It’s all pretty simple. Converting visits into purchases starts with the domain name. Consider your own point of view. Would you rather buy the same item from garageshoesells.com or on Amazon?
A good domain name is very important for affiliate marketers. But finding the right one is not easy. I have found many new affiliate marketers struggle with registering domain names for their sites. Many new affiliate marketers choose the wrong name In this article, you will find some important information that will help you choose the domain name for your affiliate site or blogs easily.
Now that I have your attention, let’s look into how you can score a great domain.
Getting Started
The first steps to affiliate marketing are to pick the market and supplier. If you haven’t figured out what you want to promote or whose product you are going to sell, you won’t be able to pick a good domain name. Feel free to refer to my introduction to affiliate marketing to get started with the whole process. If you are ready to move forward, these guidelines form the basis of everything you will need to know for the selection process.
Follow the Rules
A lot goes into mastering domain names, but getting started isn’t so bad. These steps break the overall process into five pretty easy rules that will help you avoid the most common mistakes in picking a domain.
1. Build a Brand
Uniqueness is the name of the game. If your website sounds just like all of your competitors, then consumers won’t distinguish you in their memories. This means including keywords in your domain can hurt as much as it helps, unless you have a truly creative spin.
Using shoes as an example, how many of the biggest brands use the word shoes in their name? Maybe one or two out of the entire top 20 have succeeded with this strategy. Instead, whatever unique brand name you choose will be the cornerstone of your marketing, and it will give you the distinction you need to become a top performer.
Let’s really understand this point. Right now, Google “buy shoes” and see what comes up. Mostly you will see brands you may or may not recognize, but what you won’t see is multiple variations of buyshoes.com.
2. Make It Easy
The things people remember are logical and simple. Your brand name needs to be easy to read and say. This is the key to getting your stuff shared, which is a major component of marketing. Along these lines, short and sweet is the way to go.
It isn’t always reasonable to cut letters from a name just for brevity, but make sure every letter needs to be there. Another way to think of this rule is to make the name only as long as it absolutely has to be.
3. Fight for .com
There are exceptions to this rule. If you are running a government or educational site, or if you are a nonprofit, there are extensions out there just for you. Otherwise, try to snag a .com rather than a .net or anything else. They feel more professional to customers and they rate better for SEO. In some cases, you may decide that forgoing the .com is worth it to keep the perfect name.
There is no absolute rule here, so if you’re really in love with something that exists as a .com, you can consider the .net or .co approach. Just make sure you run it by the next rule before you commit.
4. Respect Intellectual Rights
The last thing you need is a legal battle. Even when things aren’t that severe, you don’t want people confusing your brand with another they already recognize. Don’t appropriate other intellectual properties when creativity will help so much to distinguish you.
If you have any doubts about words in your domain, you can look them up. In fact, even if you are completely confident that your domain is safe, look it up anyways. The copyright office has a nice, handy search tool to help you avoid trouble. Use it. And, feel free to thank me later.
5. Take Your Time
The internet is large. Many great domains have already been taken. If you do your due diligence, you are bound to hit the frustration of trying to register existing domains. First, consider that a sign that you are on a good track. Second, take your time and don’t settle.
Maybe a small modification from something you already tried still sounds great. Maybe it doesn’t. Just remember it’s easier to think of new domains at this stage than it is to change your mind about the site’s name after it is completely built.
A Few Brainstorming Tips
Most people hit their first wall when trying to find a good domain name, so here a few tips to help the flow of creative juices.
- Include Places: This can be specific, like a small town name, or it can be as simple as adding house or shed to the end. Example: change shoesellers.com to shoeshack.com.
- Add a Name: It’s really about originality. Shoeshack.com might be taken, but what about Marysshoeshack?
- Get Descriptive: Don’t make things too complicated, but adding a color, number, size or shape to the name is easy. Following our example, how about Marysmegashoeshack.com?
- Crowdsource: You have social media accounts. Use them!
Consider your goal
Your goal– Your affiliate site project can be short term or long term. If you are building an affiliate site with the long-term goal, then you need to be serious and careful with choosing domain names. If your goal is just to earn a couple of bucks then it matters less to you. You can choose domains names like “productreview101.com” or something similar. But for long term project, it should be brandable, short and with the attributes of a good domain name.
