registering a domain name - IT help please

[swinks]

This is one for the IT / Tech heads

I have a project in the wind and a dream project and was thinking that since I want to tag these items now with a catchy name do I register a domain name now?

I looked up godaddy and whois and the .com is gone for both my options, what is another option or next best extension to run with.

Also my option is available with a dash in between the words eg like aussiepinball.com is taken but if I wanted to go for aussie-pinball.com - is there disadvantages for people doing a search if you have a dash in between the words.


Any advice would really be appreciated please from those with some experience / knowledge.

The project in the wind is specifically for the Aus market but would welcome overseas sales - and .com.au is available
The dream project is a real pie in the sky but you just never know but it will be of interest to people around the world.


Please educate me….. as I am here 

[Pop Bumper Pete]

You should go for a unique name
If .com is already taken, then find something else

[MartyJ]

Well for a .COM.AU you have to have either an ABN or a business name registered (a number will be generated and used for reference).

.COM there are no rules, so you can get it.  I would advise private registration on a .com (reduces spam) and you don't want your address being shown on the lookups as there are some nutters in this hobby.   

A whole new lot of TLD's are being released soon, like .GURU and others.

You can purchase other overseas TLD domains such as .TW (Taiwan), .CO (Columbia) but IMHO its not very professional to be operating a domain for an online presence when your not in that country or operating from that country.

A .ORG and .ORG.AU are ONLY for not for profit arrangements and this is enforced.

No issues with a swinks-pinball.com (ie hyphen), but if the one that is already registered (ie the .COM) is a similar business then I probably wouldn't.

Gone are the days where you would go to http://www.redumbrellasforelephants.com when you're looking for a red umbrella for an elephant.  SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the key and getting a good ranking on the google machine is of a higher priority than a domain name.

[swinks]

  SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the key and getting a good ranking on the google machine is of a higher priority than a domain name.

could you explain this a little more please…… not my area of skills

[MartyJ]

SEO is basically how the search engines seek out and crawl your site.

Its very complex and Google changed their methods a few years ago.  You can make some serious money in SEO and is a highly sought after field.

For something say pinball related, there is not a massive amount of competition.  One of the secrets is getting what they call 'back links'.

Simply having your site on here (AP) or the web address in your signature is a very good way of getting it started.  GoogleBots / BingBots etc would crawl here daily.  They see the posts, and see the links.  Once they see the link, they follow it.  The more times more bots follow different links from different sites, the higher your ranking will be.

Basically your goal should be to be in the top 4 or so results on a google search on page 1, or top on page 2.  When I had my site up and running, I was getting exceptionally good results on google.

The second part to it is keywords on the pages and in the headers.  This gets a little complicated, but there is lots of books and info out there to help..

If you work out the secret to it Swinks, you can work from home and command top dollar!

[tonyt]

I would suggest you register a business name and even better a trademark if you can for protection.

[swinks]

thanks guys for the info, have sent a pm to tonyt and martyj

but open for any more advice, expereinces


I think I understand the SEO - basically try and have a good name and place that name in a environment to be captured and come up in searches - but is a little complicated



Where is a cheap but reliable place to register some domain names?

and for example will people find swinks pinball if I call it swinks-pinball.com or say swinkspinball.com
though swink-pinball.guru would be cool  but don't want to sound like I have tickets on myself… or maybe I have to change my thinking...

[MartyJ]

thanks guys for the info, have sent a pm to tonyt and martyj

but open for any more advice, expereinces


I think I understand the SEO - basically try and have a good name and place that name in a environment to be captured and come up in searches - but is a little complicated



Where is a cheap but reliable place to register some domain names?

and for example will people find swinks pinball if I call it swinks-pinball.com or say swinkspinball.com
though swink-pinball.guru would be cool  but don't want to sound like I have tickets on myself… or maybe I have to change my thinking...

Its complicated, but once you get your head around it, its not too bad.

So for swinks-pinball, the keyword optimization is swinks+pinball.  So either of those two words (swinks being unique) should find your domain.
Unless its for branding purposes (ie Myer etc) the actual domain name doesn't come into play with SEO etc.

It all comes down to the content on your pages, the words, key terms in titles and headers and back links.

[Retropin]

Its something I have worked on for my business over the last year ( I wont tell you the website as each click costs me $$).. but what happens is that I pay to have an ad on Google, with each click on my website, Google sees me more.. I can enhance this a bit by adding my web address to things like Hotfrog as Google regularly scan these as well. As your clicks mount up and more traffic comes through your site, Google sees you more. Its whats called " organic listing".. im now always in the top 2 results of a named search.. I also have hidden words in my website thanks to me old pal Wotto... all this helps Google "see" you.. the more it sees you, the higher up the listings you go.
You can pay people to buck this system and they trick Google into seeing you more... or.. you can let it grow organically as I did.
I pay to have my campaign managed and I pay Google for all the clicks ive had for the month.. its not cheap and often it just brings tyre kickers to your site. The organic listing costs nothing.. problem is that I need the ads to keep the organic ranked high and they do cost.
But,.. without a Google profile, you are pushing water uphill trying to bring new customers in

[Marty Machine]

ALWAYS choose a name that can be told to someone ONCE over the phone or in person in casual conversation.....

You dont wanna be saying (and repeating) "it's w w w dot swinks hyphen pinball dot com" for the rest of your life when it simply could be "swinkydinks.com" etc....keep it streamlined, simple and appealing (easy) for humans.
(...and then having to confirm it's a Hyphen, not an underscore in the address).

If you're using 2 words in the domain name, make sure the last letter of the first word is NOT The same as the first letter of the 2nd word, to avoid repeated letters.
This will create typo problems and also hard to explain over the phone to someone or in person.
e.g.
swinksservice.com
pinballliving.com

"Host Papa" are about $3/yr, plus $8 extra to hide your details from lurkers & spammers etc.

MM

[swinks]

great info guys, very much appreciated 

[MartyJ]

ALWAYS choose a name that can be told to someone ONCE over the phone or in person in casual conversation.....

You dont wanna be saying (and repeating) "it's w w w dot swinks hyphen pinball dot com" for the rest of your life when it simply could be "swinkydinks.com" etc....keep it streamlined, simple and appealing (easy) for humans.
(...and then having to confirm it's a Hyphen, not an underscore in the address).

If you're using 2 words in the domain name, make sure the last letter of the first word is NOT The same as the first letter of the 2nd word, to avoid repeated letters.
This will create typo problems and also hard to explain over the phone to someone or in person.
e.g.
swinksservice.com
pinballliving.com

"Host Papa" are about $3/yr, plus $8 extra to hide your details from lurkers & spammers etc.

MM

+1 to MM's suggestions.

My old domain was long and a mouthful. 

Short and sweet is the key.

[pinball god]

A little off topic but we're starting to see the start of personalized domains. I think monash uni got the first ever ie. www.computers.monash etc. These cos more than you and all of us put together could afford just one. I think I got it right but someone might explain it as it real is. Otherwise what's been said is applicable to you jady. Registering used cost lots more than today.

[swinks]

yeah, just leant tonight that they are realising a whole range of specialised domain names instead of .com you can now have:
.bike
.guru
.luxury (which funny enough is a expensive one to register ($800 a year)

[pinball god]

yeah, just leant tonight that they are realising a whole range of specialised domain names instead of .com you can now have:
.bike
.guru
.luxury (which funny enough is a expensive one to register ($800 a year)

I like  www.pinballmods.swinks