Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 1: Domain Name Research & Idea Generation
Posted on April 22nd, 2009 by Jim under 30-Day BloggingI’d like to welcome you all to the Net Fool’s Build-A-Blog Workshop, proudly sponsored by HostGator. We’re giving away some massive hosting plans for free, and building successful blogs with just 30 minutes a day. First time you’ve heard? Get all the details from the official contest post!
Enough anticipation…
LET’S GET STARTED!!!
Day 1: Domain Name Research and Idea Generation
For our first thirty-minute segment, we are going to focus on getting our domain name. However, we will not actually be buying it today. The domain name that you use is, essentially, how your readers will access your website! So what exactly does that entail? Well for one… it better 
be a good one!
What makes a domain name good?
- Catchy Name (Easy to Remember)
- Short in Length (Easy to Find)
- No Numbers (Easy to Remember)
- .com extension (Easy to Find)
- Search Engine Optimized (All of the Above)
In all likelihood, this will be the single most important step in the process. Whatever domain name you choose, you will be living with for the life of your blog (which is hopefully at least a year). In addition, it is going to create your reputation across the internet and will generally stick with you longer than you would ever have imagined. Because of all this, we need to find the best domain name possible.
Step One: What Is Your Blog About?
I am going to work off the assumption that those of you who want to start a blog have a grasp on what exactly you want to talk about. With this, I would like to issue one warning: concentrate on one niche, don’t try to do it all! I have seen too many blogs fail that attempt to focus on “sports” rather than “basketball,” or “pets” rather than “dogs.” Narrow your focus to succeed, or you will simply never get off the ground!
Now that we have that worked out, do you know what you are blogging about? Once you have the topic in your mind, start thinking up some keywords that could describe your website. I am going to be forming a personal internet marketing blog, 
so I am going to write about making money on the internet with a personal spin to things.
Step Two: Make a Keyword List
The next step you will want to take is to get out a pad and pen, and start jotting down different words that describe what you want to register as your domain name. Remember, keep it a short combination of words (or letters) with hyphens as a last resort. For my blog, I made the following keyword list (amended): Jim, Regan, Marketing, Internet, Net, Market, Invest, Investing, Blog, IM, Executive, Corporate, Boss, Money, Revenue, Profit, Cash, Sell, Buy, Win, Affiliate, Order, Sale, Product.
Step Three: Check for Availability
Now that we have a list of potential word combinations build up, we are going to want to check to see if these domain names are available. You can do this easily on any of the major domain name websites, I recommend using GoDaddy.com to check them on the fly. There really isn’t any sort of art here, it is really just a matter of plugging different combinations into the domain name service and eventually finding names that are available. Any time you find one that is available, write it down! You should build up a list of around ten available domain names before you stop.
Tip: You can use JustDropped.com for free to find AWESOME domain names that have expired within the last 1-90 days. I highly recommend signing up for an account to use their search engine, trying out some of your terms to see what is available.
Sleep on it!
That’s right, once you have a nice list built up… don’t buy anything. I can almost guarantee that your domain name will be available in the morning, and you never want to impulse buy a domain name. It’s amazing how many “brilliant” ideas I have had, and ended up wasted money on purchasing domain names that I never used. Give your new found domain names the test of time, and you can register them later. I want to urge all of you to resist the temptation to buy your domain name now, and come back to it tomorrow for a fresh look.
My List (all .com’s): JimsUp, Jimvesting, YesJim, TheJimNet, WinWithJim, …
That’s it for day one! See you tomorrow for another 30 minutes of blogging.
-The Net Fool
Related Posts
- Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 2: Registering Your Domain Name
- Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 4: Linking Your Domain Name to Hosting Account
- Creating A Blog – Part Two: Finding a Great Domain Name
- Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 6: Researching and Browsing for a Theme
- The Net Fool’s Build-A-Blog Workshop is Under Way!
I always try to put my top two keywords in the domain name.. You will get better rank for those keywords if they are in the domain name.. My blogs always go to number 1 on google when I do it like that.. Ive never made money with a blog though.. It sure would be nice !
Nice Idea David. I am going to try it.
Ha! The Net Fool can’t count. Where is step 4?
Good post though
Oh dear… you seem to be right
Thanks for catching me on that one!
The temptation of buying new domain is very strong in me. Thanks you mentioned it otherwise I might have already bought one.
Lets see what’s in tomorrows package.
I think you can try domain suggestion tools too. I have tried them and got a nice one. The domain has not yet been used but it is nice. Once I start using it, I think it may go viral.
I have a website that ranks #1 in the world for its product keyword. I get tons of subscribers every day but Its never made me any money. Its a wordpress blog that provides user information on a voip phone. I used the top 4 keywords in the url and that did the trick for me.. click on my name to check our the site..
Thanks for the tip about use JustDropped.com.
I usually use GoDaddy, then further search for the expiration, to get an idea when a certain name may be available.
That is 30 minutes well spend. Waiting for the next edition.
Hey Jim,
Besides getting into a niche that we like/enjoy, what else would you recommend we consider when picking a niche?
I’m asking this because I’m thinking ahead of the ways this blog will be monetized. For example, your internet marketing blog won’t do well in Google Adsense (so I’m guessing in the future you won’t have a post telling us to implememnt that) but in, say, a bombay cat related site, then Adsense would work.
I guess what I’m asking is what type of niche should we pick that would go well with the future steps?
Thanks.
I would actually recommend going for something you like and enjoy versus what may seem most profitable. You will find soon enough that if you are passionate about what you are writing, you will make money regardless. Too many people just try to play trends, and it works out unfavorably.
We won’t be working w/ Google Adsense. We are building blogs not those scammy landing pages
Alright, cool, thanks.
One of the factor major search engines consider while ranking the website is URL, so make your domain keyword rich. Most popular TLDs extensions are .com .net .edu .org, Many country specific domain extensions may be filtered out by regional sensitive indexes. Keyword rich domain name improves the keyword density when you include the url on web page’s copy. Using important Keyword in domain name increases more value in your link popularity campaign.
Good post, can’t wait for the next one
Nice post.Really great idea and thought…i will do it …
A very informative post! Having a keyword in your domain name makes you rank top on search engine.
Excellent point! It’s really better to concentrate on a specific niche, that way you can be more organized and target specific. And by choosing one that you really love or know about, you’ll be able to offer great content!
I don’t know if playing trends works out unfavorable. If you’re approaching it as a business then you need to write about what folk are more inclined to read about…yes you need to have a passion for it, but if your passion isn’t profitable then you won’t be making any money either. Ultimately I think there has to be a balance.
I really liked your blog!