Choose a Perfect Domain Name for Your Business
The address of your website is its domain name. It is a piece of a broader Domain Name System (DNS) that enables users of the internet to enter a string of words rather than a long string of numbers.
Although it has a very practical purpose, your domain name is much more than that. In many circumstances, a customer’s initial encounter with your brand will be through your domain. Whether you’re a little firm, an international corporation, or a freelance photographer, this is true. As a result, your domain is almost as crucial as your brand’s name and logo.
Customers might see a long URL as a warning sign. Additionally, users might be less likely to visit your website again if it’s difficult to remember. Your domain name should be brief and memorable as a result.
Be aware that it can be difficult to change your domain name. Although it’s not impossible, doing so could result in undesirable consequences like a drop in traffic and needless downtime. Given this, it would be sage to give your domain name significant thought right away.
Let’s go over some important pointers to assist you in choosing the ideal domain name, now that you are aware of why doing so is crucial.
- Use a Targeted Keyword Strategy
Not only content is a place for keywords. Search engines utilize the domain name of your website to interpret its content and decide its position in search results. As a result, if possible, keywords should be used.
Your domain name should contain terms that are both pertinent to your website and aimed at the right audience. Try using Google Keyword Planner if you’re having problems coming up with ideas.
To find terms people actually use, you may use this free tool to explore keywords based on search volume and other characteristics. However, a domain name doesn’t provide you much room to work with, so you should only include keywords where they organically belong.
- Be Careful, While Choosing your TLD extension
The final component of your URL, which follows the name of your website, is known as a Top-Level Domain (TLD) extension. The most well-known TLDs include.com,.org, and.net.
Among all TLDs,.com is frequently a preferred option. However, it’s not the end of the world if .com is already taken.
Other well-known TLDs like .xyz, .shop,.club,.online,.art,.inc, and even .party are spreading like wildfire. TLDs like .marketing and .technology provide you the option of choosing a name that is more appropriate for your sector. ccTLDs (Country Codes) are another very well-liked choice. Recently, more technology businesses have started employing domain extensions like.io (Indian Ocean),.ai (Anguilla Island), and.co (Colombia). In the end, you should pick a domain name extension that complements your website and conveys authority.
- Ensure that Your Domain is Simple to Spell and Pronounce
Most likely, you desire your domain name to be memorable and original. Reinvention, though, isn’t always a positive idea. You risk confusing your viewers if you change a common word’s spelling to obtain the.com extension (or just for cuteness’ sake).
Even if word-of-mouth marketing is effective, it only functions when people can correctly pronounce your domain name. Additionally, this makes the name simpler to recall, boosting the likelihood that users would visit and recommend the website to their networks.
In recent days, many companies have chosen 4-letter domain names that are simple to pronounce. This is a result of the fact that domain names have the capacity to retain aftermarket value in addition to being very memorable. In other words, the domain can still be sold if the business fails. Snap and Meta are two examples of the c-v-c-v (consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel) pattern, a particularly well-liked four-letter pattern.
- Don’t ever use Hyphens or Doubled letters
Adding hyphens to your desired domain name may seem like a smart method to do it, and it is true that this technique is still common in some European nations. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to communicate with them vocally. They also make it more challenging to type the domain. This may result in a negative User Experience right away, frustrating the user. Even worse, they might give up completely and land on another website.
Although there are certain exceptions, it’s recommended to stay away from anything that isn’t a letter when you’re coming up with domain name suggestions. This includes changing letters to digits, which makes it simpler for users to type the name incorrectly.
The same is valid for doubled letters; it invites errors. Doubled letters are challenging to read and even more challenging to type accurately. If errors occur frequently enough, you might find someone stealing your traffic via Typosquatting.
- Use a Domain Name that is Adaptable
One place where you shouldn’t try to fit yourself into a mold is your domain name. While being specialized is important to draw in visitors, you shouldn’t be too specific that your website can’t expand.
For a baking blog, “baker.heaven” might work well but if in future the blogger starts cooking different things and not stays on the baking site, the domain name will not remain suitable. Therefore, it is sensible to think about how your website or company might grow in the future. This choice should be made with the long term in mind.
- Maintain Your Identity and Brand
A distinctive domain name can make your website shine out and even help you stay out of problems with the law. Moreover, it can support your marketing initiatives. In fact, if your website is a part of a larger brand, it would be advisable to think about your domain name when coming up with the brand name.
Even if you work for yourself, you can still think of your website and body of work as parts of your personal brand.
By incorporating a geo-location component into the domain name, businesses can further increase their ability to connect with local customers.
- Analyze the Domain History
You may have your attention focused on a brand-new domain name. But it’s also possible that the domain you want to buy already belonged to someone else.
It is advisable to look into the domain’s past since this could have an impact on how well your site is ranked by search engines. You can use a few resources, such as Whoxy and the Wayback Machine, to look up previous owners. A domain name that was formerly used for an illegal business shouldn’t be purchased because it could damage your reputation.
- Multi Domains Can Help You Protect Your Brand
Even if you are able to secure a highly sought-after.com address, you may want to think about buying alternative TLDs and creating redirects. You might even go a step further and purchase popular misspellings of your domain name so that you don’t lose out on traffic that was lost due to “user error.”
This approach is also applicable to social media. Even if you don’t anticipate using Twitter, you should still try to secure a respectable handle if one becomes available. By doing so, you’ll be prepared in case you decide to tweet in the future and you’ll stop someone else from using that account.
