How Do I Choose The Right Domain Name?

How Do I Choose The Right Domain Name?

When it comes to choosing the right domain name for your business website, it is crucial to get it right. Choosing the wrong name can be detrimental. This can cause problems in the future if you want to change it, as it will hurt your brand, as well as cause SEO problems.

This is why it is very important to choose the correct domain from the start.

When you first decide to have a business website, it can often be very daunting to choose which name to use. You want something catchy, as well as being a name that best represents your brand.

We’ve put together a list of helpful idea’s and tips to choosing the name that best suits your business website. If you would like any more information, get in touch with us today for some more helpful advice.

Choosing Your Domain Name

Stick With A .com Domain

Make Sure To Use Keywords In Your Domain Search

Stick To A Short Domain Name

Remember To Keep It Easy To Spell And Pronounce

Make It A Unique And Brand Friendly Name

Try To Avoid Using Any Hyphens

Avoid Using Double Letters

Leave Plenty Of Room To Expand

Make Sure To Research Your Name

Consider Using Domain Name Generators

Get In Quickly Before It’s Bought By Somebody Else

1: Stick With A .com Domain

There are so many new domain name extensions nowadays. You can even have place names as extensions. These range from .london to .paris. However, unless you are targeting a niche geo audience, we would usually recommend a .com domain

While it can be tempting to come up with clever blog names using new extensions, .com is still the most established and credible domain name extension. The most credible and established domain name extension is without a doubt a dot com one.

It has also been found that many internet users will type dot com at the end of a domain if they are not tech savvy.

Most smartphones also have a .com button when people are typing in a domain name, making it easier to locate your website.

2. Make Sure To Use Keywords In Your Domain Search

Using keywords in your domain helps to tell search engines what your website is about. When you compose food quality content and good UX, the keywords will help you to rank higher in Google.

When you look for a domain, it can often be difficult to find one that has your keywords in it. Therefore, you need to be creative and combine your keywords with other words. This will help to make your domain stand out a lot better.

3. Stick To A Short Domain Name

Short and sweet is the key here. You don’t want or need to have a domain that is long winded and difficult to remember. The recommendation is to keep your domain name no longer than 15 characters. The longer it is, the harder it will be for users to remember it.

If it is a longer domain name, it can also lead to typos, which in turn will lead to a loss in traffic volume.

That’s why it’s a good idea to keep your domain length short.

4. Remember To Keep It Easy To Spell And Pronounce

You should be able to easily share your domain name when speaking as well as writing. You never know when you’ll be asked to share your domain name in person.

This is key, as you should be able to share your domain name in written and oral form. You could be with a potential client who wants to check out your website, and it needs to be easy to relay it verbally.

If you’re going to use your domain to create a professional email address also, then that needs to be simple and easy to pronounce and spell as well.

5. Make It A Unique And Brand Friendly Name

You need to keep your domain name unique. It needs to stand out in your visitors minds. A good idea is to research competitors and see what names they are using.

You also need to make sure that you are not using a name that has been trademarked, or even one that is slightly similar to another website name.

You should also consider using a name that is very brandable.

Brandable domain names are unique, catchy, and memorable. For example, “Google.com” is a much more brandable name than “BuySecondHandCarsInLondonUK.com.”

6. Try To Avoid Using Any Hyphens

Its a good idea not to create a domain that has hyphens in it. This can lead to search engines thinking that it is spam, and could affect your website ranking.

The other problem when using a hyphen is that it can lead to typos by users. For example you might have a similar domain name to your competitor. If a user forgets the hyphen, then the chances are they will end up at your competitors site.

7. Avoid Using Double Letters

Try also to avoid picking a domain that has double letters in it. This can often result in typos, and end up losing you traffic to your website.

Avoiding doubled letters will also make your domain easy to type and more brandable.

8. Leave Plenty Of Room To Expand

Try to choose a domain name that relates to your industry or niche business. This gives your users an idea of what your website is about. Just don’t limit your options too much, in case you need to change in the future.

An example of this might be if you are a party supplies shop and you choose a domain called “balloonsforhire.com”. However, your business may start to branch out into other areas such as bouncy castles and balloon hire might be a secondary part of your business.

If you then find that you need to move your site to a new domain, it can be frustrating, and cause SEO problems with your Google rankings. This is why you need to have a flexible domain name from the word go.

9. Make Sure To Research Your Name

One of the first things that you will need to do before registering a domain name is to research it. Make sure that there is no other business that is using the same name.

If you are concerned about trademark and copyright, you can do a trademark search to make sure your chosen name has not already been registered.

If you are going to be using Social Media to promote your business, which we highly recommend, then it is worth your while to check the availability of usernames.

Not only could it cause confusion to users if you have a similar name, but could have legal implications also.

When your website is up and running, it is a good idea to look at how to trademark and copyright your website.

10. Consider Using Domain Name Generators

Currently, there are more than 360 Million registered domain names. This leads to many people saying that all good domains are already taken.

Worldwide, there are over 360 million domain names which have been registered. This often leads to people saying that there are no good domains available. However, this does not have to be the case. You could search manually for a domain name, but using a Domain Name Generator is a quicker and more efficient option to consider.

Essentially, they are free tools which will search for domain names based upon the keywords which you input. They will suggest unique and clever domain name ideas for you.

A quick Google search will find you a host of different domain name generators. If you have been struggling to find a name, then these are a very valid and good option to use. One of the oldest domain name generators which is worth looking at using is Nameboy.

11. Get In Quickly Before It’s Bought By Somebody Else

Due to the fact that thousands of domains are registered worldwide on a daily basis, it is a good idea to register your new name as soon as possible. This will reduce the risk of somebody else choosing it and registering it.