Help!! Need a domain name!!!

[LeonineLotus]

Hi everyone!!! I'm currently in the process of building my website... well... my boyfriend is anyway. I need a domain name and I've got an idea but I'm not sure how to go about it? I'm trying to be a little original and not have www. victoriadances .com or anything like that. I was thinking of using an Arabic word or somehow tie in the lotus flower to my name... but I don't know how to do it without it sounding cheesy. I will have this website for a long time, so I don't want something overly cheesy or unrelated to this beautiful artform. Help! ..c::

[HubicRuzz]

If you want people to find your website in Google you will want to at least had the word belly dancing or something in it.

[SatinWorship19]

When I first contacted my web guy, I had already registered the name EastCoastShimmy dot com, because I thought it would be original and easy to remember. He strongly warned against using it, because he didn't feel it was as effective from a branding standpoint as using my name. He also warned against using my region or state in my domain name because no one dancer owns a region, and he didn't think the SEO benefits were all that huge. Nothing with "raqs" or any Arabic word in it, because most American audiences wouldn't get it. So I have Carrara Nour dot com. It works for me.

So nothing wrong with having a quirky domain name. But simple can be just as beneficial!

[maurazebra]

A lot of dancers just use their names, like Satin mentioned. Quality content is more likely to get your website in the high rankings rather than the actual name itself. Google constantly tweaks their rating rules to reward good content. But you WILL want to make sure that your location and your profession (belly dance) are significant HEADINGS on your front page. I once spaced out and removed the 'Louisville KY' headings from our front page and we went from top-of-list to 6th page in searches for belly dance in Louisville KY. Like a brick in water.

[SatinWorship19]

A lot of dancers just use their names, like Satin mentioned. Quality content is more likely to get your website in the high rankings rather than the actual name itself. Google constantly tweaks their rating rules to reward good content. But you WILL want to make sure that your location and your profession (belly dance) are significant HEADINGS on your front page. I once spaced out and removed the 'Louisville KY' headings from our front page and we went from top-of-list to 6th page in searches for belly dance in Louisville KY. Like a brick in water.

Yes, it's all about having the right meta tags, good content, and lots of inbound links going to your site. They say Google is becoming more and more suspicious toward sites with too many reciprocal links - so if you don't feel like having a Resources page and participating in the usual link swapping, I highly doubt this will hurt your rating.

I don't have a Resources page OR my region/state in my domain name, yet my ranking is always fierce.

[EzmaSiddiqah]

go to a domain provider and see what dot coms are available before you set your heart on one. Network Solutions or GoDaddy etc.

[laura 2]

Another reason to not have your location in your URL is that sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you wind up moving. If I had made rochesterbellydance.com my URL when I lived in upstate NY, it wouldn't have done me much good once I moved to Milwaukee, WI.

[SatinWorship19]

Another reason to not have your location in your URL is that sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you wind up moving. If I had made rochesterbellydance.com my URL when I lived in upstate NY, it wouldn't have done me much good once I moved to Milwaukee, WI.

Exactly!

Not to mention, if somebody wants to hire you in a different state or region. You want to think of yourself as global, even if your travel radius is only 50 miles or so!

[LizzyDancer]

I am sure it will be fabulous and creative, just like you :) Please don't overlook safety issues regarding your contact info.

[LeonineLotus]

Thank all of you so much. I can't seem to figure out anything unique so I'm going to leave it as something simple. I really appreciate everyones help on this topic. =) It means a lot to me and I will be careful with my contact info!!!

[LeonineLotus]

I finally got my website up. It's still in the works of course, but it's nice to finally have something!!!

Belly Dance by Victoria

[HubicRuzz]

That is a beautiful looking site. If you also want it found on the search engines and want to keep that splash page, have some text at the bottom with relevant keywords.