Domain names are often thought of as merely a cost of doing business online, similar in nature to an office supply need, or a shipping charge. In reality, the domain name chosen for your online venture can play an integral role in whether your site achieves massive popularity, or remains forever a mere needle in the haystack that is the internet.

The keys to choosing a powerful domain name are relatively simple, and should be carefully considered during your selection process.

Keep it Simple

The most found domains on the web are those that are intuitive in nature. These are domains that internet users key in automatically when targeting an item, or area of interest. For example, an auction site bearing the domain name www.auction.com will be infinitely more popular than one located at www.seemyauction.com.

The challenge facing internet entrepreneurs today is the sad reality that most of the intuitive domains are long gone - and those that do arise for resale are generally well beyond the means of a start-up internet enterprise.

This is not to say that intuitive is no longer a factor. Although domains of single-word simplicity may be unattainable, the natural search techniques of your venture's target market should play a strong role in the domain selection process.

As is true in the start-up of any business, online or otherwise, understanding your market is imperative. Who are you selling to? Who will see value in the information you have to provide? And most importantly, how are they finding it today? When scouring the internet for your product or service, what terms are they using? What phrases? There are a variety of tools that you can use to determine search term and phrase popularity, such as Goto.com's popular search term tool.

Once you are aware of your market's natural tendencies, you can target your domain to represent them. This will assist you in the long run by ensuring your domain is both easily memorable to your clientelle, and naturally popular in the search engines.