12 Tips for Choosing the Right Domain Name

9 min read

Your domain name is the identity of your business. For shifting your business online and making your own website, you first need a domain name that is an indicator of your online presence. When it comes to the domain name, you should choose well to enhance your company’s marketing and sales. This article discusses the right ways of choosing your domain to ensure long term success of the business. Choose poorly and you may wind up starting all over again. The right domain name is one of the most essential ingredients of your website. It is imperative that you choose the best one possible. Of course, it’s also important to know how to do exactly that.

Your domain has a huge impact on your online visibility. I know getting the right domain is a hard decision to make, I personally gone through this process and it is quite a time consuming to figure out, what to consider while selecting the domain name? There are a lot of companies and services providers in the market offering affordable domains. Hopefully, accessing the right service provider would help you to find the ideal domain for your business.

Here, I am going to share with you some most amazing and beneficial tips to choose your domain that efficiently represent your brand and promote your product.

Choose Clear Words

Your domain name should be easy to type. One thing you must know is that your URL is made up of the domain name and its extension (www. DomainName. com). Long and confusing domains are annoying and people don’t bother to type them, anyways. Skip the abbreviated “u” for “you” or slang terms that may have unusual spellings. The words used in your domain should have traditional spellings so that you’re not endlessly spelling out the quirky word choices for would-be customers. you should choose the domain name that is relevant to your brand.

Use Keywords

Your domain doesn’t need to contain all keywords, but if you can fit in a relevant keyword somehow, you’ll be a bit ahead of the game. You should choose a keyword that fits naturally or don’t choose one at all. You don’t want to break other rules by making your domain name ridiculously long or strangely worded just to cram in a keyword. So before registering your domain, it is important to keep in mind a couple of keywords and you can mix and match them to get a perfect domain name.

Make It Easy to Remember and Type

Remember that your domain name is up to your brand and you have to make it memorable for the people. A domain name that is easy to remember is easy for customers to use. An easy to remember domain name is usually short, makes sense and doesn’t contain tricky spellings or easily misinterpreted number words or words that may have multiple spellings. In a best-case scenario, you’ll also be able to make the domain name catchy and memorable as well.

It is recommended to use short domain names and keep the domain length less than 15 characters, excluding the extension of the domain. make the domain very simple and try to avoid the numbers and hyphen, although you can use the words if they are compulsory or complementary to your business name. Try to not use the odd and weird spelling, it would have a very bad impression on your audie4nces and it would be hard for them to trust your brand. Also, try to avoid the double letters in your domain because you may lose your traffic to typos.

Make It Local

If you run a local business, include that local in your domain name. If you are a freelance graphic designer in Dallas, for example, consider making your domain name something like DallasGraphicDesigns.com so that you can easily snag local searches through the keyword and also help your customers realize that you are close to home and presumably easier to find and work with. It is very important to recognize your target audiences to make your website name more relevant to your audiences’ interests. There is no sense behind keeping a global domain when you know your business is for the local market.

Avoid Numbers and Hyphens

As tempting as it may be to get just the right keywords or phrase if you’re forced to use a hyphen or a numeral, skip that name and find another. Hyphens, or dashes, are confusing for would-be customers trying to type in your domain name. Using more numbers, a hyphen would decrease the overall readability of your domain and it became hard for your audiences to remember them. If they forget the dash, they can’t find the site and it’s hard even spell the website name out loud if you have the numeral 2 instead of the word two. So, make it simple, don’t use a lot of numbers and hyphens. Using the numbers or Hyphens is not recommended at all, especially numbers are not representing anything.

Find the Right Domain Extension

The domain name is the biggest part of the battle, but don’t forget about the extension .com is still the most sought-after extension, so it may be your first choice as well. That doesn’t mean other domain extensions won’t work – especially if you’re able to use the extension as part of your clever domain name. Remember, your domain extension says a lot about your business.

