9 tips on how to choose the best domain name for a blog or website
Picking a domain name for your website is an important aspect of your online presence. You should consider many names before you choose your final one as this will be your online identity. There are some tips on how to choose a great domain name that represents your brand. You’ll want to use these tips when narrowing down your choices to ensure that your domain name is the best that it can be.
Branding
Your website will stand out ahead of your competitors if you have a specific type of branding that you use for your online presence. The domain name that you choose is part of this identity. It’s best if you avoid the use of hyphens or numbers — they really can’t be associated with a brand, and they sound funny when you say them out loud.
– Cupcake-shop.com is difficult to say and is also hard to say out loud.
– Cupcakebakingshop.com is too long and not unique.
– CupcakeLabs.com has a flair to it and stands out.
Become Memorable
You only have about 8 seconds to impress your visitors when they land on your website. Your goal is to get them to click on a link that will actually take them to one of your pages. If you have a memorable domain name, this is going to be much easier. When you create your list of potential domain names, go through the list and say each one out loud to some friends. See if your friends can repeat any of them back to you. Focus on those domain names that your friends remember the most.
Say It Out Loud
It is important to choose a domain name that sounds great when you say it out loud. This makes it easier to remember and easier to brand. Human brains will remember a name that is easier to pronounce. If people have any type of difficulty spelling your domain name, it’s probably best to find another one. Try using names that are easy to remember and combine those together to form your domain name.
Short and Sweet
Having a domain name that contains just a few words is going to be easier to remember and brand than one that has multiple letters. However, you don’t want to go overboard with how short you make your homepage URL. It’s better to use a domain name like slotsdaily.co.uk than slotsd.co.uk. If you take out a portion of letters, it may just be confusing.
Use a .com Extension
There’s a multitude of extensions that you can use with your domain name. You could use .network, .services or even .solutions. While it may seem tempting to choose one of these unique extensions, it’s still best to use a .com extension with your domain name. This still has the highest respect by search engines like Google and that means a lot when you are trying to rank your website. If you can’t get the .com extension, use .net for .org if you really have your heart set on a specific domain name.
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Trademark Infringement
You should avoid using names that are trademarked when you’re purchasing your domain name. A company has already chosen a name that is associated with their brand. You can actually get sued by a company if you infringe on their trademarked name. Choose a word that is associated with that brand, and this will ensure that you won’t face any legal troubles.
Utilize Keywords
If you’re starting a website, you probably have a main theme that your content will reflect. If you run a business that offers golf club repair services, you might want to incorporate some of these keywords in your domain name. You can discover which keywords are being searched for the most by using the Google Keyword Planner too.
Go Broad
While it might be good for you to use certain keywords in your domain name, don’t be afraid to use a couple of words that are associated with your market but do not specifically identify the products or services that you sell. Companies such as Google.com or Amazon.com have clearly become top brands without using keywords in their domain names. Instead of using BuyTiresOnline.com, you could use RollingTread.com.
Target Your Region
One option that you can take when creating your domain name is to use the name of the city where your business is located. Residents in Sacramento will probably notice a domain name like SacramentoWindows.com if they are searching for windows stores in the Sacramento area. This type of domain name barks interest when people are conducting searches in their local area.
Conclusion
By utilizing these 9 tips when you create your domain name, it will help with your branding, and eventually, you will see it transition into more sales for your online business or personal brand.