How to Choose a Domain Name

Choosing an appropriate domain name for your new website can pose a lot of challenges. On my journey to be successful on the web, I have had a few experiences with choosing domain names in the past. I have only registered 3 domain names in my entire life but over the past couple of years I have acquired some knowledge that I would like to share about choosing a domain name. I am by far no expert, but I feel that these tips and bits of information will be very helpful to someone who is just getting started. Are you thinking about registering a domain name and want to know how to pick something that will be both successful and appropriate? Here is the advice that I have to offer, I would suggest creating a domain name that adheres to EVERY one of these principles:

Include your site’s top keywords in the domain name
It is important to communicate what your site has to offer by including it within the domain name. That is why you should choose keywords that are central to your site’s content. If this website is going to be the web front for an organization that has already established itself in a brick and mortar location, it is ideal to choose a domain name that includes the business name. Just remember to include relevant key words in the domain name, so your web content will rank highly in search engine results when your content’s title matches your web URL.

Only use dot com domains
When choosing the domain extension it is always best to choose a domain name that ends in dot com. Dot com is the first extension people think of when dealing with web URLs, so it is the best choice if you want to be as successful as possible. Of course there are some exceptions where you’d choose another extension and if you have reason to do this, I recommend using dot org or dot net over all the other options. Even if dot org or dot net make more sense, I think that it is better to choose a dot com domain. Never choose a dot info, dot biz, or any extension that is not listed in the top three extensions ( com, org, net). These less common extensions are frequently used by scammers and rip off artists, so if you want to be professional stick to dot com.

Make the domain unique
I believe that you need to make your domain name unique. A unique domain name leaves no room for confusion. Do not use plural variations of a domain name that already exists (example: naming your site walmarts.com, when walmart.com already exists). You don’t want someone typing donut.com when your domain name is actually donuts.com

Make your domain short and easy to remember
Keep the domain name short, simple, and to the point. I recommend limiting your domain name to 12 characters or less. You also don’t want to put a hyphen in the domain name; people seem to omit hyphenated words from memory. The domain name should consist of 3 words or less. It also allows better word of mouth buzz for your site. The shorter the domain name, the better. You might also want to use common abbreviations of keywords as long as it is easy to remember and unique. Avoid words that are hard to spell or hard to remember.

Don’t follow the latest domain naming trends
When choosing a domain name, I believe that people should not follow the latest trends. Some past trends include incorporating hyphens or numbers into the domain name. I can’t stress it enough, make the domain name a classic dot com with no funny or fluffy stuff.

These are five tips that are key to a creating a successful domain name today. It took me awhile to figure these things out. I finally got it right with my third website. When I finally got the hang of it, my site was ranked second on google for its main key words. It takes time to find a name that meets all these requirements but it is well worth it.