I’ve been on the net for close to 8 years now. In this time I’ve set up a handful of my own websites, most of which have done business via affiliate marketing. Now, I’m not a “guru” {God that word needs to be replaced} but do have some light to shed on what you should and should NOT do when getting a domain for your affiliate business.

Before I begin the list I must say that the days of direct linking are getting over pretty soon. Sure it’s a great way to test the waters but it can also turn out to be very expensive. Setting up a moderately populated content site can have its benefits for a much longer time, plus organic traffic is free. Even if you outsource the writing it will be way cheaper than setting up a direct linking PPC campaign.

Here are the Top 10 Tips for Buying Affiliate Site Domains

1. Make sure it’s search term friendly - Let’s face it you are trying to make money with affiliate products, your best bet is to get a domain that would match a bunch of search terms. So ValentinesChocolates.com would probably be more effective as a site than ShopForValentineChocolates.com
2. Three Word Maximum - People don’t like to read on the internet, there’s just too much going on. While a two word domain is gold for affiliate marketers you can get away with a three word domain. It’s better to go for three short words, than long ones. ThanksgivingHolidayRecipes.com is bad, QuickTurkeyTips.com is better, plus it’s available
3. Will it Fit? - What I mean by that is will it fit in a regular Adwords/Yahoo PPC text ad. All of the search advertisers have a 35 character limit when it comes to URL displays. So think about that when you buy a domain as you may want to add extra words after the URl. For example QuickTurkeyTips.com/Cranberry is below 35 characters.
4. Use other TLD’s - You do not have to get a .com for an affiliate domain. There are dozens of TLD’s available and you can use them quite creatively.
5. Think about branding - At some point of time your site may get popular and you may want to expand it and give it more attention. So make sure that you get a domain that can be branded, this could virtually double or triple your income.
6. Use hypens with care - If you are thinking about building up a reputable affiliate business then try to get domains without hypens. Since most of the good domain names are taken, you can still buy them if owners will sell. Also see point no.4 above.
7. Buying registered domains/sites - You may frequently run into the fact that a lot of your domain ideas are already registered. If you are serious about building a long term strategy than you should consider buying an already registered domain/site from its owner.
8. Use Keyword Tools to get an idea of traffic - A great way to know whether a domain will get enough traffic to make you a sustainable income is to do some keyword research. KeyCompete.com is a great tool to help you do just that.
9. Long term strategy - In affiliate marketing there is a high probability that you will want to shift niches as fast as you can say ringtones. So sometimes it does help to get a domain name that you know you will use in the long run as a sustainable income source. It’s fine to get domains which will serve the “here and now” purpose, but it doesn’t hurt to look 3, 6 and 12 months down the line.
10. Think before searching - This has got to be the biggest mistake most new affiliate marketers will make. They keep on typing domain variation after variation into Go Daddy and expect to find something available. If they find something they buy it and then sit on it, doing absolutely nothing. How about you do some REAL thinking about what you want to build rather than just looking for a quick buck. Because if you look for a quick buck, that’s all you’ll make - a buck. I would recommend you do some old fashioned writing {y’know pen/pencil & paper} and figure out exactly what you would like to spend the next month of your life doing with a domain/site. But if you sit on a domain for a year and do nothing with it you’re just wasting your time, and other people’s time who would otherwise seriously want to develop that domain.

Think about all those tips long and hard, especially the last one. I’ve done my fair bit of domain squatting and have nothing to show for it.

If you would like more tips on getting the perfect domain for you I would recommend you buy Killer Domains - an ebook by Daniel from DailyBlogTips. I own the ebook and I must say it is spot on and provides a huge amount of information for only $17.00.

About the author

Hyder has been blogging for the past two years on this blog. He started Weborithm, his web company, in 2007 and along with designing blogs and websites also releases various web related products.