Domain Name Questions

[djaco99]

I'm a newbie at affiliate marketing and just getting ready to buy another domain name to start my 2nd site (this forum has inspired me ). I've heard that it's best to always use a .com name because people remember it better. Is this really the case with affiliate marketing too? There are so many more good names available with .net, .biz, etc.... that I'm tempted to get one of these.

Also, is it a better choice for SEO purposes to utilize keyword phrases in a domain name seperated with a hyphen (ie. "www.my-domain-name.com", or all together (like "www.mydomainname.com")?

I've heard/read pros and cons for each question, but would love to hear the opinions of successful affiliate marketers. Any advice would be much appreciated!

[Linda Buquet]

.com sounds more professional, credible and has more value if you want to sell later. Also easier for customers to remember if you want repeat visitors. If your site is bestbuysnow.net. They may remember the m,ain part of domain but go to the .com domain - so you just lost a visitor. Otherwise it does not matter. If you are creative you can almost always find a good .com. For SEO I have heard both sides as well. However I think enough consumers have hit funky affiliate sites filled with pop ups on domains that look like: buy-hot-products-here-save-big-click-now.com - that the long hyphenated domains are starting to turn people off.

Again if you know some of the creative domain name generator tools out there you can usually find a good .com without hyphens. Lets say you want a financial domain for insurance and mortgage. If you are targeting the KW best rate. Try 4bestrates, 2findbestrates, bestrates4u, bestratefinder. Didn't put any time into those or chech them. Probably a funky example, just trying to give some quick ideas.