When you launch a website you launch it hoping that thousands of people will visit it and take something from it. Commonly people launch websites because they want it to make money for them… either by advertising third party products and services or by advertising your own products, services, or professional services.

Choosing the right domain name for your site is very important. Back in the mid to late 90’s the technology of search engines were much different compared to the modern search engine technology of today. In the 90’s it really didn’t matter what domain name you used for your site… for the most part, to be included into a search engine, your site would have to go through a review process and be accepted by a human editor, such as a Yahoo Directory Editor, or a DMOZ.org editor. However, today search engines operate much differently. Instead of an editor approving your site and including it into their directory, search engines now crawl the Internet and look for content.

This is where choosing the right domain name is important. To make a long story short… Google, Yahoo, and other look for keywords in your content and pages and index them or in other words, make a record of them and when a user searches for a term that is relevant to your content, your pages is presented in the search results. Choosing a domain name that has the keywords you want to market in its name is, in my opinion, the foundation to search engine marketing.

If you live in Clarksville TN. and like to build custom mailboxes out of your work shop and sell them locally in town as well as globally through your website, choosing a domain name that matches a search term a user would type into the search bar is the key towards choosing the right domain name. If you were a resident in Clarksville TN and wanted to buy a custom made mailbox, what would you type into Google’s Search Bar? Additionally, if you lived in Europe… what would you type into the search bar? These are the questions you need to ask yourself before choosing a domain name.

In this example, to Google and type: Custom Mailbox Builders. I am just a normal guy like everyone else, and that is the keyword that came to mind. So, if I was someone who was interested in buying a custom mailbox, Custom Mailbox Builders was my first attempt to find someone who can build one for me.

Consequently, the domain name: CustomMailBoxBuilders.com is available.

So… the question to ask is: If I was a mailbox builder who wanted to sell my custom mailboxes on the Internet, why would I want to register the domain name, CustomMailBoxBuilders.com?

The Answer: Google looks for keyword density in the content of pages… additionally, Google puts a lot of weight in considering pages and sites in their SERPs based off the name of the URL. If the domain name has the same keywords that are being targeted that also appear in the content… then Google and the others hold a lot of value in this and are more likely to consider including your site and pages into their search results.

I have wrote many articles that talk in depth about choosing domain names. Here is a list of articles that I have written in the past that will guide and teach you how to choose a domain name for your website.

1. Choosing A Domain Name
2. Buying and Selling Domain Names

Domain name selection for your site is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of search engine marketing and search engine optimization. If you should have any questions, comments, or suggestion… please feel free to comment below.