Choosing a Domain Name for Your Business

Stuck between choosing a domain name that is easy to search as well as fits your business? Well, don’t panic. We have a few top tips that will help you to crack this code.

Choosing a domain name is as important as choosing your company name. A lot of thoughts and considerations go into this task. After all, your domain name will be your identity across the web.

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Whether you are starting your new company, launching a new brand or just want to take your existing brand online, either way you need to have a strong domain name for your website.

Domain names have a huge impact and they tend to influence your click through rates, social media reach, referring links, brandability, key-in traffic as well as offline advertising.

If you are wondering how to choose a domain name or how to choose a domain name, then you are at the right place. In this blog we have explained what’s a domain name, how do I find my domain name, how to get domain name, how to find domain name along with what should you consider when you buy website name.

We have put together a few top tips that will help to in choosing a domain name that is perfect for your business. So, go ahead and see what are considered to be the best domain names or the best website names as well as what are the best website name ideas and website names available.

1. Keep It Intuitive

A great domain name always gives search users a clear idea on what your website is all about. When people look at your domain name they should be able to tell what you do or what your business might be into. This itself is a huge win.

For instance, let us consider the domain name – PastaPerfected.com. This is very obvious and is intuitive enough to help users figure out that this website is all about pastas.

So, URL names, domains names and domain name suggestions should be intuitive to some extent.

2. Keep It Brandable

When we say “brandable”, we only mean that when users hear or see your domain name, it should sound like a brand. So what does this mean? It means that including numbers and hyphens can be a big problem, as these do not sound like any brand.

They sound very generic and even strange. For instance, let us say that you want to create a brownie website that has several brownie recipes and also sells some brownie-related products on it:

1)Brownie-shop.com can be hard to say, brand or even remember
2)BrownieMufficiano.com although sounds unique and brandable, it is challenging to say
3)BrownieLabs can be just amazing simply because it has a certain scientific connotation to it. This makes it very unique, brandable and memorable

Consider examples of domain names like the third option above while creating a domain name or finding a domain name. Good website names and good domain names are always

3. Choosing a domain name that is short

When it comes to choosing a domain, length definitely matters. This is because the lesser the characters in your domain name, the better and easier it is to say, type and share.

Another important advantage is that, there is less risk of your domain name getting shortened on organic search results and across different social media sharing platforms.

So, the shorter your domain name, the better it is!

4. Keep It Pronounceable

Now, most of you might be wondering, why is it important to ensure how pronounceable it is while choosing a domain name. After all, most of the users will only click it or type it out in their browsers.

Well, it does matter – there is something called “processing fluency”. This is a cognitive bias which humans tend to possess. Here, we always tend to remember things that are easy to say or think about.

This also includes pronounceability, which is in our minds and it varies with the region and the language that you are targeting. If you cannot say a name easily, then you lose memorability, processing fluency as well as brandability.

5. Stay Away From Trademark Infringement

Trademark Infringement is one aspect that you have to be very careful about. It is not about getting your domain name confused with that of another business, it is all about what a judge within a jurisdiction thinks when another firm takes a legal action against you for having same or similar domain as theirs.

This is because it creates brand confusion, which is very dangerous for your brandability. In case of real issues, you can consider talking to a legal professional or a legal attorney.

Trademark owners can sue domain name owners, those who legitimately own the domain and use it for business.

6. “.com” Matters

We very well know that we have reached 2018. So, why are we still discussing about “.com”? Now, the internet is over two decades old. What makes “.com” such a big deal even when there are a wide variety of TLD extension options available?

Well, the answer is simple – .com is the most accessible as well as the most recognized TLD. As we saw previously, cognitive fluency states that it is better to go with something that is easy.

People still associate with “.com”, making it the primary TLD even today. So, marketer, if you want to build an extremely brandable domain, then you better consider “.com”. Only then your domain will work well.

However, if you are already very successful, then you better try and capture it anyway. We would still recommend you to get it if possible. If the “.com” is unavailable, then you can consider using .co, .net or a well known ccTLD.

These can be your best bets. A well known ccTLD will be something that looks like .it in Italy or .ca in Canada. But, honestly, try and always go with “.com” if you want your domain to work well.

7. Include Broad Keywords

Including keywords in your domain names will help you to deal with any kind of cognitive fluency bias. They also help you from the SEO perspective. Google is now swaying away from the partial match and the exact match domains.

However, it is the anchor text that you receive from the people who link back to your domain is the one that helps. If you happen to mention a keyword in your domain name, it makes it easy to guess what your site is all about.

So, just go for it. However, if you are planning to secure a keyword targeted or a keyword rich domain, then we would suggest you to stay away from it now. This is simply because they no longer carry the same importance that they used to carry before.

To make it worse, they also have negative associations with both search engines as well as the users, so you should refrain from it. For instance, we would never invest in a domain name like RecipesForBrownie.com or BuyBrownieOnline.

We would rather go with something much broader such as Gusto.com. Just consider Google.com or Amazon.com, these do not have any association with what it does.

These are some of the best branded domains but do not have any sort of keyword richness to it. Here, they focus on more on some sort of creative association. Something like Gusto – which means “taste” in Italian.

So, we would prefer to go on those lines instead. How about you?

8. Target Your Location

If you own a local business, then try including the name of your state or city in your domain name. This makes it very easy for all the local customers to quickly find and remember.

For instance PhoenixDoorRepair.com.

9. Modify or Append When Required

If your domain name is unavailable, then just go ahead and add a a prefix or a suffix. It is definitely okay to have an alternative TLD extension, as discussed previously.

It is also good to be a bit more creative with your brand online. For instance, let us say that our brand name is Brownieterra. Say we already have a shop in or around Seattle area, and we are already selling brownies in that shop offline.

Now, we are going online. So, it is okay with us to go with something such as TheBrownieterra.com, BrownieterraShop.com or for that matter just go with Brownieterra.net while choosing a domain name.

Conclusion

While quality website and business are important for you to get visitors to your website, domain name is still the key to the website. Domain name is the “first impression” of your website.

It impacts your SEO and also defines your brand, so it is important that you be careful while choosing a domain name.