3️⃣Picking Your Domain Name
In this section, we will discuss how to pick a domain when starting an affilaite website.
Introduction
Your domain name is the online address of your website, and it's one of the first things that readers will see when they come across your site.
Picking a good domain name is not just about aesthetics - it has real-world implications for your blog's success. In this section, we'll explore why choosing a good domain name is so important, and how it can impact your branding, search engine optimization, and overall visibility online.
Importance of a Good Domain Name
A good domain name is crucial for a blog's success and here's why:
It establishes brand identity
It impacts SEO
It is memorable and easy to type
It can influence website traffic
Tips for Choosing a Domain Name
Brainstorm Keywords
Start by brainstorming relevant keywords for your blog. These keywords should be related to your niche or topic. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner to find popular keywords related to your blog.
Keep it Simple
Choose a domain name that is simple and easy to remember. Avoid using hyphens, numbers, or special characters.
Make it Memorable
A memorable domain name is one that sticks in people's minds. Use catchy and unique phrases or words to make your domain name stand out. Some domain names I like:
screenrant.com
gamespot.com
nerdfitness.com
Consider SEO
Consider incorporating relevant keywords into your domain name to improve your blog's SEO. However, do not sacrifice the domain name's memorability and simplicity for the sake of SEO.
Check Availability
Before settling on a domain name, ensure that it is available. Check for availability of domain name extensions (.com, .org, etc.) to avoid potential legal issues.
Think Long-Term
Choose a domain name that can withstand the test of time. Consider the potential growth of your blog and avoid limiting yourself by choosing a niche-specific domain name.
Tools To Help You Pick a Domain Name
There are a few great tools online you need to check out. They can find available domain names by checking a huge number of word combinations and show you only the combinations that are available as .com domains.
They are all 100% free to use. The creators behind these tools will try and prompt you to click their affiliate links when you want to register a domain, but you don't have to do it this way.
I like to play around with these tools when I have at least a couple of hours available because I always get down into rabbitholes and I suppose your brain will also take you in many different directions when you start using these tools.
The Tools
This tool is priceless. It lets you input a word at the top and now you will see a long list of domain names that are available as .com. You can sort in different ways in the menu to the right:
By popularity (it will list more commonly used words at the top)
By length (it will list the shortest domain names at the top)
Alphabetically
On top of that, you can also specify if the tool should look for domains that start or end with the seed keyword you gave it. You can often find really great domain names using this tool. I have found it to be pretty precise and updated. Meaning that if a domain is listed as available here it will typically be available.
But again, it does not update in real-time toward a server so any name can be registered very recently.
NameMesh is similar to LeanDomainSearch in the way that it will also check a ton of word combinations up against a server and list the ones that are available. But with this tool, you get many other ideas like:
Short domains
Derived words
Synonyms and related words
Try it out and see how it populates a ton of ideas in no time. As you scroll down the page more ideas will get added to the list. Be sure to scroll down to see how the tool works.
I really like this tool as it often sparks new ideas in my brain that I can also take elsewhere and use as a “Seed Keyword” with other tools and methods.
Before You Register Your Domain
Check archive.org (Wayback Machine)
There’s a good chance that a good domain name has been in use a couple of years back and then was dropped. In that case, you should use Archive.org to see exactly what content the previous owner had on the site.
Check The Backlink Profile
If the domain has been in use previously you need to check the backlink profile. You might end up with a domain that had a penalty not too long ago and then you’ll have a very hard time ranking inGoogle no matter how great your content is and how well the topics research is done! You can only check this by using a keyword tool like Ahrefs, Moz.com, etc.
I recommend Ahrefs.com. If you don’t have access to any of these tools you can always pay someone $10 on Fiverr to check it for you and send you a list of the backlinks to the site. Or you can use Ahrefs.com for 7 days for $7 to do all your research for a site.
Once you have the list of links pointing to the domain, you can check whether the links look spammy or genuine. If you find a lot of crap content pointing to the site like poorly written content or even spun content (machine-written rubbish text that doesn’t make sense) you should choose another domain.
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