The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
You can search for names and variations at www.MyDomainFriend.com — a very powerful free tool.
But don’t register the domain there as it’s a bit expensive. Once you know the domain(s) you want, go to www.godaddy.com and register a name for only US$9 per year.
You’ll also want to check the name is not trademarked in the country where you’ll do business.
Don’t get discouraged if even the first twenty names you want are taken. This is just the way it is. Keep being creative and you’ll soon have your perfect domain name.
The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
One approach is to choose a domain which describes WHO you work with; e.g., www.babyboomers.com or www.highenergywomen.com.
Another is to choose a domain which describes WHAT problem you solve for them; e.g., www.careerdirection.com, or www.relationshipbliss.com.
You may even be able to fit in both; e.g., www.happymarriage4women.com.
It’s also important to have a name which is ‘search engine friendly’. For example, I chose www.life-coaching-resource.com and www.lifecoaching.com.au. Why? Because when people search for ‘life coaching’ in the search engines, the search engines see that I have ‘life coaching’ in the domain name, and decide my site should come up pretty high in the list. So work out your ‘target key words’ — the words people will use to search for you, and get a domain that contains those words.
But clearly you can’t always do all of the above in one domain name. Don’t let search engine traffic run you. A name you like, which is memorable, is key. And — it’s OK to have two domain names — one which will be attractive to the search engines and one which you really love to tell people.
1) Narrow your key words
Say you live in Maryland; instead of “financial planner,” which has SO MUCH competition, focus on “financial planner Maryland”, “financial goals Maryland”, or “pension plan specialist”. You’ll have better luck.
2) File names
Have key words in your web page file names: e.g. call your page financialplanning.htm
3) Key word frequency
Have your key words make up about 5% of words on the page.
4) Hyperlinks
Have your key words in the hyperlinks (the text that’s clickable) on your page
5) Alt Tags
These are in your html code and provide a description on your pictures for browsers that don’t show pictures. Yep – you guessed it – keywords in here too.
6) Reciprocal Links
Have DOZENS of web sites linking to your site. (I’ve only got about 100 linking to one of my main sites, and it’s currently #3 on Google for my major key word). Even better, when they link to you, have them put your keywords,e.g., “financial planner” IN the text of the link!
7) Focus mainly on Google and Yahoo
Get listed there, and the rest of the engines will eventually follow.
