How much thought do you need to put into choosing your domain name? Is it that important? Choosing a domain is similar to selecting a company name. It requires a lot of thought and consideration. Your domain is your identity on the web; you want to make sure you choose a domain that fits your business and is easy to find and promote. Keep reading and learn how to choose the best domain name that is perfect for your needs, check top tips for it here.
Choosing a domain name is the first thing you need to do when starting your site. It’s not an easy job. You might find it difficult after discovering that all the cool names are registered. Because of the unavailability of desirable names, many people go with a random name and make some common mistakes. I will share 14 tips for choosing a domain name to avoid those mistakes and make things easier for you. In addition, we’ll review the Domain registration process.
1. Keyword Rich Vs Branded Domain
The very first thing you need to decide whether you want to choose a keyword-rich domain or a branded domain name. If you don’t know the difference between the two types of domains, here’s an example for you.
- Keyword Rich Domain Name: BestProducts.com
- Branded Domain Name: TheWirecutter.com
Both are products related sites. But only the first domain name contains the keyword “Products”. So it’s a keyword-rich domain name. The second domain name is a unique and more branded name than the first one.
Keywords Rich Domain can be two types – Exact Match Domain (EMD) and Partial Match Domain (PMD). Let’s see an example:
- Exact Match Domain: BestProductsForAcne.com
- Partial Match Domain: BestProducts.com
EMD doesn’t look good. People used to buy EMD for affiliate marketing purposes. A few years ago, it was easy to rank an exact match domain. But things have changed. Now EMD doesn’t work. So stay away from EMD.
On the other hand, choose a domain name with Partial Match is doing good. As it contains a related keyword, it’s easy to understand what’s the blog about. And it’s not so tough to make it brandable.
- HealthAmbition.com
- TechCrunch.com
Now let’s talk about Branded Domain-Name.
Branded Domain-Name has nothing to do with the keyword of the niche. It’s a unique name. For example, Labnol.org is a technology blog. The domain doesn’t represent its niche. In fact, Labnol has no meaning.
- ShoutMeLoud.com
- Hongkiat.com
- Mashable.com
The best thing about the branded domain name to choose is, it allows you to switch the niche without changing the name. You can also extend your niche. Once you have decided, which kind of domain you want to pick, let’s move to other points.
2. Make It Easy To Pronounce and Spell
Look at these domain names to choose:
- Mashable.com
- Problogger.com
- Lifehacker.com
All of these sites are popular. And the common thing is, it’s very easy to pronounce and spell their domain names. Your domain is the name of your brand. So make it easy to pronounce and spell. Don’t use complex and unusual words. Make it rememberable.
3. Keep It Short & Simple
There is no ideal length of a domain. Try to keep it as short as possible. The short site name is easy to remember. But it’s very difficult to find a short domain name. I’d recommend you keep the domain name within 10-15 words.
At the same time, you need to make sure that the site name is simple. Don’t use any complex words. For example, visualmodo.com is not a very short domain name. But it’s simple.
4. Go For The .com Extension Tips To Choose a Domain Name
.com is the most popular domain extension. People remember the name of your blog, not the extension. If your domain ends with other extensions like .net, or org, it might be a little bit tricky to find your blog. So go for the .com extension. If .com extension is not available, go for other popular extensions like .net, .co, .org, etc. Don’t go with .info or .biz extension. There are a lot of spammy domain names with these extensions.
5. Avoid Hyphens, Numbers, & Articles
It’s hard to tell about the domain that contains hyphens when you choose this name. Let’s say your domain is Tech-tips.com. You have to say “tech hyphen tips dot com” to the offline people. There is a chance that most of the people forgot the hyphens and ended up visiting techtips.com. The same things happen to the domain with numbers or articles. People forget numbers and articles. Take this tips serious to get the best domain name.
Even though some sites like Digital-photography-school.com, 9lessons.info, thewirecutter.com, etc are very popular, but these are exceptional. They have been here for a long time. Try to avoid hyphens, numbers, or articles on the domain.