Types of Sites: Affiliate sites are different types. Some marketers create blog type site where they write about various topics related and link to affiliate links from within their writings. Some marketers create niche specific content site which can be based on a broad niche with a couple of sub-niches or on a single niche.
Premium Domain Name
You might know the value of premium domains. At first, you should search if any premium domains are available in your niche. Given below are some of the common words found in premium domains. Go to the domain name registrar of your choice and check if “keyword+” the following words available.
- insight
- home
- advice
- advisor
- pick
- world
- center
- daily
- planet
- fresh – good for blogs ( example socialfresh.com ).
- journal
- report
Some other extensions ideal for product review sites
If your site is a product review site, then you can use the following words to make up the domain names to register.
- pick (ex. pickmytoaster.com)
- reviews
- reporter
- choose ( ex. choosemattress.com)
- pickmy ( ex. pickmyelectrictoothbrush.com, pickmyshaver.com)
- patrol (ex. gearpatrol.com)
- judge (ex. dehydratorjudge.com)
- portal (ex. pressurecookerportal.com)
- guide (ex. vacuumsealersguide.com)
- hub (ex. slowcookerhub.com)
- ratings (ex. bestricecookerratings.com)
- center (ex. breadmachinecenter.net)
- pro (ex. bestshowerheadpro.com)
- perfect (ex. perfectshowerhead.com)
- expert (ex. exercisebikesexpert.com)
- report ( ex. thetoolreport.com. )
- mag ( ex. laptopmag.com)
- authority (ex. androidauthority.com )
- bliss (ex. appliancebliss.com)
- everything (ex. everythingkitchens.com)
- informer ( ex. caffeineinformer.com)
Your domain could be anything. Use the above information just as a clue to brainstorm the domains for your Amazon product review site.
Where to Register
There are actually tons of places to register a domain name, and most of them perform the same function. Part of this choice comes to what you need besides the name. Do you need a dedicated host? Do you need help constructing the site?
In those cases, you should look for the services you need and just add registration to the package. Some of the biggest names in the business got that way by being excellent at what they do, so here are the best places to start:
- Moniker.com – 90% of our domains are registered with them.
- NameCheap.com – Another good company which I recommend too.
- ResellerClub.com – We also have some domains with them.
- BlueHost – They handle hosting and registration and are one of the easiest sites to use with WordPress, which is amazing if you want a regular blog to be part of your process.
- 1and1 – This is a company that values saving you money. You’ll get less help, but you won’t overpay.
- DreamHost – Another great WordPress site that has pretty good management tools for some pretty intricate websites.
- GoDaddy – They’re possibly the most recognizable name in the industry. They have the tools to get you started.
- iPage – This might be the all-around best bang for your buck on the market.
There are so many more options than just these, but if you don’t know where to begin, this is the list you need. If you have any trepidation about the whole process, you can also start with a free domain at WordPress.com. It is not sufficient for your real affiliate domain, but it can give you a feel of the process as a whole before you make any major commitments.
Additional Tips
The general rules are the right place to start, but there are a few more important notes.
Avoid Limitations
You know the rules for a good domain name, but try to avoid variations that limit your options. If you make a website that is called runningshoesblog.com, then you inhibit your ability to expand later.
Instead, something more like runnersparadise.com is open to blogging, branding and much more than just shoes.
You can generalize even further by changing runnersparadise to athleticparadise. You get the idea.
Also, Check the following resources:
- Domainr.com – Domain search tool ( one of my favorite).
- DomainNameBrain – Domain search tool.
- Panabee – Domain search tool.
- How to Choose The Perfect Domain Name For Your Niche Site by Chris Lee.
- 10 Tips For Choosing A Good Domain Name For Your Blog by Istiak Rayhan.
Conclusion
That really is everything you need to know. Picking the name of your website is mostly an exercise in appealing to your audience. If you keep them in mind throughout the process, you’ll be fine. The steps I listed are mostly tools to help you along that process. So, what do you think? Are you ready to take the next step as an affiliate marketer? Feel free to leave comments below, and be sure to connect with other ambitious marketers.
