Choosing the perfect domain name for your new website can be a difficult decision. Don’t get stuck with a domain you’re not happy with — here are five things to consider when choosing your domain.
5 Things to Consider When Choosing Your Domain Name
Choosing the right domain name is one of the most important decisions you need to make when launching a website or blog. You want something that is search engine optimized, easy to remember and has the potential for growth. Choosing a highly competitive or trademarked domain is certainly going to narrow your options. In this post, we outline 5 key things to consider when choosing a domain name for your business.
Choosing the right domain for your website is an essential part of building a successful online brand. Different domains can drive different results, so it’s crucial to get this step right from the beginning.
When it comes to choosing a domain name, there are five things to consider:
1. Popularity
Internet users prefer to do business with brands they recognize and trust. Is your domain a name they know? Have you done everything possible to ensure your web property is easily seen and found by customers? By registering popular domains, you’ll immediately stand out from the competition — and vastly improve your chances of converting site visitors into paying customers.
The Internet has completely changed the way people shop and connect. Today, customers search for businesses online to make purchase decisions because their trust in brands is higher. Customers are more likely to buy from a .com domain name that sounds more popular and trustworthy than from a .net or .org. This is important to keep in mind when buying a domain name.
1. Make It Easy To Remember
When choosing a domain name, you want to ensure it is easy for customers to remember, as well as easy for you to remember. That means choosing a domain name for your business that conveys the purpose of your business and gives an impression of who you are.
You also want to make sure your domain name is easy to pronounce and easy to spell. As much as it is not guaranteed that you will have a domain name that is easy to remember, it certainly increases your chances.
For example, if you’re a hair and nail salon, you may want to use a domain name like “HairAndNailsByDebi.” That conveys the purpose of your business, while also providing the business owner’s first name.
Choosing a domain name that contains the business owner’s first name is a very good idea, since it will help customers recall the business.
A domain name such as “Chicago-Plumbing-Repair-Services.com” is much harder to remember than “PlumberChicago.com.”
2. Avoid Legal Issues
When choosing a domain name, be sure to research whether the name you want to use is available and if it could conflict with other companies’ trademarks. Also, keep in mind that companies often register similar trademarks for several different products. For example, although Apple, Coca-Cola, and Google are all huge corporations, each owns a trademark for the word “apple” because it applies to their respective businesses (i.e., computers, soda, and mobile phones).
For example, Apple sued Amazon because they were using “app store” as a keyword. Similarly, many companies have used the term “app store” in their domain names and have been sued by Apple. If you register a domain that includes a trademarked term, the company that owns the trademark could bring legal action to take the domain from you.
3. Does it Create an Impression?
When you first hear an idea, are your thoughts drawn to it? If a friend came to you with an idea for a business, would you want to spend more time exploring it? If you are looking for a domain name for your business, you should be asking yourself these questions.
Does the name help you describe the business?
Does the name match your brand?
Does it share a personality trait of your business?
Does the name help your customers?
But you can’t stop there. Exploring your business in the mind of the consumer will not only look at the marketing funnel but down into each stage within it too. You have to test your assumptions and be open to new ideas, otherwise, you could be missing out on a potentially lucrative opportunity.
4. Is the domain name SEO-friendly?
Choosing your new domain name for your business can be a bit of a headache. While your chosen domain name generally does not affect your overall search engine ranking (SEO), it can have an effect on your click-through rate and conversion rate. Choosing a keyword-rich name or purchasing a catchy, short brand name to complement your keyword-rich site is one option. Another option is to purchase a domain that is made of common misspellings of your keywords.
5. Should you own your domain name, or use a free hosted one?
The first question you should ask yourself is whether you should have your own domain name, or just use a free hosted one. Having your own domain name is something that can really make your business stand out, and will show potential customers that you’re serious about your business.
Having your own domain name also makes it easier to build trust with potential customers, and makes it easy to direct them to your website. However, there are also a couple of drawbacks to having your own domain name. First, there are costs involved in owning a domain name. There are different costs depending on how you choose to host your site, but in general, you can expect to pay $18 to a couple of hundred dollars to get your domain name.
Remember: You should keep your domain as short as possible.
Avoid long domains even if you think they’re clever, people have a hard time remembering them. Even though it’s tempting to add keywords and other tidbits to the end of your domain, it’s probably best to just keep it short and simple.