9 Tips For Choosing A Great Domain Name
Posted on November 17, 2007
- Keep it as short as possible. This helps it to look good in print and as a logo. It also minimizes the chances that someone will misspell it.
- Make sure it is easy to speak and spell. You want people to be able to communicate what your domain name is without any problems.
- If possible, avoid double letters. This is just a personal preference, but I try to find alternatives for domains like “wooddecks.com” - I don’t like the unnecessary repetition of letters.
- Avoid hyphens and numbers. They do absolutely nothing but dilute the branding power and add confusion to the mix. “Was that six spelled out or 6 the number?” “Was it white-mice.com or whitemice.com”?
- Please don’t buy a domain that starts with THE. Remember when it was “thefacebook.com”? It just looks tacky and amateurish. Don’t try to add this word to get a “consolation” domain name.
- Almost always register the dot Com. Unless you have a real reason to get another TLD, register the name as a dot Com or don’t register it at all. Again, this adds to the confusion and you will almost certainly send some of your traffic to the real dot Com.
- Come up with a unique name. You can get unique ideas from a completely unrelated niche, but you don’t want to be accused of copying another website in your niche. Get something unique rather than generic or an imitation and you will be glad you did.
- Don’t try to stuff keywords. Although it can help your search engine rankings, you should be more considered with the long tail anyways. The branding and promotional benefits of a catchy and memorable domain name will far outweigh those of a keyword domain (unless, of course, you get a premium domain that is brandable AND has keywords).
- When your mind fails, use a thesaurus. This is a great way to come up with words that form a catchy domain name. Just make sure you don’t pick words that no one will know the meanings of.
Comments
Leave a Reply
