How to Choose a Domain for your Website

If, like thousands of people across the globe, you have contemplated having your own website, one of the first things that you would have had to grapple with is the choice of domain. This, as many have found out, is a surprisingly difficult task. In this article, we give you tips on how to choose a domain;

What is a Domain Name?

A domain, or “domain name” is one of the most important parts on any website. It is the name by which a website or blog is identified. What most beginners do not realize is the fact that the internet is a crowded place.

In fact, there are over a billion websites on the internet today. If you think that’s impressive enough, then consider the fact that over 70 new domains are registered, while over 571 websites are created, every single minute across the world.

How to Choose a Domain: Your Website’s Location on the Internet

With so much going on, it becomes clear, therefore, that domains play a crucial role, particularly if you are trying to build your brand. Your domain is the name by which your customers and others will be able to find you. It is important, therefore, for you to learn know how to choose a domain for your site.

Domains are important, and can have a bearing on the success or failure of your online venture. As you set out to create your website or blog, think of your domain as your postal address. The internet can be thought of as an ever growing suburb, in which real estate is up for grabs.

Prime Real Estate

Prime real estate is, across the internet, rather limited. That is why strategies are constantly being designed and implemented that are intended at giving websites maximum visibility. This is what is referred to as Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

In simple terms, SEO refers to the various strategies that can be taken in order to improve a website’s visibility on Search Engines, such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Your domain is, therefore, your own corner of the market and the beginning of your laying claim to your piece of the prime real estate that is the internet. It is how your website and, where applicable, your business will be identified. How, then, do you go about choosing a domain? Here are a few tips that will show you how to choose a domain that brings results;

 1.  Keep It Simple

One of the most common pieces of wisdom that you will find across the internet is that domains should be kept simple. You don’t want to choose a domain that is difficult for people to type. As mentioned earlier, the internet is an extremely competitive place. Knowing how to choose a domain is, therefore, extremely important.

The nature of today’s living is also such that people are always in a rush. What this means is that you only have a few seconds in which to capture their attention. Anything that inconveniences them, including a difficult to type domain name, will likely only serve to propel them towards the millions of alternatives that exist for any business across the internet.

What you need to do, therefore, is keep your domain simple. Do this, and you may just increase the rather minuscule chance that they will remember and revisit your site.

2.  Keep it In-house.

In most case, the task of choosing a domain is simplified by the fact that yours is an already established business, with a name that is well recognized by your customers. In this case, there is no reason for you to try and reinvent yourself, by having a website that is different from your already existing brand.

If, as an example, you are the owner of Third Class Taxis, a company that operates from, say, New York, a simple and natural domain for you would be thirdclasstaxis.com.

This is a name that your customers are already familiar with, and you should capitalize on the brand loyalty that you have build over the years when choosing your domain.

3.  Make it Memorable

If you want people to remember your domain, you should choose one that is memorable. This is one way through which you can begin to build a loyal band of followers. A word of warning, however; the internet is all about functionality and no amount of memorability in terms of domain will compensate for a website whose content, to put it mildly, sucks. What this means is that you should work hard to make sure that you deliver value to visitors to your website. That is the only way through which you can make them come back in the future.

5.  Make it Relevant to your Keywords

Where possible, it is advisable for you to choose a domain that is in sync with your target keywords. Keywords are important in Search Engine Optimization, in that they are the means by which people will be able to find your website using search engines.

In simple terms, a keyword is a word or phrase, which people type into Search Engines when they are looking for the services that you provide.

Having relevant keywords as part of your domain name used to be one way through which you could get Search Engines to easily index and identify the contents of your website. As an example, if you are a plumping company that is based in Toronto, a natural domain name for you would have been abcplumpingtoronto.com.

This type of domain gives you a head start in terms of SEO, in that it contains the keyword “plumping Toronto,” which is what people who are looking for your services are likely to type into search engines.

However, while still beneficial, the influence of keywords in domains as part of Search Engine Optimization strategies has largely waned.

That is mainly because search engine algorithms have become complex, due to the fact that there was recognition of the need to curtail abuse by people whose main concern was Search Engine Rank, at the expense of quality of content.

6.  Do not Overthink it

One of the things that, we have noticed, is common for most new bloggers and website owners is that they tend to overthink things when it comes to domain name selection. Give people what they want and people will find their way to your site, whether or not it is called one thing or the other.

We were, we have to admit, guilt of this sin when we set out to create this blog. After listing over a hundred potential names (on paper), we soon hit an unexpected brick wall. One would think that from so many potentials, it would be easy to find one that has not already been registered.

Domain Already Registered

However, as we soon discovered, most of the domain names that we would have chosen had already been registered by someone else. Out of our list of a hundred potential domains, only three turned out to be unregistered!

This complicated the entire process and made our life difficult, in-spite of the fact that we knew how to choose a domain.

7.  Think Outside the Box

Domains are only part of what will, at the end of the day, define your blog or website. That is why, in the end, we decided to think outside the box. Considering the fact that most of the “tech” related domains that we would have chosen for this blog had already been taken or were being sold for thousands of dollars, we decided to derive inspiration from nature.

After all, our main aim is to make technology accessible to ordinary people, and we can do it, whether or not we are called one thing or the other. The result?

Summary

It’s hardly relevant, but that is what we like the most. That is the main thing, isn’t it? As we have mentioned several times, knowing how to choose a domain is extremely important. However, don’t let the process get you down.

Need a little motivation before creating your site? Here are a few words to get you going? You can also read our article on Domain.com if you wish to find out why we believe it is the best Domain registrar in the world.