Choosing the right domain name for your website is absolutely crucial!

It's not as simple as it seems and many people get it wrong.

First thing I will say is - you may need more than one Domain Name.

Yes - more than one. Don't be worried - they aren't expensive!

Note that all the domain names in this article have had the "www." removed from them so they are not links and therefore do not violate the editing guidelines of the article directory.

The first decision to make is are you going to choose either a "branding" or "keyword rich" domain name.

If you have an existing business, I suggest you use the business name as your branding domain name. So for example, our business name is "The Only Smarter Business Club".

Our "branding" website is TheOnlySmarterBusinessClub.com - which is excruciatingly long to type - so we have also registered SmarterBusinessClub.com. Still a bit long - but better! Our website visitors can use either domain name because both "point" to our website.

Our main business is assisting small businesses with their marketing and technology, so the domain name and website reflect that.

However, due to our clients being constantly charged huge amounts of their precious cash flow by web designers, we decided to put together a video based, click-by-click training system on how to build a great website for less than $200.

The domain name we chose for that product is CheapEasyWebsite.com.

This is more of a keyword based domain name.

This is a very competitive area - web design - and so many of the really good domain names were already taken - or were being sold as "premium" domain names for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. This one cost us the usual $10 (or thereabouts).

A keyword based domain name is usually going to have more benefit as far as search engine rankings etc. than a branding domain name.

Here's the reason why. A lot more people will type "cheap easy website" into a search engine like Google, than "smarter business club"!

But - and this is a big BUT - in the majority of cases, as a small business owner, you need to have a domain name which is the same as - or very close to your business name - or in some cases your primary product.

I'll give you a different theoretical example.

Let's say you are a seafood merchant called Smith & Sons Seafood.

You could register SmithandSonsSeafood.com.

But a keyword based domain name may be BestOystersinMetung.com.

This domain name tells people not only what you sell, but also, where you sell it.

So the first tip - consciously decide on a branding or keyword based domain name.

Next thing to consider is that a domain name must be unique.

Domain name registrars will not allow you to register a domain name that is already registered.

I seriously suggest you do not try and "fudge" an existing domain name - by doing something such as ebaye.com or cnnn .com. It is just not good business - and suggests that you are "scared" of being you!

Be careful of how unique you become though. Another of my business names is "A 1000 Miles". This came from nearly losing everything in a very distressing divorce and having to start completely from scratch in my 40s - my motto was - "A journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step" (which is a quote by Lao Tse).

The biggest issue is that everyone pronounces a1000miles as "a ONE thousand miles" - rather than how I pronounce it which is "a thousand miles" - and trying to spell out the domain name over the phone is very difficult!

So the second tip - don't try and be too "clever" - keep it simple.

The third and final tip is to avoid confusion when choosing your domain name. Here's another theoretical example.

GoodForYou.com could also be Good4You.com or GoodForU.com or even Good4U .com.

Your prospects and clients need to be very sure of your domain name - or the alternative is that you register them all!

I also seriously suggest you avoid numbers where possible in your domain name.

Another headache for your potential website visitors is if you have the first word ending with the same letter the next words starts with.

So, for example, should it be secretips.com or secrettips.com.

I would normally suggest avoiding hyphens (because people usually forget whether they should be there or not) - but if your business name and therefore branding domain name is in this same letter begin-end category, a possibility could be secret-tips.com. In some ways it could be considered clearer.

Oh - and as a bonus tip - and I don't know exactly how true this is, so I definitely can't guarantee it (after all this could have been started by the domain registrars!) - but the rumor is that if you register a domain name for more than one year, the search engines will give you more credence. I presume the theory is that spammers will only register a domain name for a single year.

I suggest you take your time when choosing a domain name for your small business. Whether it's a branding domain name like www.SmarterBusinessClub.com or a keyword rich domain name like www.CheapEasyWebsite.com - make sure you like it! It's hopefully going to stay with you for a long time!