Start Your Online Journey at WebHostingSearch.com

When launching a new blog or website there are many things one needs to consider, like choosing a good domain name, choosing the best (or the cheapest) web hosting company, finding the right designer/developer or simply gathering information on how to create and maintain a website.

One such place to help you in the early (and not only) stages of your online journey is Web Hosting Search. According to the Wayback Machine, their history dates back to the year 2000, but only in late 2006, WebHostingSearch.com switched its presentation format to that of a review and information website, which definitely was a wise choice. In late 2007, with a bit of design tweaks, they managed to create a useful web hosting information guide.

Looking for the right domain name?

Then look no further. Web Hosting Search helps you find available domain names through its domain name search tool. You can either input your desired name (like MyWebsite.com) or a keyword around which you’d like to get suggestions of names. Either way, the results will tell you if your initial search is available as a domain name and also present you with a list of available alternatives, based on variations of keywords, synonyms and concepts similar to those you’ve first provided.

Until now, this tool has helped me twice. Once to come up with some of those available names for bloggers I’m offering on Blogsessive, and once to not only suggest a good domain name for a project, but actually the idea of the project itself. I’ll tell you more about this new project when things will start shaping up.
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Blog SEO Tips: Importance of Domain Names & Hosting

When it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) there are so many little things that can affect your blog’s ranking. We’ve talked about headings and titles, META tags and keywords, link building strategies, but how do we put to use our blog’s domain name and hosting to improve our rankings? This “SEO Sunday” episode will explain a few important things you should consider.

Choosing the right TLD

Some say that the TLD (Top Level Domain) – domain name extension – doesn’t matter. Most say it does and from my own experience I must agree with the majority.
First of all, let’s say your writing in your native language other than English. By choosing a country specific TLD (but not exclusively) you’ll tell search engines where your blog is based and to whom it addresses. For English written blogs, a .COM or a .NET TLD will most likely do the best jobs since the .COM is the most common extension and English the most used language online. Also, .COMs are a good alternative if your country specific TLD has already been registered.

Keyword domain names vs. Brandable domain names

A keyword in the domain name will definitely help your rankings for that specific keyword. Still, this doesn’t mean that a well optimized blog using a brandable domain name will not rank well. If your going for a brandable domain, try to play around a keyword, like I did with Blogsessive. It will add a bit to the value.

Dashes and numbers in the domain name

Unless strictly required (numbers are part of the identity, like Hi5), I would suggest to stay away from numbers. SEO wise they add no value. Also, if in the future you’ll be looking to sell that domain name, all the money you’ll get will mostly be based on the traffic that name received and its page rank (if it will be the case).
Dashes are still dropping the financial value, but in regards to SEO, search engines seam to accept them – even if with less value – and with the right on and off page optimization they could rank very well.
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