Choosing the right domain name is one of the most important tasks when you are creating a blog or any website. There are many things that depend on how you choose your domain name that could make or break your future online business in terms of branding as well as search rankings.
When starting an online business you surely need a website and choosing the name of your website could be an overwhelming task. So here are some of the tips that will help you choose a perfect domain name.
1- Always go for .COM domain
With all these fancy domain extensions available these days like .store .me .photography, etc but no matter what .COM domain extension still and will always be the most preferred domain extension. With a .COM domain you can easily target any geographic location as your target audience and it will make a global brand for your website.
On the other hand, when people try to find your brand online it’s a human behavior that they first try to open a .com website. So if your website is brandme.blog there is a high chance people will first try to open brandme.com which is not your website. Also, most of the mobile devices have a default .com key on the keyboard so that’s what normally people type when trying to find a website.
So even if you have to take some extra time and effort to find your perfect domain name, make sure you always go for .COM extensions.
2- Using keyword on your domain name
Now, this part is a little debatable. There is no doubt that the keyword in the domain name does play an important role. This will help Google understand that what is this domain is all about.
Now its really hard to get a domain name with your desired keyword in it. But with some quality content and keyword in your domain name can really help your SEO.
On the other hand, if you don’t get a domain with your desired keyword in it then do not worry at all. Google is smart enough to understand from your content that what is your website is all about even if you choose any domain name. Content on your website is the key factor that determines what this website is all about not your domain name with or without a keyword. But if you can get one use it.
3- Make it short and memorable
Now here is the part which will play a very important role in building your brand for the long term. If people can’t remember your domain name they can’t find you. Or if they couldn’t spell it correctly there is a high chance you will lose a customer for your online business. It’s very important that you keep your domain name short and easy to remember.
I have seen lot of examples where people don’t find their desired domain name they go for misspelled or styled words, eg: if thanks.com is an online business which is already booked and you are trying to book thankz.com or thankx.com or thankss.com it’s very hard for people to remember your brand name correctly. So make sure it’s simple and memorable.
4- No Hyphens in the domain name
This is an extension of the previous point only. Using hyphens will only complicate your domain name. Just for the sake of getting a keyword in your domain name, never use hyphens. It is actually a big signal to Google as well as a normal visitor to consider your website as spam.
5- Represent a scalable brand
When amzon.com started it’s online journey 1994, they were only selling books. Now they are selling everything possible on that same website. But they never changed the domain name, So you need to think if the domain you are booking can this help to expand your business or it’s restricting you in a certain niche or category. If amazon.com would have started as jeffbookstore.com they could have never been able to scale it to the level they are at today.
On the other hand, if you are planning to make a niche site that will only sell books then there is no problem in going with a domain like jeffbookstore.com. So you need to think about your business plan in advance.
6- No Copyright terms in the domain name
Its a very common mistake people make these days. While booking a domain name for their blog or niche site they add copyrighted brand names in the domain like amazondealsonline.com or marveltshirts.com and later on, they end up losing their business to these brands. Or in the worst case getting sued by these brands. So try not to use these type of copyrighted terms in your domain name.
7- Book before it’s Gone
When you in search of your online business there could be so many people looking for the same domain name. If you find some good name for your website then don’t wait at all to book it. Even if you are not 100% sure that this will be the final name I would suggest there is no harm in booking 2-3 domains and finalizing on one instead of regretting that you missed booking the one you liked.
8- Find options using domain name generators
If you are facing a hard time to find a good domain name then you can easily get some suggestions from the online tools that can generate good domain name options for your business. Some of them are Nameboy.com or isitwp.com. If you are looking to start an E-commerce store then Shopify also has its own business name generator you can try here.
9- Buy in bulk
If you are planning to make a brand of your online business then its a good option to buy other domain extensions of our brand. For eg: if you are buying a domain like abc.com and willing to use it as your main brand then I would advise you to book other domain extensions like abc.net, abc.org or maybe abc.co so that you can avoid other people booking these domains and hurt your online brand.
10- Look for Offers, not Traps
This is my personal experience and I highly recommend that to everyone. Never fall in the trap of offers that will bound you to use a certain service like hosting companies do. I always keep my domains and hosting on different platforms. Even if you get a free domain with hosting I would never advise you to go with that. I would highly recommend you to keep them separate so that you can handle them easily and if in case you need to switch you hosting you are not bound with your hosting company.
You can read this in detail here: How to choose a perfect blog domain name
I keep all my domains at Godaddy but never use their hosting service. I use Siteground for hosting all my domains. Recently I am using Namecheap to book my domain because they offer free domain privacy for a lifetime and that’s a big offer to claim.
Hope this post will help you find your perfect domain name for your blog or online business.
