I have been asked a few times to post information on this topic a few times now. I was initially hesitant about doing so for the fact that this will be a rather long series and will be ongoing like my Site Monetization - Pushing the Envelope series. Another reason why I did not want to start this immediately was because it will be a important I do a lot of research to present my readers with the most information available in the most concise and digestible manner. I do feel the latter is very important since most folks who will be reading this will be mostly new to blogging. Of course there will be some veteran bloggers out there who might want to lookout for more tips and tricks. To the veterans, do feel free to leave your comments and suggestions. I’m sure the new bloggers will appreciate the extra input.

The first thing to consider before you start blogging is choosing your domain name. Most bloggers will probably tell you your choice of domain name depends on what you intend to blog about. This alone can already be a daunting task for many people. Choosing the right domain name also helps to build your traffic (people visiting your blog) quickly. Depending on why you are setting up a weblog, SEO (Search Engine Optimised) domains names maybe the deciding factor.

The Personal Weblog:

This is by far the most common reason anyone will want to start a weblog. Personal weblogs allow bloggers to blog about anything and topics can be very diversed. As such, no particular niche (special focus) is really required. Readers of such weblogs are usually made up of people you already know. Of, course, until you tell them that you have a weblog, they are not going to start reading your weblog.

For many, their own names become the default choice of domain names. If you have a rather common name like mine, you might face some difficulty in getting your preferred domain as someone else might have already purchased it. Which is another reason why I would encourage you to purchase your domain and ‘lock’ it up so no one else can snatch it from you. Luckily for me, I managed to get http://nicholasmong.com. ‘M’ is my baptism name. I have registered this domain till 2017. The maximum of 10 years. As the owner of the domain, you will be informed before the domain expires and you can extend it for another 10 years.

So, if you realise that your preferred domain name consisting of your first and last name is already taken, try getting one with your middle name. Alternatively, try shortening your name and see if you can get a similar domain name. Be mindful to keep your domain name as short as possible. A domain name like ‘jonathanignatiuscallaway.com’ will present more chances or typos when someone types your domain name into the address bar of their web browser.

For those who do not wish to reveal their real names, pseudonyms are an alternative way to deciding on your domain name.

The Business Weblog:

Although businesses with regular updates use weblogs to keep their customers informed, you do not need to own a business to start one of these. If you are thinking of making additional income online or contemplating to start a web business, This will present the best approach. Carefully researched SEO domain names in this case can on many occasions influence how fast your business grows and how many new customers you get daily.

It has been said that using keywords in your domain name is important is attracting the right target group of customers. My other weblog resides on http://proaffiliateincome.com/ ‘Pro Affiliate Income’ for that very reason since I was focusing on affiliate income, affiliate marketing, affiliate opportunities and affiliate software. The best SEO domain names are usually made up of keywords that are most searched on search engines like Google, MSN or Yahoo. However, acquiring such domain names can be especially challenging since they are highly sought after and in many cases, someone else has already gotten there before you.

If picking domain names using keywords present more headaches than solving your problem, consider using a unique name. Whoever thought that Google and Yahoo will be the most popular domain names today? The popularity of Google has resulted in people saying “Google it” instead of “look it up on the internet search engine…” Of course, branding and a clear marketing strategy will bring even the oddest company / domain names to your target market. Just for laughs, ‘Chitika‘ is not even a word in the dictionary.

Of course, another way would be to just decide on your company name and use that as your registered domain name. Even if you are not intending to register your web business as a registered company with your local authorities, it will be useful to consider that. You will never know when your online business will turn out so profitable where you decide to quit your day job and focus on it entirely. Besides, if you are selling products or services, payment gateways like PayPal, Moneybookers or even AlertPay gives you an option to include your ‘Company Name’ in your billing information. Even if you are just selling ebooks on eBay or Half, this helps customers identify with your business when they receive an invoice from you.

Start looking for your preferred domain names today. Below are 2 of the largest domain name registrars that you can buy your domains from.

• Network Solutions (for Business)
• GoDaddy (for Personal)

Domains need to be hosted by a webhosting company. I will be writing more about that in the next article of this series but if you can’t don’t wish to wait, below is one webhosting company that I would recommend.

• Bluehost

I hope this information has proved useful. I recommend you download WebCEO for those who wish to research domain names with suitable keywords. It offers a full suite of tools and the FTP feature is something I use to maintain my sites too.