Choosing the right domain name for your business can take a lot of thought and consideration to decide which one is the right one. A good domain name can significantly impact website traffic and help with brand recall.

Choosing a domain name can be overwhelming. There are a lot of points to consider when choosing the right one.

To simplify the process of deciding, here are a few insider tips to select the right domain name for you or your business.

Your domain is a branding tool

One of the most important factors to consider when choosing your domain. A domain name is one of the most important marketing tools to help reinforce your brand.

Not only using your brand name as your domain will help reinforce your brand but it also helps with easy word of mouth marketing. Branded domains help build credibility to your website which as a result will help earn links and followers.

It has been said that Google introduced changes to its search algorithm to give more preference toward brands in its search results. If you are comparing two domain names then more times than not a user will choose the branded domain over the other if they had a choice between the two.

Another tactic is to base your domain around meaningful words with mass appeal in your industry. For example if you are in the health industry then using the words “health” or “hospital” might be good words to use when constructing your domain.

Be short, catchy and memorable

Your domain must be easy to say and more importantly easy to spell. By making your domain easy to spell will allow people to easily type it in if they hear about it offline.

A good way to determine if your domain will be easy to remember when heard audibly is to imagine the domain being spoken over the radio. If it is nearly impossible to mistype after hearing it then you have a good memorable domain.

Of all the millions of domain names registered, an estimated 5-7% are short, catchy or memorable enough to resonate with many people.

Decide which domain extension to use

Approximately 100 thousand domain names are registered every single day. As a result, it is becoming harder and harder to choose a domain name that is available. If you are planning to base your brand or services only in a specific country then you should consider using a country-specific domain name such as “.com.au” if in Australia.

On top of a country specific domain, registering a .com domain name is the most valuable extension and should be purchased if available. A .com domain is the most commonly used type of domain and as a result are often the first to go.

It is important to choose the right domain for your business.

An option that we sometimes see businesses do is to purchase several extensions (.com, .com.au, .net, .info, .biz etc) and then redirect them all to the one domain.

The technical term for this redirect is called a 301 redirect and is made with certain settings on the website server. It is the best way to ensure that users and search engines are directed to the right page.

By purchasing multiple domains with the same name but different extension means that businesses are securing these addresses so that other businesses don’t purchase and use the domain against them. Having said this, it is not essential to do so and you can certainly build a highly successful online business from just the one domain.

Protect your trademark

“Domain squatting” is where someone registers or uses a domain name with the intent to profit from a trademark belonging to someone else. The domain squatter will offer to sell the domain to the person or company who owns the trademark at a much higher price. It’s not uncommon for competitors to register a domain with different extensions in an effort to steal traffic.

Avoid registering a domain close to a competitor’s and be cautious of violating a trademark that could lead to a lawsuit.

Be creative

You will find that most single-word domains have already been registered. You can try these creative approaches to finding a domain name that fits your brand:

  • Compounding words – There is more chance a domain name will be available by joining two or more words together.
  • Adding a prefix or a suffix – By adding an affix to either the start or end of a word can be used to form a new word.
  • Tweaking words – Blending words together or removing certain characters from a word can form uncommon words or even completely new words.

Avoid domain names that are hyphenated

Although it is possible to register domain names with words that are hyphenated, it is recommended that you instead use non-hyphenated words instead. There are a number of reasons you should consider this.

Hyphenated domains do not get typed in as often as non-hyphenated domains and they negatively impact word of mouth recalls. People recall non-hyphened words better than they do hyphenated without having to spell it out.

There is also little SEO value for hyphenating your domain.

Check availability on social media sites

Another good tip to use when registering your domain is to do a search on popular social networks to see if your domain has been used.

If the domain has not been used across social networks, you should then register these accounts to secure them for marketing and making yourself discoverable on the web. If possible, keeping your name the same across multiple platforms will help in branding.

The most important social networks to check if your name is available are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn but it is also important to go where your target market are e.g. Pinterest.

Once you have checked that your name is available on these social networks, it is safe to say you have chosen a unique name and you may now purchase your domain name.

Don’t let your domain name expire!

Finally, once you have registered your domain name make sure that when the time comes to renew your domain that you don’t let it expire. If you let your domain name expire then that will mean other people can register the same domain and you will not be able to use that domain any more.

That is until either it expires again or you buy it off the new owner if they want to sell.

By keeping your contact information up to date on the domain name registration then you should receive notifications when the domain is about to expire. Don’t ignore these alerts because when a domain expires it might be a long time before you get it back.

If you are not likely to remember when the domain needs to be renewed, it is a good idea to set a calendar reminder when you purchased the domain so that you can renew it in time. Your domain registrar may offer auto-renew for your domains which means that when it is time to renew they will initiate it automatically. It can be a good idea to take advantage of this functionality.

If you would like a little more information about what a domain name is then read this short article about what are domain names.

Are you still stuck and need a hand? Register your domain name with Web3 today.

Not sure if you have come up with the right domain for your business? Chat with me below or send us a message. I look forward to hearing from you.