How To Buy a Domain Name
If you’re reading this then you want to know how to buy a domain name. Acquiring a great domain name is the first step in building a web site. It’s also one of the easiest things to do online – even for beginners with no technical knowledge.
Considerations
- Do Keyword Research. If you plan on building a web site related to horse riding, then you’ll want to research the keywords in Google and check out your competition. Based on your research, determine what keywords you plan on targeting for search results and choose the domain name that best reflects your topic. Tip: It’s a good idea to have your keyword in your domain name for ranking purposes. This is not absolutely necessary, but definitely helps.
- Choose the proper top-level domain or TLD. In other words, the suffix of your domain (i.e., .com, .net, .org, .info, etc). If your business is in the United States, then you should use .com as your domain. Most users assume domains end with a .com, so that should be your first preference. If .com is not available, only then would I recommend .net. The .org TLD is reserved for nonprofits. Stick to these TLDs and avoid the rest.
- Check the domain name history. Google for previously indexed pages or any negative backlinks. You want to start with a clean slate.
