When you decide to start a website or blog the first question definitely will be the domain name. The success of your business is when people remember your domain name and enter it into their browsers easily. Here I describe few important things you need to know before choosing a domain name.
Small is beautiful!
You may be able to create a domain name with more than 60 characters. But it is wise to keep the name as short as possible. There are many advantages to a short domain name. It is easy to recognize, hard to misspell, easily adaptable to logos/billboards etc. Remember, domain names can have only letters, numbers and hyphen. Spaces and symbols are not allowed. Domain names are not case sensitive.
Your brand, your domain!
If you are searching a domain name for your new business/company, your choices are many. You can select one according to your interest and availability. But if you already have a brand/company name and you are planning to make it online it is nice to choose brand/company name as your domain name. So when people think of you they will definitely recollect your website address. A good domain name could be guessed from your company/brand name.
If your’s is a generic name, there is a good chance to somebody had already registered your name. In the web many people register attractive domain names to resell it in a high price later. So you can check with the owner of this domain name to know whether it is available for sale. If the price is reasonable for you, probably you should purchase it. Because your domain name is your brand. The best domain name is an investment.
Avoid Confusion!
If your are not ready to pay any huge amount, you can search for another name. Domain registrars suggest few combination names adding prefix/suffix/hyphen to your desired name. For example, ‘theyourname.com’, ‘yournameonline.com’, ‘yourname-new.com’, etc. Avoid such names because they are not only confusing but can be the violation of trademark rules.
Select few names of your choice, business type, location and discuss with your friends and clients for their opinion. Make sure that your domain name is not a common brand name or trademark. You can check this with the trademark database of your country.
Local vs. International
Do not go for a country specific extensions like ‘.us’, ‘.nz’, ‘.au’, etc. unless your business is local. If possible get a ‘.com’ domain because a ‘.com’ website is considered as international. It is the first and most popular extension people try when they search for a website.
Make it foolproof!
It is good to register related domain names. For example, if you choose ‘yourname.us’ remember to register other main TLDs (Top Level Domains) like ‘yourname.com’, ‘yourname.net’, etc. this will ensure that no one else will be able to register it in future. You can also register your full company name and an easy to remember shorter version. Some people even register common misspellings of their domain name. (You don’t need separate web pages for these domains. Many domain names can be directed to the same website.)
Avoid tricks!
Some people choose domain names using keywords such as ‘bestdesigner.com’. I don’t share this view. Such names generally considered as cheap trick for search engine ranking. Websites are primarily for users, not for search engines. Choose a domain suitable for your company, web promotion efforts are the second thing.
Now you are ready to proceed. Choose a reputed domain name vendor preferably one who provides an interface to manage your account. Go ahead and choose your first domain. Good luck!
Note: You could search for a dropped domain name. Dropped domain names are expired or deleted domains. Check thorughly before buying such domains to make sure it is not a penalized/blacklisted name by search engines.
great post, thanks for sharing