Article Submitted by RepEngage.
When you are first starting out to create a website, one of the most important decisions that you need to make is to choose the right domain name.
It is true that these days almost all of the really good domain names are taken with the .com’s, and it is getting increasing more difficult with the .net’s and .org’s. Regardless of this though, you need to spend time brainstorming to ensure that you choose wisely.
Here are my seven tips to help you choose the right domain name for your website.
1. Always base a domain name on your primary keyword
Choosing your primary keyword should always be the first thing that you consider when thinking about a domain name.
What is the website going to be about? What industry is it in? Is it a local business or a global business? What is the main product or service that you are going to offer to your customers or readers? What is the purpose of the website?
These are the types of questions that you are going to have to ask yourself to get an idea of what type of primary keyword you are aiming for.
You should spend as much time as needed on this exercise as it is very important. Don’t rush into anything and keep searching a domain site until you are happy with the result.
Once you have chosen the best name possible and purchased your domain, you can then concentrate strongly on optimising the site as much as possible for this keyword.
2. First preference is always .com – if not go for a .net, .org, or possibly a .co
Because the internet has been around for so long, it is extremely difficult to find exactly what you want as a .com. The .com extension is easily the most popular and carries the most weight on the search engines.
I have heard that Google made an error one day and had omitted all .info domain names from it’s search engine results by accident. This would never happen with a .com.
But the question is what do you do if .com is simply not available?
Well don’t panic, your next best option is to still use your primary keyword, but look for a .net or a .org if possible. These two (particularly .net) are commonly known as the next best thing to .com.
The extension .co has gained in popularity recently, and many people believe it is the modern replacement for .com.
3. Avoid using the dashes or hyphens (“-“)
Back when I was first starting out I bought a domain name called www.get-paid-today.net. At the time I thought it was a good domain name, but now looking back it had all the trademarks of an amateur.
Using the hyphen (or dash) is a bad idea for two reasons.
Firstly it is hard to verbally communicate the web address to other people. You would need to say “get hyphen paid hyphen today dot net”, and it just makes it confusing. The only occasion that I know of a really successful website with a hyphen in its name is http://entrepreneurs-journey.com, which was created by Yaro Starak.
I bet though that Yaro would have preferred to have bought it without the hyphen in the middle if he had a choice.
The second reason that the hyphen is a bad idea is because the search engines tend to look down on these domains, compared to the same domain without the hyphen.
4. Avoid hypey names such as MakeMillionsToday.com
My domain example above of get-paid-today.net is a classic example of a hypey domain. Another classic example would be MakeMillionsToday.com.
These type of cheesy domains just tarnish your brand and reputation and turn people off.
5. Make the domain as short and easy to type as possible.
Nobody wants to try to type in a domain name like www.PleaseComeAndVisitMyAwesomeWebsite.com because it is just too much effort to type, and is easily forgotten quickly.
Admittedly it is very difficult to get one or two word domains that make sense these days, but the point is to not use anything that is far too long.
Have a think about the websites that get the majority of internet traffic.
- Google.com
- Facebook.com
- YouTube.com
- Twitter.com
- Yahoo.com
- Amazon.com
All of these high traffic websites have the following in common.
- 1 or 2 words
- no more than 8 letters in total
- all .com’s
- Al easy to type and remember
This is what you should be aiming for if at all possible.
6. Dont use numbers, as it makes it too confusing
Another one of my bad choices in the past was a domain called www.learn-how-2-earn.com.
This was a nightmare to tell people what the domain was. The number 2 could be also be spelt as “two”, or even “too”.
It is a good idea to completely avoid using numbers in your domain as this can get extremely confusing.
Image trying to explain how to get to www.100Percent-Authentic.com.
7. Avoid using domain names that sound similar or the same to other domain names
There are many words in the English language that are spelt and pronounced the same, but they have completely different meanings. The two words “no” and “know” are an example with different spellings, but the word “might” could mean either power or possibility.
The word coke could either mean a dangerous drug or a soft drink. Or the name of your company, product or brand may the same as another company who has a very similar domain name to yours.
I think you get the idea!
Sometimes you will not realise that this happened until after you have bought the domain, but it is good to be aware of this before you choose the domain name.
To choose the right domain name you should use the above as a guide, and to make your selection carefully.
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Article Submitted by RepEngage. Repangage offers reputation management service and can help to increase Yelp and google+ reviews.
