Your domain name is one of the most important things that search engines consider.
For example, as a plant rights lawyer, if you want to be listed highly on the search engines for “plant rights lawyer California,” you will do best search-engine wise to buy a domain like this:
www.plant-rights-lawyer-california.com
or
www.PlantRightsLawyerCalifornia.com
Having the keywords in the domain will give your site more automatic authority for having the relevant content, thus your site will likely be ranked more highly than otherwise.
There are many different places you can buy a domain name. Prices vary, but the average approximate price for a domain name is $10.00 per year. The dot COM extension is the most widespread, but a new and relevant extension for lawyers is dot INFO. If you buy an INFO domain name, you will probably pay less than a dot COM and you can provide free, relevant information for people seeking your services. Finally, more .INFO domains remain available compared to their dot COM counterpart.
The following is a list of popular domain name providers:
With domain names being so inexpensive, you ought to consider buying several domains and hosting relevant content on each domain’s subject. E.g. http://www.wine-lawyer.com