Do you put a lot of thinking when choosing a domain name? Is it even of any importance?
Think about it. If your website is actually that good and has amazing content, people are bound to visit no matter what the domain is, right?
Ok, hold on a second…
A domain name is key to your website. The factor that makes you or breaks you.
Now you must be wondering why a domain name can be that much crucial?
- Your first Impression: the URL will be the first thing a user will note on your site. The Impression puts on the user’s mind can be a lasting one.
- SEO: Keywords that are part of your domain name can affect your SEO and hence increase visitors to your site.
- Branding Opportunity: The right domain name to reflect your brand can be a perfect opportunity to increase brand recognition.
These are just a few reasons why you should put a considerable amount of thinking when choosing a brand name. For that reason, I will share with you some tips to choose a domain name.
Steps to choosing a perfect domain name:
- Brandable name rather than generic:
Domain names that are brand-able are always better than common generic names. Your domain name is a foundation for your company that users will use to look you up so better make it a brand name.
The main difference between a brandable domain and generic domain is that a brandable domain stands out from the competition and is unique.
Let me help you even more with these tips to choose a domain name :
a) Using existing words: utilizing a thesaurus might come in handy.
b) Making up your own words: Time to get creative!
c) Using domain name generators: these tools help create unique and fantastic domain names.
- Keep the name concise:
The general rule is as follows: the shorter the domain name is, the better it would be.
This rule is also the general trend that is seen when we take a look at the top website names. The fewer character ones are usually at the top.
- An Easy-to-Type name:
If you take a look at some of the top websites, you will see that their domain name is usually easy to type and remember, such as Facebook, Youtube, and Yahoo, etc.
The visitors to your website should have no problem in remembering the domain name of your site because this is their way back to your site. You would definitely not want your users to type a wrong spelling and end up at a different website!
The best way to check out whether your domain name is easy to remember or not is to make 10-15 people learn it and spell it back to you. If more than a half have issues remembering the name, it might be a sign to simplify the name.
- A name with an easy pronunciation:
Obviously, for your users to share your website name, they should be able to pronounce it. A name that is harder to speak is a name that is harder to convey. You might actually be losing potential visitors just because of your domain name.
The way to test this is just the same as the spelling one but this time you write the name down and let people read it to you. This way, you can check if the name is easy to pronounce or not.
- Avoiding the use of numbers and hyphens:
This one is definitely one of my main tips for choosing a domain name. As I said, domain names should be easy to spell and pronounce. Do you know what makes it tricky? Numbers and hyphens! Make your domain name smooth and use just letters!
- Keyword Usage:
Again, we can not forget about SEO. Keywords can help out in the SEO, and we need to consider this as well. Obviously, we cannot overcrowd the domain with keywords but including one at the beginning can boost your ranking and search-ability. This will act as a powerful boost to your ranking overall. Keywords can be found using tools such as Google Keyword Planner.
- Considering long term investments:
Your domain name will stick to you for years. Yes, it will be your identity. You must keep this detail in mind when you are choosing a domain name. Are you looking forward to expanding the business? If so, you have to take a domain name that will work in every aspect of your website even if you grow it in the future. Changing a domain name, later on, is a tedious task. It costs a lot of money and can ruin your rankings. So make a long term decision when you choose your domain name.
- Is your name available on other platforms?
Check out social media and trademarks to see if your name has been chosen before. You will definitely need to expand to other platforms and so will be needing that same name there as well. Stay away from already registered trademarks, or you could have legal issues later on.
- Domain Extensions:
This is another very crucial tip to choose a domain name. Yes, you have the title. Do you have the correct extension? .com is safe to use as it is easiest to remember. However, if it is taken, then go for the one that suits them best.
- Gather ideas using name generators:
Even if you don’t think that you can find a suitable name using a domain name generator, do use them as they can give you a good idea of what kind of name you want to have as your domain name. You can use Wordoid or DomainHole etc.
Summing up:
Your domain name will have a significant impact on your website, and so the right choice has to be made when choosing one. Hopefully, by following the tips to choose a domain name that I have provided, you will find a fantastic title that suits you!
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