Domain name

How to choose a doamain name?

[jitesh]

I need some help...

If I have to choose a domain name for my site, what are the criteria I shoud follow.

Also which one will be better;

www.my-domain.com
www.my-domain.tv
www.my-domain.org
www.my-domain.net

What I mean to say is host name make any diffrence in search engine ranking.

Thanks in advance

[Black Knight]

The three criteria for choosing a domain:

1. Make it memorable.
2. Make it easy to type/spell (and hard to typo)
3. Make as sure as you can that it doesn't sound like any foriegn word for 'crap' or 'shyster' ;)

Way after all of that, think about ranking issues. The domain name is just one tiny factor of ranking - but is a huge factor in branding and how you'll be perceived. Get the order of importance right.

Ammon Johns

[ciml]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld, jitesh.
(Make sure to check out paynt's welcome post [webmasterworld.com])

I'd follow Black_Knight's advice. The only time I care about the TLD is if I want to get into country specific engines and directories. Then it can help to have the local TLD.

[martinibuster]

Also,
don't forget to see if anyone owns www.my-domainS.com. Snap it up if it's important enough to you to avoid customer confusion.

[buckworks]

Any marketer I've ever read suggests that the dot-com version of a name will score waaay better for recognition and memorability than other versions.

I want to second the suggestion about buying both the singular and plural version, predictable typos, etc. Pick up both the hypenated and non-hyphenated variations too if you can. It's cheap insurance for your brand.

Make the best decision you can, then concentrate on doing other things right. I'm living proof that one can make a living even with a dorky domain name that no one understands when they hear it.

[fireice]

buckworks is definitely on the right track, .com all the way.