1. Determine the ideal simple relevant name that presents your business- and what would best represent you, your business or activity.   

• Start with the business/ organization name. 
• Determine purpose of the site- what do you want it to do?  
• Incorporate the brand (plus) if you have one.
• Determine options: use a thesaurus to consider other way’s to present a view (hasty is fine). 
• Don’t over study/analyze the problem.

2. Use a domain name search tool that provides recommendations  

• The domain doesn’t have to equal the business or activity name. 
• Consider inter-related sites ( a .com, a .org and a .net) for different purposes. 

3. Consider the options  

• Price.
• Simplicity – short, ease to read, ease to speak, easy to remember. 
• .com verse other “.” dots.
• Can it be specific to a niche (help it stand out in a vast space). 
• Consider subdomain option use (this requires a hosted service).  
• The domain doesn’t have to equal the business or group name.

4. Make a selection – time is your enemy – prices go up – folks watch for trends in searches  

• You don’t want to have to buy the closest best url from someone else. 
• You can always find other ways to get closer to the ideal later – do it over time.
• Using search engine optimization can help overcome other short falls in the name.

5. Put in the basic billboard information, turn on the lights (start the website) (include: home, about, services, contact, etc) 

6. Look to identify the other resources, tools and content and graphics that will help you do it