Naming Your Site

The name of your site is arguably the most important thing you do in laying a foundation for appeal, search engine optimization, and instant conveyance of a targeted message.

Naming filters down through more than just your site name also. The same principles apply for naming pages, links, and categories. Naming occurs on these levels:

• Domain Name - Choose your domain name first for people, second for search engines. People default to NO dashes. Search engines pick it up either way (other people will tell you different, but actual stats show otherwise). A keyword domain name can reputedly help with search engine rank, but good content will compensate if you choose to use a name that is based on branding instead. Your domain name is VERY much determined now by what is available! Your first choice, second choice, and even tenth choice may be taken - not even used, just taken. 
• Site Name - Site name has no rules other than "memorable keywords". You'll notice that this site has two titles. But behind the scenes it has just one. This is because the domain was converted from a different purpose to this one, so it was given a name, and a description. 
• Title Tag in the HTML Code - This is the title that shows up in the browser titlebar. It is put in behind the scenes. It should be descriptive and should focus on one or two keywords. Branding is not an issue for a small website for this title, go for maximum search engine punch. 
• Category Names - These should strike a balance between keywords and impact or site message. On a whimsical site, keywords might be less important than feel. For technical sites, keywords work best all around. 
• Individual Topic Names - Same rule as your category names. Go for recognizability. 
• Link Names - Your link names in the navigation will be the same as the Category and Topic names. When you use context links though, you'll name them for keyword impact. 
• Page Filenames - These are chosen for memorability by you, and for search engine impact. Keep them to one or two words though, and don't make them long with lots of dashes - it smacks of spamming! 

Choose your names carefully, for impact where you need it most. Those names do matter, both in making your navigation and site purpose intuitive and understandable, and for getting natural traffic from search engines.