Choosing a domain name is something you should give serious thought to. Not only does it affect your SEO rating, but also makes a difference to how memorable you are to visitors. Good domain names are easy to read and type, representative of the website’s purpose and preferably containing a valuable keyword that increases the site’s SEO score.
With so much to consider and also taking into account the factor of domain name availability, arriving at a perfect domain name for blog, your business, or personal website may be a daunting task. To help you with it, we’d like to present you with a few tips on how to choose a domain name.
- Make it unique
Your domain name should be as unique as your brand. Instead of picking up a word that is a generic representation of the industry you work in, choose a name that speaks about your brand and does so in a most catchy manner. You could look up synonyms or even invent your own spellings for common words to make it look chic.
Another reason that compels you to choose a unique domain name is that the generic ones are usually often taken and are available, if at all, at a premium price. You surely don’t want to pay that much for a domain name when you can create a more unique one with new word combinations.
- Choose a domain name that would be easy to pronounce globally
Take a domain name that your target audience can easily pronounce. People will be much more likely to remember and talk of a website name that they can speak out without any strain. If you are trying to gain access to an audience in another country, remember to also keep in mind the general accent and sounds of the language there while assessing how your website name sounds.
- See how quick and easy it would be to type out the name
In addition to reaching your website through a link, people are certain to get to the site by explicitly typing out the name. Considering the limited attention span and patience of an online audience, you could lose or gain based on how easily they can type what they are looking for. Analyzing for yourself, just think of the top websites of the world like Facebook and Google, and you’ll know why we insist on keeping a name that can easily be typed out. Any person, irrespective of their native language or the device they are using, can easily type these names without as much as a typographical error.
- Try to make it as short as possible
Research shows a direct correlation between domain name length and the corresponding website’s popularity. The core reason for this again comes down to the name being memorable and easy to share and type. Short website names are the trend and will continue to remain so. Therefore, unless you have a very specific phrase that you absolutely must include in your domain name, choose a name that is short and simple.
- Choose an appropriate domain name extension
The domain name extension adds to the readability and relatability of it. Extensions like .org or .me instantly give away the broad subject area of the website. However, it’s not always a wise idea to go for extensions this specific in scope. In spite of the availability of several new and unusual domain name extensions, .com continues to remain most popular and most intuitive. So, in case of any confusion, simply go with .com.
An exception to this rule is, using country specific domain name extensions. If your website talks specifically about a certain country or if you plan to do business in only that country, give more weightage to a country-specific extension like .in, .de etc when choosing a domain name for your website.
- Avoid special characters in the domain name
Special characters, unless absolutely necessary, add unnecessary complication to the website name. Any numbers, underscores, hyphens etc are best kept out of domain names. A letter-only name is most memorable and easy to share.
- Seek the assistance of a domain name generator software
There exist multiple sites on the Internet that help you build new and unusual domain names from the keywords that you enter. If you are unable to conjure up that perfect identity for your website, these automatic generators might lend you a helping hand. Therefore, don’t hesitate from doing a search of popular domain name generator sites and trying out a few of them for getting a range of options you could choose from.
- Keep long-term business goals in mind when selecting a domain name
Let’s say you have a website that sells umbrellas, but there is a chance you could eventually venture into making raincoats and selling them through the same site; then choosing a domain name that speaks solely about ‘umbrellas’ will put you in a fix later on when you are materializing your expansion plans. Avoid this by thinking long-term about your website’s name and in this specific case, for example, pick up something that establishes you as someone who sells rain accessories instead of just umbrellas.
- Don’t shy away from using your own name when choosing domain name for a personal blog you are building
If you are not particularly keen on blogging anonymously, giving your blog your own name would be a fine idea. You could tell people you know about it, and they will remember it intuitively. Moreover, if the blog gains popularity, you will gain recognition among people by your own name, and that, we believe, would be fantastic!
We hope this leads you into choosing the right domain name for your website that in turn leads you on to the path to riches!
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