How to choose a domain name

I will not bore you explaining the importance of choosing a brandable domain name in getting success online. There are many factors which need to be considered to make your domain name stand alone. Even the people with strong hold on a niche and a potential idea, fail to get success online because they underestimate the importance of few factors. Underestimating the importance of domain name stands first in that list of neglected things.

If you are sure that you could answer the below questions, you could proceed reading the rules for choosing a great domain name skipping these questions.

1. What is a brandable domain name and have you chosen a brandable domain name for your new business or blog?
2. What is the importance of domain name as applied to search and importance of domain name in ranking?
3. Do you know that no more a keyword rich domain name makes  it more relevant to that particular topic? What did Sr.Product Manager at Bing said about this?
4. Will your domain name impact your SEO and social media marketing?
5. Is your domain name directly correlated with increased click through rates?

If you do not know answer to any of the above questions, consider reading the article about importance of domain name immediately or else continue reading this current article on how to choose a domain name. Read: Importance of domain name in getting success online.

Rules for choosing a great domain name

Domain name should match your brand name

Though it is not compulsory, it is always better to choose a domain name that matches your brand name and if possible see that it is meaningful and does not need any explanation.Your domain name need not match your brand name if you do not expect search traffic and expect traffic only from your loyal customers, traffic from social media like Facebook and Twitter, referral traffic.

Make a note of relevant keywords

Brainstorm few keywords which will best describe the website or blog you are starting. If you have started a local ice cream parlor and planning to launch a website for the same, then make a note of related keywords like vanilla, cream, ice, chocolate bar  and so on. Now start thinking for a good match by adding prefixes or suffixes or your name.

Share with your friends and everyone you know

Domain name should not be the one which you like. It should be the one which majority of the people like. Take suggestions and do a thorough research on what your customers might like.

Choose a unique domain name

Never select a domain name that is very close to an established domain. Never choose a domain name that is either plural or hyphenated form of an established domain. This will never help you and cannot survive in the internet doing so. Will it help, if your domain name is mygoogle.com or hellogoogle.com or something else? Choose a domain name that is unique and original.

Keep it very short and see that it is easy to type

Choose yourwebsite.com instead of urwebsite.com . Avoid using misspelled words. When someone who might have heard about your website tries to reach your site, it would become difficult for them to reach your site and will end up landing in a different website.

Catchy domain name

There are millions of registered domain names and everyday thousands of new domain names are being registered. Everyone will not bookmark your website after visiting once. So see that the domain name is memorable.

Avoid hyphens and numbers

Say your domain name is spinfold1.com and when you say about your site to someone, it is obvious that he or she will misunderstand it to be spinfoldone.com. So avoid using hyphens and numbers as people easily forget them and land in a different site trying to reach your site.

Choose a domain name with your targeted keyword

To some extent search engines give priority to a domain name with high ranking keyword. The top SEO blogs and even the domain registrars suggest to choose a domain name with the targeted keyword of your blog or website. I personally disagree and believe that the domain name should be generic. I can support my statement quoting that the search engine page ranking schemes are so evolved these days that they no more blindly rank based on domain name.

Search for copyright infringement before you buy

Check the copyright records at sites like copyright.gov to know about the copyright ownership. See that you are not infringing on anyone’s copyright as this might cost you a lot.

.COM should be your first choice

.COM is the most popular extension on planet earth. When we say about our website to someone, they will assume that the extension is .COM. So give your top priority to .COM and if not available then try .NET only if the domain name of your choice with .COM extension is not an established domain.

Purchase immediately

Never delay the purchase of domain name as they are hot cakes and sell very quickly. Domain registrars like GoDaddy and BigRock will help you in purchasing the domain and will also suggest you the alternate domain names that are available and will help you in choosing a good domain name.To buy a domain name you can read – How to buy a domain name of your own.

Web Hosting services offer a free domain name

Webhosting providers like iPage offer a free domain name for one year, so consider such offers instead of registering domain name at one place and hosting at different place. These hosting services also offer all the features provided by any other domain registrar, so you need not think on doing this. Consider reading this and decide on doing it. iPage review and our experience.

Never use domain selection tools

Many suggest to use the domain name selection tools which generate many combinations of meaningless words based on the keyword we have provided. In my opinion it is a complete waste of time and just focus on the above mentioned points to figure out your domain name.

Check if the name is available in social media sites

Having the same name across all the social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and so on will obviously solidify your website. So before buying a domain, check whether the name is available or not on social media sites.Knowem.com is one such service which will help you in knowing whether the domain name is available across popular social networks.

Think differently

I will conclude saying that only thinking differently will help you finding the best domain name that suits your blog or website. Whwn we try to register a domain name after selecting a good one, we end up seeing that its already taken. You need not worry as everyone faces this situation and even I have come through this tedious task. Try using a thesaurus or dictionary to find similar words or try using the Google Translate to find the word of your choice in a different language.

Now that you know how to choose a domain name, you can proceed and read How to buy a domain name.

If you do have any doubts or any suggestion, please do write in the comments section and we are here to hear from you.