Talk with me about "names" please

[motdaugrnds]

I've got a website uploaded now and am in the process of creating a store and 3 different types of blogs to associate with that website. I understand the "names" of each of these are important as they will pretty much determine who and how many find you via searches.

My store will be temporary with regard to the bulk of the items I will put up for sale as they are all the nice jewelry I never wear on a farm along with some very old construction-type toys I used when working with disturbed childrens' groups. (Children are less threatened about learning new interpersonal skills when they are semi-distracted with toys they enjoy.) Thus, I will want some type of name a search engine would find.

The three blogs will be:

1. Homesteading small
2. Educational
3. Inspirations

A name for each that would help others find it is what I need.

Some brain storming as to names would be appreciated. Thank you

[John_Canada]

Google Adwords will actually brainstorm for you. Use their "Keyword Planner" under Tools and Analysis and throw those words into the engine. It will also tell you how many people search those terms in a month and how much Google charges to make your ad number 1 (this tells you if that word/subject is commercially viable). And you are right, be careful with the name of the domain as it accounts for a lot.

Also, do a search on those words you think of and look at the bottom of a search page and Google suggests other things or adds to that word (from people's histories of searching for similar things). For example, the word homesteading suggests:
homesteading bloggers
homestead land
homesteading your house
homesteading laws
urban homesteading
mother earth news
homesteading magazine
homesteading survivalism

Once you are set up, make sure you install analytics to see what people are really finding on your site and reinforce that.

[motdaugrnds]

Thank you John. I do not find "tools and analysis". The only place I knew to look for this is on my I.E. tools bar. Where can I find those so I can locate the "keyword planner" for google you suggest? I'll see if I can find the google.com website and maybe it will be there....found it.

Will you please tell me where I can locate that "analytics" you speak of as that, too, sounds like a great idea.

[John_Canada]

No prob! http://www.google.com/analytics/

You used to have to have two accounts (analytics & webmaster) to run certain tests but most everything is done thru that account now. It also integrates nicely into adwords if you so choose but the only reason I use adwords is to test ideas then I implement those ideas into blog posts to gain better rankings. But it all takes time.

The thing about analytics is you can use REAL WORLD data to know exactly what people are looking for and tests to know if you can make it even better.

[joebill]

I'm NOT sophisticated about any of this, but I do know one thing that really does NOT work well, and should be avoided.

Do not choose names that can't be spelled on the first attempt by the average public school graduate. Stay away from hyphens and other tricks to get you a name that is already taken in the standard form. You should be able to tell someone your domain name over the phone and have them able to type it in without you spelling it.

All the biggies in the business choose names like "ebay" or "google" or "Amazon" for a reason. Names like "tummicacori mesquite" usually die for the same reason, as my friend found out years ago. Our business name, chosen decades before there was such a tihing as a website, is NOT compatible with easy spelling, and so we had to make a choice between promoting a website name or our business name. In the end, both suffered. It's a problem we have managed in spite of, but one you can easily avoid. Good luck.....Joe

[motdaugrnds]

Thanks so much. Yes, my "motdaugrnds" name just wouldn't do! .... still looking ....