Picking a domain name...

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Well, I've taken a step. I've registered ArkansasGuestHouse.com
Our town name is really hard to spell, so I went with the state name which is only somewhat hard to spell.
It occurred to me that there will be times when we have to tell people, like on the phone, how to go to our website. Also, some will go to our address by word of mouth or from our rack card and such. So it DOES need to be something fairly simple that people can remember and correctly type in, and I think if we tell people to go to arkansas guesthouse dot com, most people can get there easily.
It will be months before I have a website up there, of course.
Thanks for all the advice! It really helped a lot.
Of course, I'm not yet bound to use this one as my final choice, but at least I've taken some first steps.
 
Good post topic. The abolute best way we have discovered to secure a domain name that will maximize your organic traffic & improve any kind of PPC campaigns is a two-step process. It uses A/B testing to determine the most effective keyword for your Inn.
1. Test: Open a Google Adwords account and invest a couple hundred dollars researching the highest-converting keyword (ie. the keyword people search which generates the most reservations for your property). This may take a few weeks but it is worth it. Most often, it is not a keyword that you would expect.
2. Register: Register that exact domain. If your highest-converting keyword is "Arkansas B&B" or "Guesthouse in Arkansas," then you should be registering www.arkansasb&b.com or www.guesthouseinarkansas.com (if they are available).
Note: Registering your domain in the name of your guesthouse, unless you have some outstanding reason, is usually less advantageous considering -- if your site is optimized properly -- you should rank first for "St. Mark Guest House" anyways. By using the high-converting keyword as your domain name, you'll bring in more organic traffic, lower your pay-per-click, and target your niche.
Matt is author of Guerilla Marketing for Innkeepers, 54 free or inexpensive ways to increase your reservations and revenue.
 
Well, I've taken a step. I've registered ArkansasGuestHouse.com
Our town name is really hard to spell, so I went with the state name which is only somewhat hard to spell.
It occurred to me that there will be times when we have to tell people, like on the phone, how to go to our website. Also, some will go to our address by word of mouth or from our rack card and such. So it DOES need to be something fairly simple that people can remember and correctly type in, and I think if we tell people to go to arkansas guesthouse dot com, most people can get there easily.
It will be months before I have a website up there, of course.
Thanks for all the advice! It really helped a lot.
Of course, I'm not yet bound to use this one as my final choice, but at least I've taken some first steps..
Arkansas could be a hard one. You will get lots of misspellings. And foreign folks may not have clue as to spelling either. How about 1858GuestHouse.com or whatever the year. What are you going to call it officially? I would make the domain as close to that name. Better for searching I think. How many will search for an Arkansas Guest House??? I know you said you can't use the town name, but make keep it
kiss.gif
KISS...Keep it Simple S....
 
Well, I've taken a step. I've registered ArkansasGuestHouse.com
Our town name is really hard to spell, so I went with the state name which is only somewhat hard to spell.
It occurred to me that there will be times when we have to tell people, like on the phone, how to go to our website. Also, some will go to our address by word of mouth or from our rack card and such. So it DOES need to be something fairly simple that people can remember and correctly type in, and I think if we tell people to go to arkansas guesthouse dot com, most people can get there easily.
It will be months before I have a website up there, of course.
Thanks for all the advice! It really helped a lot.
Of course, I'm not yet bound to use this one as my final choice, but at least I've taken some first steps..
Arkansas could be a hard one. You will get lots of misspellings. And foreign folks may not have clue as to spelling either. How about 1858GuestHouse.com or whatever the year. What are you going to call it officially? I would make the domain as close to that name. Better for searching I think. How many will search for an Arkansas Guest House??? I know you said you can't use the town name, but make keep it
kiss.gif
KISS...Keep it Simple S....
.
Note the date on the post, there was spam in here that got flagged
 
Yes, this was from over a year ago. The response today was a little spammy but at least he read the old post and responded directly to it.
 
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