How to Choose a Good Domain Name

It can be a difficult task to find a good domain that’s still available. Here you will learn how to find and choose a good domain name.

Unfortunately, the domain name industry is full of opportunistic “traders” who buy and sell domain names without any intention of even using them themselves. Because of this, the majority of the registered domain names don’t even have a website to go with it!

This can be quite frustrating as you seek out a domain name for yourself to build a website for. But at the end of the day in a first-come-first-served world, we must try and find another way to find that great domain name.

Several tools can be very handy when it comes to looking for a domain name. Here we will discuss what makes a good domain name.

To Brand or Not To Brand

Branding is a key element in traditional “offline” marketing. Having a unique, catchy name does wonder for any business. However, when it comes to an online presence, you might just be better off with a domain name that is rich in keywords.

Search engines primarily work on keywords as you may know. You enter a search term or “keywords,” and the search engine produces results based on their formulas and the websites they believe to be the best fit for your search.

Now, there are many Search Engine Optimization techniques that can be used by anyone on any site. The same techniques could be applied to a lot of sites, so my question is what could be the one thing that is unique and could separate one site from the other? Of course, domain names!

I prefer to have keywords in the domain names that I own because this is what could give me the edge over competitors. Of course, it’s not so important if your website is a personal one and you are not looking to make any money from it.

If you are selling something or wanting to make money off your website, I would strongly recommend using keywords in your domain names. Just to prove it, go to Google.com and search for “domain name”. You will see in the results that any occurrence of the words “domain” or “name” is actually in bold. So, Google is looking out for your search terms and highlighting them for you.

Using a Catchy Name Instead of Focusing on Keywords

On the other hand, branding is still a strong concept online as well. If you find that catchy name and market it well, then you could be well on your way to word-of-mouth fame in no time!

If your business name is available, register it. You can always register keyword-rich domain names to draw the traffic and redirect them to your business name domain.

Hyphens or No Hyphens

Another common topic of discussion is whether to use hyphens in your domain names. I own mixtures of both hyphenated and non-hyphenated names. There is nothing wrong with hyphens. In fact, for search engines, you are helping them by separating words that could be read differently. Here is one example: mikesmithstables.com

This domain could belong to a horse trainer “Mike Smith”, as a website for his racing stables, or it could also be read as “Mike Smith’s Tables.” So, there is nothing wrong with hyphenation, as it would help to distinguish where the words end in the above example.

The only small problem you will run into is word-of-mouth advertising where people will have to call out the hyphens. But believe me, you want all your traffic to come from search engines because it’s free and the volumes are enormous.

Using Abbreviations

If your preferred name was something like flowerstoyou.com but it was taken, but you see flowers2you.com is available, should you take it? There are several common abbreviations or variations of certain words that are most commonly accepted, particularly in cyberspace. Thanks also SMS messaging, we are not used to the use of “2″ instead of “to”, “4″ instead of “for” etc. Whether you choose to use such variations in your domain name is up to you.

Don’t forget however that word-of-mouth advertising will always require the person making the recommendation to remind people of the substitute.

Choosing The Perfect Domain Name

Registering a domain is an easy task, but most people are not aware of the process of registration. If you have chosen a domain name, then check it on the ‘whois’ to know, if anyone else has not registered it,

and if it is available to you, then register the domain as soon as possible. Make sure that your domain name is a memorable one. Mostly the best domain names had been taken already by the dot.com sites.

Avoiding trademarked names is unethical, and also the companies, who have spent plenty of time and money on creating and building their brands, are now trying to get their names back. The pending legislation would soon make it very hard to register the trademarked name of someone else.

A memorable domain name is the best one because it sticks in the mind. A perfect business name is a nice choice. If you choose a phrase or sequence of the words that describe your product, is also a good one, for example, officestationery.com

A Few Key Tips on How to Choose a Good Domain Name

The domain names that arouse a visual image can also be used as these are easy to remember, like GreenValleyResort.com. Short names are much better than longer names, but if adding the length makes it more memorable, then you can choose the longer one.

You should make sure that your domain name is easy to pronounce, and soon you will hear people talking about your domain name many times a day, in conversation, on the phone, or in other radio ads. It is better to avoid the name that only works in print, and also needs to be spelled out when spoken aloud to be understood.

You should be wary of selecting a domain name that contains the homophones, for example – TwoStars.com, TooStars.com, and 2Stars.com, all sound exactly alike, but these are three different websites. Do not use the shady characters, spaces are never allowed, and also the name can’t start or end with a dash.

The length can up to 63 characters. You should make sure that you are dealing with a trustworthy and reliable domain registration service provider and host. Using the information above will get you started on selecting a great domain name for your website.