10 Tips for Choosing the Perfect Domain Name

domain name

Your domain name can be your ticket to being successful. Choosing a domain name is much like choosing a name for your company. It requires a lot of thought and consideration as well as laying out lots of options. If you make a mistake of choosing the wrong domain name, switching to another one later on without hurting your brand and search rankings will be an unwanted hassle. So, it is important that you choose the domain name that suits you best from the beginning itself.

Why is your domain name important?

  1. First impression – The first thing your visitors will see is your website’s URL. Your domain name needs to be great to make a positive and lasting impression on your visitors and keep them coming back for more.
  2. SEO – Even though exact match domains (EMDs) are no longer necessary, keywords in your domain name can still help with your SEO ranking.
  3. Branding – Your domain name is a branding opportunity. If you choose the right one, you’ll have a brand name with it in your hands

We know that choosing domain names can be a pain. Especially when in today’s world almost everything seems to be taken already. Worry not, in this article, we are going to give you 10 tips to choose the perfect domain name for you and your company.

1. .com

There are so many other domains available these days such as .academy, .photography, and even .pizza. But your best bet will be sticking to the plain old .com. The .com domain is the easiest to remember.

Additionally, newer domain extensions like .ninja or .photography can be untrustworthy. And what’s the point in your domain looking fancy if they’re not secure enough or slip right out of people’s minds?

2. Make sure it’s easy to type and pronounce

Think of all the websites that you remember easily.

Yahoo, Google, MSN, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook! What do they have in common? They’re easy to spell and say!

For online success, it is critical that your domain is easy to type. Using slangs such as “fren instead of friend” or spelling variations “xtreme instead of extreme” may make it difficult for people to find your website.

3. Keep it short

Generally, in terms of domain length, the shorter it is, the better. Make it too long, you risk customers mistyping or misspelling it.

According to Gaebler.com, the top-5 websites have approximately 6 characters in their domain name. Among the top 1 Million domains, there is a direct correlation between domain name length and popularity. Therefore, try keeping it as short as possible.

4. Avoid hyphens and numbers

Numbers and hyphens are among the most misunderstood. When you tell people your website address, they might be confused whether they type a numeral (7) or it’s spelled out (seven). When there’s a dash, high chances they’re going to forget it. If you absolutely need these in your domain, register the different variations to be safe.

5. Use Keywords

Keywords play an important role in a domain. By using keywords, you can tell the search engine what your website is about. If yours is a hairstyling salon, then maybe you could register your domain as hairstylist.com or haistylesalon.com.

These days, it is very hard to find an unregistered good domain with your target keywords. So be creative and combine your keywords with other words to make your domain stand out. You can use Google Adwords to make it easier for you to find keywords.

6. Target your area

If your business is local and you only want to target to the locality around you, you may want to add the name of your city or locality so that your customers find you easily. If you are a local hairstylist in Kathmandu, how about making your domain kathmanduhairsalon.com?

7. Research

Search the web for the word you want to use as a domain name. Make sure it isn’t trademarked, copyrighted or being used by another company. You don’t want to accidentally get accused of copying another blogger or be tangled in the huge legal mess that comes with copyright infringement.

8. Think about Long-term

When you register any domain name, it’s going to be with you for a very long time. You might as well get ready to marry it. It is going to be the thing that defines your business and your brand.

If in the future, you want to change your domain name, it will cost you money and the hard earned following and SEO ranking. So you will have to think long term. Don’t think of something that will be useful only for the time being. Make sure you choose something you can keep using for the rest of your life.

9. Your Name

You want to own a website with a domain that is unique, easy and rememberable. Why not use your name in it? Your name is the one thing people will remember for sure.

So go ahead and check if your name is available. If it is, register right away! If not, try using different spelling variations.

10. Use a domain name generator for ideas

Maybe you have an idea of what kind of domain name you want. But they aren’t available. Or you like some word but don’t just like the sound of it? That’s where domain name generator comes into play. You can use the available domain name generators such as Wordoid Lean Domain Search, NameBounce and DomainHole.

In conclusion, if you’re about to get yourself a website, definitely keep the above 10 tips in mind. Think carefully and don’t rush into anything.  You’re sure to get yourself a catchy, unique name for your domain that suits your business and personality.

Featured Image Credit: Octwelve

1 thought on “10 Tips for Choosing the Perfect Domain Name

  1. Harper Campbell says:

    It’s interesting to learn that when it comes to choosing a domain name that there are some ways to go about doing it. I like how you mentioned that one thing that they need to do is to keep it short. It will be good for these companies to know that with the name that if it is short that they are able to avoid the risk of people mistyping.

    Reply

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