Choosing a good domain name is hard.
It’s also super essential that you get this right because it lends your company more credibility, and makes it more visible. It also creates a good (or bad) first impression on new customers.
As an online business, you might not want to spend too much time choosing your domain when – after all – there are “more important” things to do.
But here’s the thing: You won’t need to spend as much time once you understand exactly how to choose a domain name that’s right for you.
In this article, we’ll be laying down six domain name choosing tips that will save you time, and make it easier to choose a name that defines your business.
Why do generic names simply not work?
A few reasons – but mainly because you can’t really build a brand around a generic name.
Instead, it’s really important that you get creative with your domain name so that there’s potential for it to take on a life of its own over time – so much so that customers begin to associate with it in the way they do with brands like Coca-Cola.
How can you avoid generic names? Here are some tips:
Be as unique as possible. If something sounds generic, it probably is.
Think of domain names and see what comes to mind. Here are some popular ones:
What do they have in common?
They’re all super short.
Research performed by Backlinko showed that short URLs tend to have a ranking advantage over longer URLs. Also, research suggests that most URLs on the first page of Google are from 40 to 100 characters. Since they analyzed 11.8 million Google search results to get this and of data, this is something you want to use.
What you should aim for then is to a) keep it as short as possible, but b) if that’s not possible, aim for three words maximum.
And remember – more letters can mean more typos in google searches. While Google has advanced techniques to predict such typos it’s best to avoid long domain names as they could potentially lead to competitor’s sites thus granting you lesser brand visibility.
Not everyone who comes into contact with your brand will be a native English speaker.
Even if they are, your name still needs to be pronounceable to everyone – English or non-English.
North of Boston Jewish Singles, for example, used the domain name nobjs.org. It’s entirely unpronounceable and very hard to remember.
Pro Tip: Write your proposed name down on paper and ask a handful of people to pronounce it. If some of them can’t pronounce it, it’s not a good domain name.
While we don’t recommend companies to rely on domain name generators, it’s a good idea to use one so that you don’t end up wasting time choosing names that are already taken.
Domain name generators can also help you generate ideas, and they’re really easy to use: you just need to enter a keyword or a tool related to your niche, and then perform a search.
Such tools are helpful for coming up with ideas, but they can also show you whether or not a domain name is already taken. And the best thing is that they’re entirely free to use.
Pro Tip: There are a lot of free tools that can help you in creating your online business and have more sales. Use them!
The thing about a domain name is that, even after you’ve launched your website, it doesn’t have to be set in stone. Domain names can be changed – and they often are.
Why would you change your domain name at a later date?
It could be for any number of reasons. Maybe your business has simply evolved to the point where you’re now offering more (or different) services, in which case a different domain name might make sense.
For instance, a freelancer might start out simply taking photos, but eventually, they might expand their business to include other art forms.
That said, you don’t have to create an entirely new domain name from scratch. Instead, as long as you don’t choose a domain name that boxes you in and leaves no room for flexibility, you can simply amend it, adding a different prefix or suffix.
A smart idea is to buy as many domain names as you can think of that is related to the one you choose to go with. This ensures that site visitors who misspell your domain name don’t get away, and it also preempts competitors who are buying up similar domain names.
Not just that, but it gives you the flexibility to switch domains if you decide at some point that another domain name was better than the one you chose.
As a final point, domain names are not to be confused with web hosting. While a domain name is your site’s address, a web host is an account where your website and all its files are stored online.
As such, creating a domain name doesn’t mean you’ve now got a website. You will still need to choose the type of web hosting like bare metal hosting, dedicated hosting, cloud hosting, or even the best laravel hosting if that’s right for your system, and which your domain name is pointed towards.
But don’t worry – a good web host should tell you exactly how to point your address to your host.
As we’ve seen, domain names are super important for boosting your visibility and helping you build a stronger online presence.
But while we’ve outlined a few tips to help you get started with choosing a domain name, you’re going to have to put your creative brain into overdrive now. If you’re still struggling, ask friends, family members, and team members to help you out. What ideas do they have?
Host a brainstorming session if you think that works best; remember to keep it short and sweet, but also to leave room for change or expansion.
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Got a brilliant SaaS product idea? You’re already on the path to creating a potentially ground-breaking solution! But what’s next? In this blog post, we’ll guide you through the essential steps of transforming your SaaS product idea into a reality. So, fasten your seat belts as we navigate the exciting journey of SaaS product development together!
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