It is mostly recommended to go for .com extension if you really want to build a worldwide brand. As new extensions appear, like. guru and. nyc, you have a shot at a great keyword username without having to fight for a .com or .net. There are even trade-specific domains like. photography or .me for personal blogs and websites. Just remember that some domain extensions like .org have specific meanings, in this case, a website that is tied to a non-profit or non-commercial organization. There are many users still not know the TLDs exist and when they see any new TLD they feel hesitation to click on it. the users like .com extension and they normally use this extension in URL, so you should make it easy for the user to type your URL by using .com extension.

You cannot always use the .com extension, there are some rules to use the extensions for the domain name. Primarily, if your website is intended to offer a product to a local audience, it is better to go for local TLD. It will give your audiences more awareness about your product and increase your reliability by making it clear your product is for their company as you have used local TLD.

Still, you must not limit your business to the local domain. In the future, especially, if you want to expand your business, and you don’t want someone to take your .com. so, it is good if you have started thinking of your future and already buy a .com version of your domain.

In the end, though you want to target the local audiences, in the long run, you can benefit by getting the .com also. Besides, meanwhile, your local domain can be linked with your .com extension. By doing this, DNS domain will allow you’re the audiences to end up on your website, even if they are either .com or local extension address.

Make it Brandable and Protect the Brand

While choosing the domain name, must keep in mind that it is not just limited to the URL but later on you have to brand to the customers. The website name you choose should work as part of your overall brand and you must choose catchy names for websites. If it’s too messy to brand or unspecific to what you’re doing with your company, it will be hard to make into a brand message. Choose brandable domain names that you can easily use in advertisements, letterhead and email addresses and then protect that brand by buying up the other domain extensions and registering trademarks as necessary to give yourself some breathing room on the clever name and business you’re building. Remember to also buy common misspellings to redirect to your site as part of this process.

Be Mindful of Other Trademarks

As you are choosing domain names, be mindful that others may have had similar ideas. Do not choose a domain name that is very similar to another name running the same sort of business you are. When you effectively copy someone else’s domain name and their branding you’re opening yourself up for trademark violations and even lawsuits. Don’t use the domain names similar to the competitors’ products.

Your competitors may be doing very well, good for them, buy it may not always work for you. Just because now in trend, but in the internet world things change rapidly. When you are copying others, you may lose your authenticity and innovation. Stay away from strange spellings and using lots of numbers or hyphens. Try to keep it focused and easy to remember.

Even if you accidentally choose something that creates an overlap, you’ll still find yourself in trouble and starting the whole process over. It’s better to do your research the first time and find a name that you can use freely and without concern.

Make It Intuitive

If you sell pasta, your domains should reflect pasta. If you sell hiking gear, your domain name should reflect this. If it works for both pasta and hiking gear, you may need to make another choice unless your pasta is designed to be cooked on the trail. It is an essential part of your brand and in order to stand out your brand, you have to keep it unique and relevant at the same time. If your product name is already occupied by someone else you can go for alternative spelling or some slang word, why not? For choosing the right name for your domain, you must have string idea in mind. It is very important for your domains to be expressive and give the audiences a strong idea about your business and product.

When a would-be customer reads your domain name, he should have a pretty good idea of what you’re selling, even if your website name is only loosely tied to your wares. A domain name about Italy still translates to pasta. Likewise, a domain about nature will tie to hiking gear.

If Necessary Close is Good Enough

With so many websites in existence, it may be a challenge to find just the right domain name. This is especially true if you have a business established before you start your website. The business you built in your hometown will eventually need a website. Choosing the right domain is not mean, you have to include your product name in the domain, for example, if you are selling shoes, you may not find the exact website for shoes, now you have to make it a bit unique amend try to be close enough to the original brand.

If the domain name that ties to your business name is taken, it’s fine to be close to your company name without matching it exactly. Joe’s Motors can easily become JoesMotorsSanDiego.com if necessary. In fact, including your location will help your customers know where you’re located, which is a big plus for brick and mortar businesses.

Use a Domain Tool

There are many domain tools out there to help you make a choice when it comes to finding clever and workable names. Using a domain tool – and there are countless free ones on the web will let you input keywords and ideas and then brainstorm with the help of technology on what might be workable and what is already taken and registered to someone else. Confusing and unrelated domain will make people doubt about your authenticity.

