A domain name is your website address on the internet, for example www.mywebsite.com. It’s your unique identity on the internet and allows people to find you quickly and easily.
Choosing the best Domain Name is an essential part of succeeding in your online venture. With so many websites out there, choosing a great Domain Name can be a little frustrating, because all the great names you think of are more than likely taken, so you will need to be a little creative.
Most likely you will not get your first pick but don’t let that discourage you. Here are some tips to make it easier, hope they help!
Choose a .COM Extension
Choosing the right domain extension can impact where your site shows up in search engine results and how visitors and potential visitors evaluate your site.
Always pick .COM domains whenever possible. With a .COM extension being the most popular, it will always win in terms of ranking and recognition.
Most people will automatically assume that .COM is the one they should type in, if they’re not so sure of the address. You could be losing valuable traffic by having another extension as people may end up at the .COM site of the same or similar name.
Use Shorter Names Over Longer Ones
It’s best to try to keep your Domain Name under 15 characters. The shorter your name is, the easier it will be for people to remember and to type it accurately. Remember there are still a fair few one finger typists out there.
If you find that every shorter domain name you try is taken, which can often be the case, pick a few words that are easy to remember.
If you must go long, think about the spelling too. Easy to spell words are a must in longer domain names. Also how it sounds when spoken out to other people. This helps on the phone as well as sharing in conversations, like when customers want to brag about you. 😉
Make it Catchy and Unique
There are over 350 million registered domain names, so to choose a great domain name that’s catchy and memorable can be difficult, but essential.
The best domain names are unique, and stand out in their readers’ minds. Use catchy word phrases, and mix them up a little, or create new words to make up your own unique name.
There’s nothing worse than having a domain name that is hard to say or hard to remember. With a little creativity, and armed with a thesaurus, you can play around with words and find something that’s catchy and easy to remember!
Once you’ve decided on a name, share it with friends or colleagues to make sure it sounds appealing and makes sense to others.
Make it Easy to Spell
Following on from tip number 3, a great domain name should be easy to spell, (even made up words too). Consider some of the spelling mistakes some people are likely to make.
Some examples that are often misspelled (or is it misspelt??) are dumbbell; often one “B” is left out, chief; the ‘i’ before ‘e’ confusion, accommodation; double ‘c’ or ‘m’ or both? Just to name a few.
Also try not to use words that have different spelling for different countries, for example; colour or color, centre or center, pyjama or pajama. There is quite a few out there, so if you are aiming for global business, be sure to find out which words differ.
Use Keywords Related to Your Niche?
Using top keywords in the domain name for your site will be a good way to convey to people what you do. Though they don’t matter so much for SEO these days. It simply helps when people search for your keyword on the internet, if your main keyword is in your domain name, your site has a better chance of being clicked on.
Think about any keywords and phrases that describe the topic of your website, and make a list of them. You can then start to pair them up or mix them up to try different names. Consider using one of your keywords plus another word tacked onto the end, maybe a word that describes what you offer.
Choosing keywords related to your niche will still give people an idea of what your website is about, but allows you to be flexible in the future. You can choose a great domain name by being not so “keyword specific”, to be able to expand later down the track.
For example, an avid vegetable grower might choose a domain name like growveg.(com) and while there’s a ton of stuff to write about veggies, something like gardenmastery.(com) would allow for expansion later on.
Avoid Hyphens and Numbers Where Possible
Numbers are okay if it’s in your brand name, but you’re better off avoiding them, and if you must use numbers, watch out for the number “0”, being for obvious reasons.
Also stay away from hyphens and dashes, as people don’t remember to type them in, and just try verbally giving out your web address…like ‘My website’s name is www dot, my, dash, website, dash, name, dot, com. The chances of someone remembering that name is not good.
Make Use of Online Tools
There are a lot of online tools which can help you to find a perfect domain name for your business, blog or website. Bustaname.com is a tool which I have used and is an awesome tool to search for a good domain name. Also try leandomainsearch.com, an amazing site that gives about 300 domain suggestion to free members and is excellent for searching available domains.
Use a Thesaurus
If you feel stuck and you are having trouble when trying to choose your domain name then open up Thesaurus in another tab and a domain search tool in another and play around with all of your keywords and some others in thesaurus until something sounds right, then quickly put it in the search tool to check it’s availability. Having them all open at once saves you time.
Use a keyword generator or preferably a keyword popularity search tool to find good domains that are actually searched for and also register your Domain Name for 2 years or more. This will tell Search Engines that you are serious about your business and they will take more notice of you and your placement in their listings.
Good luck!
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