Choosing A Domain Name

What’s in a domain name? In a word, everything. Your domain name is, for all intents and purposes, your online identity. Choosing  A Domain Name is like choosing a name for your baby: You want to choose a name that fits just right, one that is memorable for all the right reasons.

Just like your child will have his or her name for the rest of their life, the domain name you choose should be one that can last for the online life of your business. When you make your own website, your domain name should be one of the first things you consider.

But choosing a domain name is more than just choosing what sounds good. A domain name works hard for your business, so the choice needs to be one made carefully. Here are a few tips to help make your decision a little easier.

1. Include Your Target Keyword

When it comes to Choosing A Domain Name, using your target niche keyword or chosen brand within the domain name is very beneficial as far as search engine optimisation (SEO) goes. Adding to that, having your target keyword as close to the left of your domain name is even better.

For example if your target keyword is “gardening” you would be much better having gardeningforpleasure.com than besttipsongardening.com. If these two sites were exactly the same, the first one would achieve higher search engine rankings than the second, simply due to the keyword placement within the URL.

2. Keep It Brief

No one wants to have to try to remember a domain name with 84 letters. Give your potential customers a break and choose a name that is as short as possible. It still has to be memorable and easily associated with your business. Use this as a general rule: The human brain can most easily remember up to seven digits (that’s why phone numbers are seven digits!).

Short domain names are becoming extremely rare these days, but if you can be creative, you just may find what you are looking for. Failing this, the next best thing would be using a short, easy to remember phrase containing your keyword (see point 1).

3. The Dot Com Is Usually Best

The most common website extension (the part after the “dot”) is “com”. It’s the most-often attempted suffix for web users who can’t remember an exact URL, and it’s the oldest extension. So, if you want your business to have an air of legitimacy, longevity and permanence, and to be easily found online, choose a domain name with a .com extension.

An exception to using a dot com would be, say: If you are promoting a product solely for an Australian audience, you would be better to go with the .com.au extension, as a percentage of Australian internet users will specify to search for products and services within Australia only.

4. Fire Your Lawyer

Well, at least tell them to put away their trademarks textbook. Why? Because you are going to promise, no, vow, to steer clear of any trademarked names in your quest for the perfect domain name. Once upon a time, companies would simply write a cheque to the owner of a site containing their trademarked name and make the problem go away. It’s not that way anymore. If you step on the wrong toes, you’ll find yourself seated next to your lawyer at a very nice mahogany table. It’s not worth all that. Choose something else.

5. Grab Your Domain Name Now

Every day, more and more domain names are being taken off the market. If you want to increase your chances of getting the domain name you want, act fast. Otherwise, you’ll have to settle for something less than perfect and that can have a significant impact on your business’ identity.

6. Cover Your Bases

Yes, it’s always better to register the “.com” version of a domain name as your principle domain, but if you want to prevent someone else from swooping in and registering a site that is too close for comfort to yours, register your domain with all available extensions. You may also want to register common misspellings of your company’s name and possible abbreviations. Don’t worry, you don’t need a separate website for each domain name. They can all point to the same site. It’s just a matter of protecting your company’s identity.

7. Keep It Simple

Although you can use any combination of dashes, letters and numbers in your domain name, keeping it as simple as possible will serve you best. The simpler the name, the easier it will be to remember. And bear in mind that your name cannot contains symbols (such as an ampersand) or spaces, and they are not case-sensitive.

8. Take A Poll

Toss out a few of your possible domain names to some friends. What is their reaction? Ask them a couple of days later if they remember the name you told them. If they can’t, it’s not a good choice. Ask them to spell the domain name to you. Did they get it right? If not, maybe it’s too difficult to spell. Ask them to explain to you why they think you chose that name. If they have trouble decoding your name, revisit your choice.

9. Don’t Sell The Farm

Registering a domain name doesn’t have to be costly. Shop around for the best rate!

Hopefully this article has given you a few tips to consider when Choosing A Domain Name. Your domain name is a very important part of the equation for SEO, branding and website traffic, so it’s best to choose wisely right from the beginning.

Thanks for stopping by!
Scotty S. ©2009

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