You may think learning how to choose a domain name does not warrant a tutorial, but there are actually many aspects to choosing a domain name that may not be immediately obvious.
Once you have chosen a domain name, there is no turning back. Of course you could choose another, but then you will have to build a new website, and you will be starting from scratch trying to get listed in the search engines again – so it’s best to get it right the first time!
This tutorial will arm you with all the information you need to choose a good domain name.
How To Choose a Good Domain Name
There are a few factors to consider when choosing a domain name, but the main thing to consider is how your visitors will find you. There are really only three ways to get found:
- From a listing on a search engine such as Google, Bing etc
- From a link on another website
- From an offline source – word of mouth, print advertisement etc
The main things to consider here are sources 1 and 3.
Keyword Rich Domain Names
To get good rankings in the search engines is a massive topic on it’s own, but one way to rank more easily is to have a keyword-rich domain. Examples of keyword-rich domains would be:
- CheapElectricianInPeterborough.com
- BasketWeavingClassesInArizona.com
It would be relatively easy to get ranked highly in Google for the search phrase “Cheap Electrician In Peterborough” if you had that exact phrase as your domain name.
There are a couple of problems with this approach though. If you want to expand, you might find that your domain name has suddenly become less relevant. Also it’s a very long domain name, and people don’t like typing in long domain names.
If you want to go down this route you should first check the search volume for your chosen phrase. Being number one in Google for a phrase that nobody is searching for is a futile exercise.
The best way to check search volume is by using Google’s own keyword tool. This is currently the most accurate data available to you, and it’s completely free.
Brandable Domain Names
Perhaps a more sensible option (long-term) is to go for a brandable domain name. These are getting harder to find, especially short catchy names, but there are still opportunities out there.
You can still incorporate a keyword into your name, or just go for something catchy and memorable.
Examples of brandable domain names would be:
- Google.com
- Twitter.com
These names don’t really mean much, but everyone has heard of them and they have immense value. You could combine brand and keyword to give you something memorable, which also conveys what your business is about, such as StorkChildminders.com or RhinoConstruction.com.
Domain Name Extension
You should almost always opt for the .com version of your domain name wherever possible. There are still many technophobes out there who automatically assume all websites end with .com, so if yours doesn’t you will lose out on potential customers.
If your business is local to a specific location (ie, UK) then my suggestion would be to buy the .co.uk version for your website. Country-specific domains will feature better in local searches (in this case Google.co.uk). If possible i recommend you also buy the .com version and set-up a 301 redirect to your .co.uk website. This means that anyone typing yourwebsite.com would be automatically redirected to yourwebsite.co.uk.
If you can’t get the .com, other TLDs to look for are .org and .net – i personally prefer .org as i have found them easier to rank than .net – just steer clear of .info as it is associated with low quality spammy websites.
Domain Name Length
Simply put, the shorter the better. This is important for type-in traffic and is easier to remember. DenverPlumber.com is much better than TheBestLocalPlumberInDenverWithNoCallOutCharge.com!
Choose A Memorable Domain Name
If you can find a short snappy domain name then you will be onto a winner if you can drive traffic and turn it into a household name. If your website has great content which people are likely to want to share with their Facebook friends etc, then a memorable domain name will pay dividends.
Consider Google. A few years ago nobody knew what Google was, but now almost everyone with a computer knows the name. People don’t say they’re going to search for something on the internet, they say “i’ll Google it”. If Google had chosen a keyword-rich domain name such as TheWorldsBiggestSearchEngine.com, the results wouldn’t have been quite the same.
Domain Names With Numbers
Substituting letters for numbers might seem like a good idea but it leads to confusion so please don’t do it. You will lose potential business because your customer typed plumbersforyou.com instead of plumbers4you.com and ended up at your competitor’s website!
Similarly, deliberate mis-spellings like plumbers4u.com, or plumbersforu.com suffer the same fate.
This can work sometimes (toysrus.com) but for most people it’s just not a good idea.
Domain Names With Hyphens
Domain names with hyphens were popular a few years ago because the consensus was that search engines found it easier to see the individual words that made up the domain. Search engines have evolved a lot since then, and can now pick out words even when there are no hyphen separators.
Hyphens are generally a bad idea. They now have no value over non-hyphen names, and people forget to put hyphens in the name when they type them in.
The only time i would ever buy a domain with a hyphen is if i desperately wanted a keyword-rich name and the non hyphen version was already taken in every TLD. Even then i would probably not buy it unless i had done extensive keyword research which proved that there was huge search volume, and the keyword had commercial intent plus the competing websites were all weak.
Choosing A Domain Name – Conclusion
There are many factors to think about and the decision to buy a brandable name vs a keyword-rich name can only be made by you. To summarize the main points you should consider:
- Keep it as short as possible
- Don’t include numbers or hyphens
- Don’t use mis-spellings such as “u” to replace “you”
- Don’t buy a .info extension – stick with .com, .org or .net
The next tutorial will teach you how to register a domain name with the #1 domain registrar GoDaddy.