Choosing a domain name is the first impression of your website. A good domain can leave a positive reaction, while a bad domain can send visitors away and affect your SEO rankings. Here a few key guidelines to follow when choosing your domain name:
Domain Name Length
Shorter names are easier to remember and type and generally stand out better. Stick to two to three words.
.Com is Best
There are different extensions you can use, “.com,” “.org” “.net” but .com is the standard and it is what people trust. Going with a unique extension like .tech or .construction can work for specific industries, but it’s not what people typically remember the easiest.
Simplicity
People need to be able to remember your website name. Choose a name that is easy to spell and type correctly. Avoid numbers and hyphens in your name. Deliberately misspelled words can make your name harder to type and people may think your site is a phishing or malware site.
Branding With Your Domain Name
Make sure your website name and domain name match. You don’t want to confuse people by using two different names. Domain names define your brand and improve brand recognition. Choose a name that is unique and avoid overly generic names. Try using a thesaurus or a domain name generator to search for interesting words that fit your brand.
If nothing else you could try inventing some catchy new words like Google, Bing, or Yahoo. However, these kinds of names do little to explain what your company does. A good way to determine if you should use a made-up word is to ask yourself, can you describe what your company does in one-to-two words, and is it easily understood by the average person? If not, consider creating a new word for your company name.
Keywords in Your Domain Name
Including keywords in the name helps make your domain name easier to find and lets visitors know at a glance what they are looking at. Are you a restaurant? A bank? An auto repair? What city/area do you operate in? Including this information in your domain name can improve your SEO rankings.
Think Long Term
Choose well when picking a domain name for your company because you are going to be stuck with it for a long time. Changing your domain name will cost you time, money, branding, and your all-important SEO rankings. Having a domain name with niche keywords might be good when you are starting out but be careful not to pin yourself down to one niche. For example, say you have a company that does website design. You name your site “coolwebsitedesign.com.” A few years later, you expand your business to include online marketing and shift away from web design. Now your old domain name is a problem. Make sure you also choose a name that gives you room to grow as a company.
Domain Name Availability
Domain names have to be unique from each other. To avoid legal issues, your domain name does not include existing trademarks. Check your desired domain names such as ICANN Lookup to make certain there are no conflicts.
Have an idea of the domain name you’d like to use? Our team can help you make a decision for your business and acquire the domain you’re after.
Request a consultation and we can help you navigate choosing a domain name that fits your business!
