Choosing a domain name before launching a website

 

Here's how to choose a domain name that will terrify your competitors.

One of the most important decisions you will make while creating your website is selecting a domain name since it affects how the site is promoted and how site visitors view your brand.

Here are 10 ideas to assist you in selecting the ideal domain name.

1. Companies don’t possess domain names

No organization "owns" a domain.

A domain name on the Internet cannot be owned. A domain name is authorized for usage by the registrant when it is registered.

The registration of a domain name must thus be kept active and never expire.

If a registration is not renewed, the domain may be registered by someone else after it "drops" (after the registration expires).The following four suggestions will help you keep a domain name registered securely:

• ·        A domain registrar should have the most recent version of your credit card information.
• ·        A great strategy to prevent a name from expiring is to set up automatic renewal, but don't rely on it to work. There have been several instances where customers have reported losing their domain because the automated renewal did not occur.
• ·        Domain name registrars often send email notifications when a domain name is about to expire. Check your domain registration email address annually (or every three months) to make sure it is current.
• ·        It's not too cautious to manually renew the domain registration before the auto-renewal deadline.
• ·        These four guidelines will help you keep your domain name registered safely.

 2. Should Your Domain Name Include Your Business Name?

A domain name should often be the same as the name of the business.

The opportunity to rename the business to something more web-friendly or that better represents changing trends does, however, occasionally arise when creating a new online presence.

After the iPhone was released, one of my former clients' digital camera sites had to immediately alter its strategy because fewer people were buying digital cameras. They started analyzing several additional issues and changed the domain name to reflect a broader emphasis.

Due to changing trends, the domain name need not always be the same as the business name.

In certain circumstances, it could be beneficial to brand the online business with something more appealing or snappy while hiding the firm name. However, you should always register a domain name that corresponds to the name of the actual company, even if the online site has a different name. The company name may be passed to the website name or left out entirely, depending on the requirements of the firm.

 

3. Must You Work? Choose a domain name with keyword content.

The use of exact match keywords in domain names may improve conversion rates.

When a searcher scans the search results pages (SERPs) and discovers the domain name with the keywords in it, she may exclaim, "Aha, this site has what I want!" Click quickly three times!

The keywords in the domain name immediately indicate to the visitor that the website has what they're looking for.

If one is looking for a taco restaurant, "Hank's Tacos" is unquestionably a better choice than "Jose's Cantina."

The site's keywords imply that it is an authority in the subject matter in addition to offering what customers are looking for.

Having keywords in the domain name does not improve ranking.

The major advantage of having keywords in a domain name is to attract customers or site visitors who are more likely to demonstrate interest in the topic.

The best or perhaps only choice is not have to include keywords in the domain name.

4. Domain Names with Meaning

Sometimes it makes sense to register a domain name with semantic significance.

SearchEngineJournal.com is a wonderful domain name since "Search Engine" makes it obvious that this website is about search engines. The word "Journal" designates the website as a source of news.

When selecting a catchy domain name, take into account the characteristics you want your website to be associated with.

A body of water is the best setting for fisherman, as demonstrated by the domain name On The Water.

It might be beneficial to write down the phrases that represent a certain feeling or promise that you want the visitor to understand without having to think about it. For illustration:

It might be beneficial to write down the phrases that represent a certain feeling or promise that you want the visitor to understand without having to think about it. For illustration:

Friendly. Cheapest.

Fast. 

Zippy.

Experts.

Nerds.

Family and friends.

Trustworthy.

Healing.

As an alternative, you can want users to associate your website with a particular place, such as:

Online. Zoo. Hangout. Zone. Café. Showroom. Store. Palace. Oasis.

Search for synonyms for the characteristic you want a site visitor to associate with yours as you play about with the phrases to get the greatest match.

5. Keep The Domain As Short As Possible

A domain name should be long enough to express the message you want to reach your target audience with while still being short enough to put into a browser bar.

Some people could favour one-word domain names, while others might think two- to three-word domain names are best. There is no set formula for how succinct the domain must be.

It is more important to refrain from selecting a long, difficult-to-remember domain name.

Consideration of how it could influence a future site visitor should be the general guideline for choosing whether the domain name should be short or long.

6. Avoid hyphenating domain names

Does the use of hyphens in domain names still make sense? I have no doubts.

 Hyphens are not permitted in domain names.

 In order to increase ranking, it is not required to utilize hyphens to cram as many keywords as possible into the domain name.

 It gives the website a sketchy, Sammy look.

 Additionally, including keywords in the domain name does not improve rankings.

7. Consider acquiring several domain names.

People use words in all kinds of strange ways.

 According to what I was informed, 50% of callers to a theatre with cabaret seating wanted "Cabernet Seating."

 It may be debatable, but in light of my own experience, I believe it's imperative to register suitable domain name variations.

 If your domain name is "Widget Expert," you might want to consider registering "WidgetExperts," since many people tend to append a "s" to the end of single-word domain names. By registering the variations, you may then point them to the proper domain in an effort to prepare for the potential that they will remember your domain name incorrectly.

 Although singular and plural variations are frequently wrong, you should also consider actual spelling mistakes. You could even receive some links from websites that had previously connected to the wrong version if you redirect each to the right URL.

 The last benefit is that this is a proactive defensive measure that will stop potential competitors from registering a variation of your domain name.

 

8. Protective Domain Registration

Defensive domain registration is the practice of registering domain names that a competitor could afterwards register.

 The plural, singular, and the.net,.org,.biz,.info, and.us varieties of a domain name should all be registered.

 If visitors to your website are from other nations and/or speak English, it can be advantageous to also register the.ca and.co.uk variations of the domain name.

 You may choose not to register such domains. The publisher will have to deal with the trouble of employing an attorney to issue a stop and desist letter to someone (perhaps in a poor country), hoping that the rival would be terrified, if one of those versions is registered by a competitor.

 

9. If a dot-com domain is already registered, what should you do?

Dot-com is undoubtedly the top-level domain (TLD) that is most sought-after because it is what the majority of people search for.

A problem arises if the desired.com domain is already registered by a rival business. It might not be a good idea to register a.net,.org, or other top-level domain due to the risk of being sued or misleading prospective site visitors.

If someone is merely retaining the domain and doing nothing with it, it could be legal.

However, website visitors find it very appealing when a dot-com appears in the URL.

More and more people are choosing to research countrycode top-level domains (ccTLDs).

10. Country codes and general top-level domains

"Country code top-level domains" (ccTLDs) are domains that are particular to a country.

Choosing a ccTLD is now widespread. The ccTLDs the.io and.me are two examples.

New general top-level domains (gTLDs), such as.agency, are also available.

 Usually, the best country code domains are ones that match the potential site visitor's country. The domain extensions for the.ca and.uk registries are known as ccTLDs.

 Visitors to websites often choose local ccTLDs.

 Therefore, if your target market is Australia, using the.au version of the domain might make sense.

 Traditionally, ccTLD domains convert more commonly within their home nations because their inhabitants trust them.