The domain tool is a bulk domain checker that helps you in finding the ideal domain that is suitable for your business by instant domain search. You can also try the domain name generators to find the top level domain ideas for your business. These generators would provide you website name suggestion for your business and if your desired website name is already taken, these tools would recommend you some related alternatives for your website name.

Buy and Then Design

Finally, when you have found a website name that works, buy it right then and there. Domains aren’t expensive and it’s better to buy it and hold it than risk losing it. Don’t start building the brand and website around the website name until you actually own the domain name and are certain it works. No sense putting the cart before the horse when it comes to expensive and time-intensive website development.

Most of the time the problem happens, when you start building your brand before buying any domain name. Buying the domain name is the first thing you should do because once you have started building your brand, you must find the domain that clearly complements your brand identity and most of the times, it will never happen. So ideally, you should first buy the website name and once you got the name, you can brand your products.

The right website name can be the basis of a new brand or a great extension of your current business. You will be working from this domain indefinitely, so it is absolutely worth the time and effort to get it right the very first time.

Conclusion

In this article, I have shared with you some of the most amazing tips to choose the right domain for your business. the techniques that are mentioned in this article would help you to find an ideal domain relevant to your business. The perfect domain name is one of the most essential ingredients of your website. There are a lot of services providers in the market offering good and affordable domains. Complex domains are annoying and people don’t bother to type them. Before doing the domain registering, it is important to keep in mind a couple of keywords and you can mix and match them to get a perfect domain name. You cannot always use the .com extension, there are some rules to use the extensions. The domain tools can also help you to find the right domain that is appropriate with your business.

Do ask me, if you have any query about the domain name selection or registrations.

If you think this article is used, do share it in your circle.

25 thoughts on

12 Tips for Choosing the Right Domain Name

  • Mike

    You gave some really good tips on choosing the right domain name. One I believe most people will never think about are the keywords. Excellent tip … thank you for sharing

    • Oleg Calugher

      Hi Mike,

      Welcome to Temok and thank you for the comment,
      Glad to know that you liked the tips,

      Yeah, keywords are always important and having them in the domain name can be helpful especially if you are going for a micro niche site that needs to be focused on a particular long-tail keyword,

      thanks,
      – Oleg

  • Mairaj

    Hi Oleg,

    You did a fantastic job and shared with us such an amazing information in shape of this quality article but my question is, as we already know that now Google doesn’t give value to EMDs now a days because most of the professionals think that exact match domains are one of the biggest reasons of Google penalty.

    So they use PMDS partial match domains instead of EMDS as well as choose branded domain. EMDs work well in Launch jacking affiliate marketers earn thousands of dollars with this technique.

    Many thanks for your lovely share 🙂

    Regards

    Mairaj

    • Oleg Calugher

      Hi Mairaj,

      welcome to Temok and thank you for the comment,

      thanks,
      – Oleg

  • Ryan Biddulph

    Hi Oleg,

    Great tips. Intuitive sites are clear sites. I chose my domain based on my lifestyle. I blog from paradise. I want to help folks retire to a life of island hopping through smart blogging. So you betcha I chose Blogging From Paradise and thank goodness the domain availed itself. I thought it’d be gobbled up. But no twas not. Thank goodness for me because it fit my brand message like a glove. It’s so worth putting in the time to think through your domain name. I see too many unclear, unbranded, non-intuitive site names that only gain traction after year’s worth of networking on the site owner’s part, like they needed to be trusted before the domain name could gain trust. Better to get the domain name right from Day 1 so people can easily get your prime benefit.

    Awesome tips overall Oleg. Thanks for sharing with us 🙂

    Ryan

    • Oleg Calugher

      Hi Ryan,

      thank you for the comment,
      Love your domain, exactly on topic and totally brandable.

      Completely agree with you, best to take out some time and think about the domain first. Most of my blogs have good domains, catchy, on topic and relevant.

      thanks,
      – Oleg

  • Nidhi Thakur

    Hello Oleg,

    You shared some good tips for choosing the right domain. Thanks for sharing such types post. I know choosing a domain name is too much difficult. I’m completely disappointed when I searched some good domain and found they are already in use. So in last I select my own name as a domain.
    I hope your post helpful for those who are trying to choose the right domain name.
    Your post is awesome and I love your writing way!

