is highly advised to register a domain name that based on your target market. For example, if your primary target is in Singapore, you may want to register a domain name with the extension, .com.sg. In all cases, .com is the most registered and recognised extension across all options.

There are also myths saying that search engine ranks .gov and .edu sites higher than normal sites. This is not true and Matt Cutts, Head of Google Web Spam team, has clarified this myth in this video.

A .com domain name cost around USD $10 per year but a country specified domain may cost three times more.

Five tips when registering a domain name

1. Avoid superlative words such as 'best', 'most' and 'top'. These words may affect the creditability of your site especially to first-time visitors.
2. Avoid using abbreviations. You cannot be sure that all your visitors will understand what it stands for.
3. Avoid digits in your domain name unless it is part of your branding.
4. Try to limit your domain name to less than four words.
5. Make sure your domain name pass the radio test. Listeners should have no problems figuring out your domain name when you mention it on air.

Where to register for a domain name?

GoDaddy.com is one of the largest companies that offers competitive price for domain name registration. You can also do a search on the Internet for several coupon codes for additional savings. One coupon code that saves you around 20% is hash3.

Do note that you will have to register your domain name with specific registrar if you are registering country specific domain names.

This article is written by KC TAN. You may reprint this article only with a live link back to WebSprout Consulting.