Picking a good domain name is pretty important, as it will permanently define your site. It’s one of the only things you can’t really change without starting all over again (SEO wise). Putting some thought into registering the best domain name possible is definitely worth while. Here are some pointers to consider before getting started.
Branding vs. Keyword Based Domains
These are the two main classes of domain names, and both have their benefits. You can occasionally find a good mix of both in one name, but those are becoming rarer and rarer.
Branding: I would recommend a “branded” domain name for those who wish to become big and well known. Examples include Google.com, Amazon.com, even Yimto.com! A good branded domain name would be something that is easily memorable; a name that if someone arrived at your site and really liked it, would be able to remember it, and tell their friends. Short is good, but long can be ok too if it’s catchy.
Keyword: A keyword based domain can be really useful for mini-sites, or more “one time visit” projects. What I mean is, search engines will give you more credit with a good main keyword in your domain, so people may be able to land on your pages easier/cheaper. But, these domains can be a bit long and unmemorable, so having them come back can be tougher. Many keyword domains are already taken, so chances are you’ll have to settle for a longer name with an extra word or two.
Domain Name Length
Pretty obviously, the shorter the better, for two reasons; first because it’s easier to remember and more concise, second because in PPC, you will have more characters to space in your display url, leaving more keyword room.
The beauty of a branded domain name is that it can really be anything, I’m pretty happy with my 5 letter domain name that you can actually say out loud, even though it isn’t a real word!
Domain Name Extension
Again, a .com domain name is top of the pecking order, only for the fact that it is the most well known extension, and therefore earns more legitimacy/respect in the eyes of the readers. A .net or .org can substitute, but always shoot for the .com
There can be benefits to using other extensions though, for example a .info can be dirt cheap, and only cost you 1 character in terms of url length. Then again, very few people know of this extension, so it is very poor in terms of memorability.
Dashes or no Dashes?
Personally, I think dashes can work ok in a keyword based domain, but will really hinder any sort of brand building. Say I were talking to you on the phone, and I wanted to tell you about a site called super-action-time.com, I probably would forget to mention the dashes (or be too lazy to say them haha), and you would probably end up at superactiontime.com, wondering what the heck I was talking about.
For keyword domains though, with the priority on SEO and PPC traffic, it’s not as much of a problem, but still does lengthen the domain. Whether it’s worth it or not depends on how bad you want those keywords 
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Great article. I rarely do branding domains because MSN/Live and even google to an extent prefer keywords in the domain, for ranking purposes. Plus I like to have targeted keywords in the domain so visitors searching in Google can get a better idea of what my site is about by looking at a descriptive domain name.
Great point as far as the branding. Early in the .com days, some sites thought they were smart by picking common word domain names but they lost out to companies with unique branding.
Domain names that are short, simple and catchy are a real winner! (Though it is getting harder to find these).
Its certainly important to brand your site with some sort of logo/125 card/ image that is eye catching and memorable will also definitely help.
What can you to those who are using their name as their domain name? is it good?
Sure thing, using your name as a brand can be a great idea. That’s actually a very common practice among IMers, since networking is so key.
It is better to have a good branded name even in tld other than .com. In these days I have seen a few people talking about specific names because majority of people find sites by searching. You can say offline SEO is not so important in these days.
I hate those very long keyword based names. You know I love your site’s name because it is so attractive and wonderful. I always like good generic names.
I am going to give you a tip which i have got from another blog. if you would have a unique name(your own name) then go for it. I was shocked to know that my name was being taken already and i have no options. On other other hand, i like keyword based names because search engines love them(i am talking about bots).