3 - Using unnatural abbreviations   Many times people will want to abbreviate their business name to use as their website address. When you abbreviate your business name you inject an element of confusion. Words can be abbreviated in many different ways, and most people dont know how you abbreviate your domain name.   Its better to just spell out your entire business name in your domain name that to abbreviate, even if your name is long.   Mistake # 4 - Not using a keyword in your domain name.   This might not be an issue for some small businesses who do business locally but for those who ship nationwide or globally and want to be found in the search engines should have a keyword(s) in their domain. The search engines will match the word in their domain to the title of the their page and give it a higher ranking. To find good keywords visit inventory.overture.com and type in the primary keyword of your business, product, or service. Out will come a list of potential keywords to consider as your domain name.   Mistake # 5 - Not making the domain name easy to remember   Lets suppose your business name is taken What will be your next move? Mine would be to find a catchy phrase that people will remember easily. You want to be able to just quickly shout out your domain and have someone understand it and remember it.   The Radio Test   A good test is if you can do a radio commercial and give out your domain name and have it be remembered, its more than likely a good name. If not, change it.   Lets suppose Juzelli and Horowitz was a law firm that specialized in divorces. A good name might be www.FastDivorces.com.   However, there will be some people that know the name of the business and type in "JuzelliandHorowitz.com" into the browser. Thats why you should reserve www.JuzelliandHorowitz.com and have it forwarding to www.FastDivorces.com.   I recently had a client whose business name was Montana Hot Springs Spas. They chose the domain, www.MtHotSpringSpas.com." They were doing a lot of radio commercials and had a very difficult time giving out their website address (for obvious reasons). We found the name, www.LoveTheTub.com and used it. Now they give their website address out in all their commercials with no problems.   Domain Name Selection Criteria