Things To Consider Before Choosing A Domain Name

A question I am frequently asked is “How do you choose a good web domain name for a blog or project you’re working on? What factors do you take into consideration? What’s a deal-breaker for you?”

Here’s my answer.

My unbreakable rules for choosing a domain are:

1. No hyphens. Been there. Done that. Regret it to this day.

2. No numbers. Do I spell it out “five” or is it the number “5??

3. Nothing difficult to spell. Although I once was really excited about using a domain with the word “catalyst” in it — I found that no one could spell the darned thing.

4. Domain must end in .com. I don’t bother with other endings.

5. Domain must NOT have any copyright names in it. I would not recommend using “Google”, “Disney”, or any other company name in your URL or prepare to be “ceased and desisted”.

If I’m looking to sell the site down the road, it must be generic enough.

For instance, I wouldn’t buy “NicoleKnowsFootball.com” to talk about my favorite football team if I planned to sell the site ever, because I’d have to find someone named Nicole – or who wanted to call themselves that — to buy it.

And my big, bad unbreakable rule.

It must pass the Oprah test.

What exactly is the Oprah test? Well, I picture Oprah saying it out loud. “Today I have with me, Nicole Dean, author of Blah blah blah and owner of NicoleontheNet.com”. Is it memorable? Easy to spell?

It’s not just the Oprah test, though. It’s the Willie Crawford test, too. If I’m in an interview with Willie Crawford and he introduces me

– I want people typing or writing down my URL easily – and remembering it long after the fact.

You can’t do that with MyNumber1-BestHome-Remedy-Treatments4New-Mothers.net.

Why is this Important?

A difficult domain is actually wasted opportunity and wasted traffic slipping through your fingers.

If you’re promoting via audio or video (in webinars, iTunes interviews, on BlogTalkRadio, live radio, TV, or even your own podcast) – you need a domain that is EASY to remember.

It has to make it into the person’s ears and to his brain and stick.

Plus, honestly, it’s a credibility issue. Would you really buy something from MyNumber1-BestHome-Remedy-Treatments4New-Mothers.net?

I hope you wouldn’t even think of getting out your credit card for a site like that.

SCARY.

And would you feel comfortable referring it to your friends? Not a chance.

What impression is your domain giving of you?

How to Avoid the REALLY Bad “Oh My GOSH I CAN’T BELIEVE I DID THAT” Web Domain Names?

I’ll also touch on avoiding really bad ones.

Oftentimes when you search for domains you read what you want to see. I recommend you type the domain in all capital letters and show it to a friend before buying. For instance, ending a word with “s” before the word “expert” can all of a sudden be misinterpreted.

So, I’ll give you the same advice as I give my friends who are expecting a baby. Run the name by your most juvenile, dirty-minded friends – before signing on the dotted line. You’d be amazed at how something totally innocent can go bad in a big hurry.

I hope this has been helpful. I look forward to seeing YOU on Oprah!

Nicole Dean is a FUN online business coach and the owner of Easy PLR, a high quality Private Label Rights product online store, business coach and an expert in outsourcing.

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5 Things To Consider Before Choosing A Web Host

A website host is the organization that will store, manage, and often times provide tools to make owning and operating an online business easy.
There are many web hosts available and within each company there are a number of hosting plans.
Here are a few things to look for when evaluating a web hosting company and plan.
1. How much disk space is available to you? 
Depending on the size of your website, the graphics and features.
25-50 MB is likely enough, however, make sure you have the option to upgrade should your site grow beyond this capacity.
Bandwidth is also a measurable statistic and the more visitors you have, the more you’ll need.
Starting small is fine, again just make sure you can upgrade when you need to.
2. Is customer support available 24/7?
Internet businesses operate all day and all night long, it never stops.
You need a service that is available to you whenever issues arise.
3. How reliable is the hosting service? 
It is important to evaluate the up-time of each host you’re considering.
It is understandable that downtime occurs because systems need to be maintained and upgraded; however, too much downtime can affect your business.
4. What software features does your business site need?
Examples include email accounts, message boards, FrontPage Extensions, shopping cart, web design service or templates, and mailing lists.
5. Do they track your website statistics?
This is important because you’ll want to evaluate the success rate of various advertising and marketing campaigns and you’ll want to see how many visitors you have on any given day and where they’re coming from. 
As an affiliate marketer, it’s unlikely that you will collect credit cards or personal information from your visitors, but if you are planning to do so in the future then you will want a server that supports encryption.
things to consider before operating a website
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