Your site’s domain name isn’t a trivial detail. It’s your company’s address on the web – the way your users find you so they can patronize you, which means it’s of critical importance that it’s memorable and properly represents what your brand is all about. Besides your company name, it’s possibly the single most important piece of marketing you’ll ever do – and it all has to be wrapped up in a short, easy package.
Luckily, as always, we’re here to help you through the process of finding just the right fit! Here are 9 tips for finding the perfect domain name today.
#1: Make a custom domain
The first best way to stand out from the crowd and make sure users remember you is to make your domain customized. A custom domain means you attach a unique, branded label to your IP address – so customers know this domain stands for who you are.
If you’re using WordPress, which is our weapon of choice and the CMS we recommend, a custom domain does cost extra – but it’s worth it for all the options their many plugins afford you. Otherwise, you can choose a website builder that offers a free domain name.
#2: Use .com
Many businesses use clever original extensions that relate to their business, like .burger or .pizza. While this might be funny or cute and therefore memorable, it might also make your website appear less professional. It also might be confusing to users who are used to the traditional .com extension, and erroneously enter it searching for your business not knowing about your embellishment.
If .com is available, better to just stick with that, or if not, substituting .net or .co is also acceptable.
#3: Make it short and sweet
Using a long, complicated domain name runs the serious risk of users making typos when they’re entering it or being unable to remember it correctly. When you’re creating your original domain name, it’s best practice to keep it as brief and simple as you can. Simplicity means not only making it short, but also easy to spell and retain, and leaving out cryptic elements like numbers or special characters. For a helping hand, consult websitesetup.org for some domain name suggestions.
#4: Make it unique
Using a generic domain name will make it get lost in the crowd. Just like your business name, the domain should be unique and catchy, and consistent with your brand voice and culture. This may seemingly counterintuitively cause your website to climb above competitors whose domains are more obvious.
#5: Make it your brand
While your domain should stand out from the crowd, it’s equally important that it reflects your brand. This means that the domain should either be the same as your brand name or as close to it as possible or contain your brand name. For example, while our company’s name is 6Ninety9 Web Design, our unique, simple and branded domain is 699websites.com.
#6: Make it SEO-minded
SEO should be at the forefront of your mind in any of your online marketing endeavors, and your domain name is certainly no exception to this. A great way to optimize your domain for search is to embed relevant keywords into it. But as with any usage of keywords, moderation is paramount – don’t overload your domain with keywords, or you’ll violate the previous point of remaining short and sweet.
#7: Make sure it’s original
Just as you conduct market research, you must ensure that no part of your domain is infringing on any other business’s copyright. Once you’ve come up with the perfect domain, run a search on it to make sure that nothing overly similar is already in use. If that happens, not only will you have to deal with the associated legal troubles, but you’ll have to go through the heartache of coming up with an original domain all over again.
#8: Get a jump on it
When you’ve found the domain name that’s right for you – move forward quick! There are literally millions of people out there registering domains like yours every day. You don’t want to sleep on that name you worked so hard to come up with only to find out someone else beat you to the punch. No reason to hesitate on it – you can always modify it later if you change your mind.
#9: Use a domain name generator
If you’re having trouble incorporating all of these elements and synthesizing them into the perfect domain name for your website, you don’t have to do it alone. There are numerous domain name generators that can help you get off the ground, such as Looka, Nameboy and Instant Domain Search. Check them out today to see if they can do the work for you automatically and give you the domain name you need without the struggle.
Getting your domain name on point is another critical factor in making sure your business is properly equipped to compete in today’s digital arena. And to make sure you’ve got all those tools, consider going pro – visit our homepage to schedule a consultation today.
