When it comes to Search Engine Optimization, domain name selection is one of the most influential factors and should be given a healthy amount of attention.

Bottom line, if your main keywords are in your domain name, your chances of ranking high in Google or Yahoo for those keywords increases significantly.

There are three main considerations when choosing a domain name:

You can use a domain name using keywords that have a lot to do with the theme of your site.

You can choose a domain name with the intentions of branding your company name.

You can use geographical keywords in your domain name especially if you only do work in a particular area.

Try to establish a domain name with your main keywords. For example, a great domain name for a college book site would be www.collegebooks.com.

If you are trying to brand your company name, keep your domain name as short as possible. Also try not to use too many hyphens. There is some disagreement in this industry as to whether or not hyphens are seen as a negative to the search engines.

I would strongly suggest that you buy domain names that are variations of your core domain name. Include misspellings and if the .com is available, get that first then the .net and the .org. If you believe you may be doing business in a foreign county, you may want to purchase domain names with the country extensions such as .co.uk.

If the domain name you want is not available, you may want to consider purchasing it from the current owner. There are companies who “flip” domain names. They buy domain names in bulk and then resell the URL’s on websites like sedo.com, enom.com and godaddy.com