At roughly $7-$10 each, for some entrepreneurs, buying domain names is like buying sugary candy at the corner store. But, on the other hand, some business owners never purchase more than one domain name or URL.

No matter what the approach, picking a good domain name for your website is critical to your marketing and online success.

But how do you know if the domain name you are buying is the best one for your business?

Or, what if the killer domain name you really want is already taken?

Here is a checklist you can use to help you select the best domain name for the job:

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Ok. So I admit it. I don’t know if such a thing even exists, but my friends often tease me about being a card-carrying member of the Domain-A-Holics Club!

I actually own less than 300 domain names and I don’t think I own that many. I have one client with more than 700 domains, and another with more than 1,000 domain names. And, I know there are a lot of others in the Internet business world in the same boat!

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My six year old daughter loves the sitcom iCarly on Nickelodeon. It’s a show about three kids – Carly, Sam and Freddie – who run a web show called iCarly. So, the entire show is centered around their web show and publishing online content.

I have to admit that as far as kid shows are concerned, I am totally hooked. I even found myself (yes, I am admitting this) watching it the other day when I was home alone!

A couple days ago we were snuggled up watching iCarly before bed and I almost wet my pants! In the episode, Carly and Sam were filming the intro to their live web show and when they were driving people to the iCarly website, they said…

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Some companies like Google, GoDaddy, WordPress, Typepad, and Blogger offer completely free websites. The catch is that they do not allow you to use your own custom domain name. Instead, you must use a branded domain with their name in it such as www.godaddy.yourname.com or www.yourname.wordpress.com.

If you want a custom domain website (www.yourdomain.com) or a self-hosted WordPress blog (www.yourdomain.com) for your business, you must purchase or register your own domain name and you must purchase website hosting with a hosting provider.

Your domain name is your place online. You can have as many different domain names as you want. In fact, I own more than 150 different domain names.

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As a website designer and online marketer, I have seen quite a few bad domain names come across my desk – and that is putting it nicely. Some domains are down right horrible like the domain for the promotional product company Pen Island (www.penisland.com).

Sometimes my best advice for clients who have a bad domain name is to get a new one. Some of those clients have taken my advice and changed their domain name and some have not. But no matter what, every time the topic comes up I get asked the same two questions…

“Why is my domain name bad?” and
“How do I pick a good domain name?”

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