The Domain Effect

 What's a Domain Name Anyway?

Most people who use the Internet will know what a domain name is. For those who aren't sure, a domain name is simply the name of a particular website, as well as the location of the server where the website files are stored.

For example, the domain name of our web design business is "webinate.com.au".All of the millions of domain names in use are each absolutely unique. While there may be other domains including the word webinate, none of them end in .com.au. For example, there is a domain called  webinate.net that has nothing to do with our business. Note that we don't bother much about the "w.w.w" that precedes web addresses, because all website addresses have the prefix, and it's not officially part of a domain name.

What's in a Domain Name?

The domain name chosen for a website can dramatically improve the likelihood that the website will come up at the top of a web search.

Let's pretend I want to buy a large amount of rope! I search on the Internet, using Google (or Yahoo or Bing) to see what I can find. The search term I use is "rope suppliers in Australia". I'm not aware that the biggest rope wholesaler in the country happens to be Fibre Manufacturing and Wholesale Australia Pty Ltd. I'm certainly not aware that they offer the lowest rope prices either.

When I conduct my search, the first website that comes up on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is "www.ropesuppliersaustralia.com.au". You can see that the website domain name matches my search phrase almost exactly. This is an easy one for the search engine I'm using. Its been able to give me exactly what I've asked for based on the domain name (no doubt the search engine is felling really pleased with itself). Compared to this, Fibre Manufacturing and Wholesale Australia Pty Ltd comes up on the bottom of the second SERP, and their website is called "www.apex.com". Hmm!

if I can already see what I want on the first search results page, then I rarely look further. Most people do the same. Because its top of the SERP and the domain name makes sense for my search term, I check out www.ropesuppliersaustralia.com.au. I find that they have what I want, and I place an order with them.

This has happened simply because the search term I chose fits perfectly with the domain name of a supplier. The search engines like matching results this way - after all, it makes a lot of sense. Even though Apex has the same product I need, and their price is lower, they've missed out on getting my business. They should have chosen a domain name for their website that better describes what they're all about!

First, Do the Research!

So, before you rush in and decide on a really wicked domain name, carefully consider the most likely search terms people will use to find the products/services you offer.

You can do your own keyword research with the help of our friends at Google. Once you have a few ideas that would make sense, you can find out if those potential domain names are already allocated. If not, you can go ahead and register your choice. 

There are many services on the Internet that will enable you to find out if a domain name is available. AusRegistry is just one of these. Another selected at random is Domain Registration Services .

If you have a play around with the latter, you'll see that domains can have a range of suffixes, such as .com; .net; .net.au; .org; .biz etc. Note that there are some rules regulating the suffixes that might apply to particular types of websites.

The Name I Want Isn't Available...

If you wanted to register the domain name "snackfoodsaustralia.com.au" for example, and found it has already been taken up by someone else, apply for a variation like "snackfoodsaustralia.net.au".

Keep in mind though, that too much similarity between domain names can cause one of the parties affected to lodge a complaint to the registration authority, which is always best avoided.

Can Someone Else Do This For Me?

If you're pressed for time and don't mind paying a small fee, a web designer will conduct these searches for you and provide a range of alternative domain name choices. Designers can also register a domain name on your behalf, and these costs are often already included in web design quote. Make sure you ask about this when first approaching a designer. Most designers can also make the necessary arrangements to have your finished website hosted (published) on a web server, so the world can see it.

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

Domain names are far from the only factors that influence how easy a website is to find, and where its placed in search engine results, but we'll discuss website SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) in a future article.

In the meantime - happy domain name searching!