Getting a domain name is the first step towards a new affiliate site. It is also the first investment that every new affiliate has to make. Even though some people still try to promote affiliate offers directly (without a website) it becomes more and more difficult every month.
Having an affiliate site gives you a lot more options and possible marketing angles to use. That’s why in this series (this is the first part) we will get you through the whole process of setting up a quality affiliate site.
Types of Domains
There are four main types of domains you can choose:
- keyword-only domains,
- semantic domains,
- unusual domains,
- combined domains.
Keyword-only domains. These are domains that are exact match of the main keyword you want to target with your site.
For instance, if your keyword is “casino promotions Sydney” then you can try getting a domain like casinopromotionssydney.com.
Semantic domains. These are domains that are based on one specific word, or phrase, but are not that keyword-specific.
Looking at the example above, a semantic name would be: casinopromotions.com.
Unusual domains. These are all brand-based domains. Created from words that are semantically empty (have no meaning).
For example: cgames-board.com, google.com. The main strength of such domains is that they are easily brandable.
Combined domains. These are domains that combine some of the above types into one domain.
For instance: casino-hut.com, casinorichness.com, and so on.
TLDs
Once you kind of know what domain you want, you should decide on a TLD. TLD stands for top-level domain. In plan English, this is the last segment of your domain name. Some of the most popular TLDs are:
- .com
- .net
- .org
- .biz
- .info
We advise you to always try getting a .com. If it’s not available, go for either .net or .org. And if none of those are available, it’s better to start over and search for a completely different domain name.
Registering a Domain
One of the most popular domain registrars is GoDaddy.
Once you visit their homepage, you’ll see a big search field where you can check if the domain you want to register is available.
Really easy to use, just input your domain name, select the TLD and press “Search.”
After a while, GoDaddy notifies you if the domain is available. In such a case you can simply click the “Buy It Now” button and complete the purchase.
At this point, your new domain is registered and you can move on to the next step of launching an affiliate site.