Your domain name is the gateway to your online business. Your domain name can determine how successful your online business will be. It can make your business stand out in the crowd, or just float aimlessly in cyberspace.

Your domain name should instantly provide the user with an idea of what your business is about. For instance, eBusinessDomains.com is a about domains suitable for branding online businesses.

Some companies have realised that a brandable and generic domain name can be so powerful; that they have even paid ridiculously high prices to get the name they want. Here is a list of some of the big domain sales in recent years:

  • Sex.com sold for $12,000,000
  • Porn.com sold for $9,500,000
  • Diamond.com sold for $7,500,000
  • Vodka.com sold for $3,000,000
  • Computer.com sold for $2,100,000
  • Seniors.com sold for $1,800,000
  • Cameras.com sold for $1,500,000
  • Scores.com sold for $1,180,000
  • Guy.com sold for $1,000,000
  • CNN paid $750,000 for iReport.com

Most of these domain names were bought by very wealthy individuals or well established corporations. Not everyone will be able to pay seven figure sums for a domain name, and will have to search for a domain name that is still brandable and generic, but a bit less expensive.

To choose a domain name that will successfully brand your ebusiness, you should consider the following tips:

  • Your domain name should be memorable and easy to remember.
  • The domain name should be short and simple.
  • It should be suggestive of your business category, industry or services.
  • It should be unique and easily stand out in the crowd.
  • It should be easy to interpret, pronounce and spell.
  • It should not be difficult to remember.

A quality domain name can consist of one, two or even three words joined together. However the key is knowing which words to combine that will successfully match the criteria above. For example, if your name is Dominique, and you sell motor stereos, you may be tempted to use DominiqueStereoStore.com. The question is, how many people already know you? What about those that don’t? Is the domain name memorable? You would be better off using a domain name like MotorStereos.com.

A lot of your customers may try to find your products and services by making queries in search engines. One easy way to get top spots in search engines is to acquire domains that already have the keywords associated with your products and services in it.

At the time of writing this article, MotorStereos.com was not yet a developed website, but was just merely a parked page. However a search at Google.com for “motor Stereos” revealed that motorstereos.com had a ranking of number 5 (the fifth website listed on the first page of the search results).

Putting content on this website and doing some basic search engine optimisation will mostly take motorstereos.com to the number one spot. However, there are many other ways to get high search engine rankings, and it is not absolutely necessary to have a keyword-rich domain name.

The easiest test to take when choosing your domain name is to ask “will I remember the name of this website when I close the browser window?”

Of course content is king. If you have a very reliable and useful website, visitors will want to come back. However think of the many times that you wanted to remember the name of a very helpful website, but just could not recall what the domain name was.

Yahoo, Google, Expedia and Amazon are all major successful and recognisable brands. These brands are made up of words that might not have existed before, but with flashy logos, and high octane marketing campaigns, these domain names are now some of the world’s top brands.

If you are very creative, you can consider using a concept domain to brand your eBusiness. You can also consider using an acronym. CNN, BBC, MSN and ABC are all globally recognised.

Some domain names will consist of words that will not be in the dictionary, but can still be an overnight success. Lets take for example, Exdon.com. This is an acronym for Exchange for Domain Names. The site allows domain users to list and sell their domain names for free, regardless of the type and quality.

Creating a professional logo will do a lot of justice for your website. Visitors will be impressed and your business will earn credibility. However, Internet marketers will tell you that the most valuable customers are the ones who return to your site later. Choose a domain name that will make it easier for your customers to find you again.