Choosing a domain name is a crucial first step in building your online brand, as it can significantly impact your online presence. However, finding the perfect domain name can be challenging.
While millions of domain names exist, many common and memorable ones are already registered. Fortunately, you can still find the right domain name if you follow a simple process and get a little creative.
A creative and memorable domain name is always better than a generic one. Your domain name is how people find, remember, and share your business on the internet. Using a domain name that aligns with your brand is much better than using one that includes a bunch of generic keywords.
For example, can you see the difference between cheapcarinsurance.com and affordableautoinsurance.com? Which website would you trust to buy insurance from? Probably neither. Both sound spammy and very generic.
On the other hand, you probably know where the domain names progressive.com or geico.com lead. These companies have invested in their brand and use that branding in their domain name. You can trust that these websites are credible.
Even if you haven’t built trust and loyalty yet, you can start by choosing a strong domain name that aligns with your brand.
When choosing the extension or TLD for your domain name, “.com” is still the best choice unless you have a reason to choose otherwise.
While Google confirms that TLD choice doesn’t impact rankings, it still impacts consumer perception. Many people view other TLDs as less trustworthy.
However, .net or .org extensions aren’t uncommon, so they can be good secondary choices if you find the perfect name and your desired .com extension isn’t available.
But if you do decide to go with a domain name extension other than “.com,” make sure you investigate what kind of website is currently using the .com extension. It’s possible that someone searching for your brand could accidentally land there. If the website has questionable or offensive content, you should avoid that name.
As for domain length, shorter is better. Search engines—especially Google—like domain names that are easy to understand and are exactly what they say they are. URLs filled with numbers and special characters can hurt your ranking in search engines.
Your domain name should be as short as possible while still reflecting what your website is about. Short domain names are easier to read, take up less space on marketing materials, and are easier for visitors to remember.
The downside of short domain names is that fewer of them are available. But if your brand name is 100% unique or has another creative element, you might find one that works for you.
So what length is acceptable? Try to stay within the 6- to 14-character range, preferably on the shorter side of this range. Whatever domain name you choose, it has to be memorable. It should be simple enough for anyone to spell and type.
If your chosen domain name has passed this first test, ensure that it’s also easy to pronounce for word-of-mouth referrals. Use the ten-friend test as a guide. Write the domain name down and ask your friends to pronounce it. If no one has trouble with it, then you have your winner.
Think of some popular websites like Yahoo, Amazon, Reddit, and Twitter. They’re all short and easy to spell. If you make the wrong choice, chances are many of your visitors will end up on someone else’s website.
Imagine asking ten friends to spell or pronounce a domain name that’s full of numbers and hyphens. That’s not going to work. If you choose a domain name with those elements, you will likely lose traffic to people who can’t remember your domain name or can’t explain to others how to find it. We probably wouldn’t have Facebook today if you had to go to Face-Book.com to get to the website.
Both large and small brands run into problems when others use their protected names. Even if you just made an innocent mistake, the legal hassles and having to redesign your web presence can be costly.
You can avoid these situations by using a trademark search engine before you make your final choice.
Domain names and websites are long-term investments. So you should avoid choosing a domain name that contains the latest buzzword or year. Think about where your business or brand might be in five or ten years. If you’re offering basic SEO services now, you might eventually expand your services as your business grows. So the words “Marketing” or “Digital Marketing” might be better descriptors than “SEO Services.”
If you aren’t feeling creative, you can use a domain name generator to find ideas. Just enter a few words or phrases that describe your brand or website, and these tools will show you a list of ideas that you can then check for availability.