6. Avoid Copyright & Trademark Violation
Copyright and trademark violations can do severe damage to your blog. You may end up losing the domain. So it’s better to be careful and follow the tips before choosing the best domain name. Make sure that your domain name is not going to conflict with other commercial names. For example, you cannot use terms like Facebook, WordPress, etc on your domain. However, I am not a lawyer. I cannot help you professionally. If you have any confusion, you should talk with an attorney.
7. Singular Vs Plural
Look at these two domains:
BestProducts.com & BestProduct.com
BestProducts.com is the main domain. But some people might visit BestProduct.com instead of BestProducts.com. If your domain contains such a thing, I’d recommend you to buy both domains. This way you will not lose any visitors. You can choose one as the primary domain and redirect another to the main domain.
8. Make Sure Social URLs Are Available
One of the essential things to do after buying a domain name is secure social media URLs like https://facebook.com/yourdomain. If you have a plan to give more attention to any particular social media site, it’s better to make sure that your desirable URL is available. You can use this tool – knowem.com
9. Use Your Name As Domain-Name
If you cannot come up with the right site name for your blog, you can use your name as s title. Some of the bloggers are doing great with their personal name as.
You can even use a part of your name as a name like Hongkiat.com. You can also use a part of your site name with other words like HuffingtonPost.com, GoinsWriter.com. Even if you don’t have any plan to use your title as a domain name, it’s a good idea to grab the site name if it’s available. You can use it later as a personal blog or a portfolio site.
10. Use Domain Name Generators
It’s not a good idea to depend on Generators. But these generators can help you to get some ideas for the perfect domain name. Here are some tools you can try.
Shopify Domain Name Generator: This is the coolest tool you can use. It generates some good domain ideas.
Same mesh: It shows available domain-name for different extensions quickly.
BustAName: It’s another tool for getting domain name ideas.
11. Choose a Flexible Domain Name
Your domain name is a domain you don’t want to group yourself into. While you should be specific enough to attract your audience, you shouldn’t be so specific that your site doesn’t have room to grow.
For example, “shutter. photography” might be a great fit for a photo blog. However, if you decide to write about other art forms in the future, you will be stuck with an inaccurate domain name. Therefore, it is wise to consider how your website or business will scale over time. You should make this decision with a long-term view. So, a big way how to choose the best domain name.
12. Avoid Double Letters for The Perfect Domain Name
It’s a good idea to avoid two-letter domains, as this increases the chance of losing traffic due to misspellings. For example, domains like Presssetup.com are more prone to misspellings and loss of traffic.
Avoiding repeated letters also makes your domain easier to type and more branded.
13. Act quickly before others take over
Thousands of new domain names are registered every day from all over the world. Once you find a domain name you like, don’t wait too long.
Domain names are like real estate. Thousands of people are actively looking for well branded domain names to register at better prices in the future.
If you don’t act quickly, someone can register your domain idea. Because domain names are relatively cheap, we always encourage our readers to act fast. If you change your mind later, you can make it invalid.
14. Research your domain name
Before registering a perfect domain name that you choose using the best and tips, try to find out if there is already a registered company with the same name. You can do a trademark search to see if a similar or exact name is already registered as a trademark. You can also do a Google search on top social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and check the availability of the name.
Similar or matching names are not only confusing, they can also have serious legal consequences that can cost you a lot of money. Once you have your website up and running, you can learn more about protecting and copyrighting your website name and logo.
Place To Register Domain-Name
Once you have found the right for your blog, it’s time to register the perfect domain name.
There are several domain registrars out there. Namecheap and GoDaddy are the most popular. I use and recommend Namecheap. You can also get a Free Name with Bluehost hosting.
Place To Host Domain-Name
Though you can host your name on the registrar, I don’t recommend it. It’s better to host your site on a renowned host.
Over To You
If you haven’t found the right yet, relax. You can change the site name later. So don’t overthink. Just go with the name that seems good to you. Finally, there is no such thing as the perfect one. If you have already found the title, all the very best for your blog. Hope this article helps you to find your perfect domain name.
