3 Domain Name
The reason why this is the third and not the first step is because for effective Search Engine Optimization, your keyword phrase should be contained within your domain name. It doesn’t matter to Google, Yahoo, MSN and their buddies how much you like a domain name. All they are interested in is keywords. So make sure you do your keyword research first.
If your research has proven that your best keyword phrase is “freelance travel writer” then proceed to a domain name registrar and see if “freelancetravelwriter.com” is available.
There are probably thousands of domain registration companies, and I’ve only used three or four of them, but one that I like best (and so do many other folks) is NameCheap.com.
Just key in any proposed name and you’ll see if it’s taken or available.
If your first choice is taken, you could either go with freelancetravelwriter.org or you could check whether freelance-travelwriter.com is available.
The .com and .org domains are generally believed to be more highly regarded than .info, and it’s not recommended for a domain name to have more than 25 characters. It is also believed having more than one hyphen in a domain name makes it less desirable to search engines*.
*Footnote: All SEO theory is just that — theoretical. It’s based on observations by people who are users of and not designers of search engines. Only Google knows for sure how Google really works, and they do not reveal all their secrets. Still, some very smart and wealthy internet users have been carefully measuring what works well and what doesn’t, and this tutorial is based on those findings. And from the testing I’ve done, they seem to work.
As of today, the regular price at NameCheap for a .com or .org domain for one year is $9.29, and a .info is $5.88.
Bargain Hunters Alert!
Want to save money? Then pay a quick visit to http://www.dncoupons.com/namecheap.php and you can probably find a “coupon” allowing you to pick up a .com name for just $8.41. Hey — that’s a whopping 88-cents off!
You can purchase a domain name registration for one year or longer, and some internet marketers believe search engines favor a domain that’s been taken for more than one year, but I can’t verify if that’s true.
Once you’ve registered your domain, you also must let your registrar know where your website will be hosted. This is done by entering your DNS (domain name server numbers).
If you have already purchased hosting for your website, your host will have told you something like this…
Your name servers are:
ns1.yourhost.com
ns2.yourhost.com
If your domain registrar is NameCheap.com, you enter your DNS numbers by clicking on “Manage Domains” and “Domain Name Server Setup.” There you will see boxes in which to enter your DNS numbers.
If you have not yet obtained hosting for your site, then that is your next step…