    • Oleg Calugher

      Hey Nidhi,

      welcome to Temok and thank you for the comment,

      For a blog, using your personal name as the domain is a good idea. That way, your readers will be able to better connect with you,
      Glad to know that you liked the article,

      thanks,
      – Oleg

  • Aigen DM

    Hi Oleg,

    Good post as usual.

    To be intuitive could be the best point you talk about. Also, for SEO purposes to combine brand and keyword could be a good option.

    Nice to read your blog!

    • Oleg Calugher

      Hi Aigen,

      thank you for the comment,

      Yeah, having the brand and the keyword in the domain is perhaps the best thing to do for micro niches. Keeping it short at the same time could be difficult but surely worth it.

      thanks,
      – Oleg

  • Anyinature Damasta

    Though choosing the right name for a domain matters but i dont think it really matters on a business website.

    I have seen some business websites with lots of worst name you cant imagine but this websites makes more sales than the one with cool names.

    Anyway this is a nice information and tips.

    Happy Blogging

  • Philip Verghese Ariel

    Hi Olega, and Uttoransen,
    I found this amazing post share on the pages of Bizsugar today and I upvoted the post and posted the following comment there.
    It is indeed a wonderful post to bookmark, As I said will go through once again before is proceed. Best .
    Great tips shared in this post
    It is good to check these tips before we go for a new domain name. I am planning to go for a new one shortly, I am sure i keep and follow these tips shared before i go for the next one. Great info.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Have a great day
    Best
    ~Philip

    • Oleg Calugher

      Hi Philip,

      Welcome to Temok and thank you for the comment,
      Good to know that BizSugar is sending us visitors, am a big fan of Anita and her BizSugar Social site.

      When I go for a new domain, I look for both branded and targeted ones. That way, you get all the benefits.
      Keep us updated with your new venture and best of luck,

      Thanks,
      Oleg

  • Harish Negi

    recently changed the name of my blog after 2 years of blogging. The experience was leaning. I wish I had read your article before selecting the new name. Superb explanation.

    • Oleg Calugher

      Hey Harish,

      welcome to Temok and thank you for the comment,

      Name changes can be difficult, once you brand your business – the name becomes important. Moving out of it is hard and promoting a new name is even harder. Good to know that you have already gone through the process.

      Thanks,
      – Oleg

  • Bashir Ahmed

    Hi Oleg,

    Wonderful tips you’ve shared with us for choosing the right domain. Next month I’m about to purchase few domain for our new sites and your tips will really help us. I’m going to share this post with my site partner to follow your tips.

    Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    • Oleg Calugher

      Hi Bashir,

      Welcome to Temok and thank you for the comments,

      Good to know that you are planning to expand further with some fresh new domains. Do let us know more about the sites that you are planning to create and will share your posts on the social media,

      thanks,
      – Oleg

  • Zequek Estrada

    Making sure that the name of your domain relates directly to what your site is about is great advice. It’s so confusing when it doesn’t relate. Sometimes it’s even misleading. For the most part, I think it would help to keep in mind who you’re targeting.

  • Jimmy

    Hi,

    We must use a brandable name for domain name since it will be easier to remember and people tend to remember the name as well.

    Thanks

  • Brayden Brade

    That’s great advice to choose a domain that’s easy to remember and type. My cousin and I just started a business and are starting to focus on branding. We’ll keep this in mind when choosing our name.

    • Oleg Kaluger

      Hey Brayden,

      Welcome to Temok and thank you for the comment,
      always good to hear about new business startups, do let us know when you buy your domain and will share it on the social media,

      thanks,
      – Oleg

  • Steve

    Great tips on choosing the right domain name, with branded names it will be much easier to remember. thanks for sharing

  • Dave

    Thanks for the tips! I have always spent a lot of time picking domain names to ensure they give an impression of my authority.

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