How to Select an Effective and Enduring Domain Name
As one of your most powerful digital assets, selecting your domain name will be one of the most important business decisions you will make. Although it sounds like a straightforward process, there are several things you should consider before making your final decision.
Matching your Brand Name
Ideally your domain name should match your company name perfectly. This will ensure that your audience can easily find your website by entering your brand name into a search engine. This will also strengthen your brand and help you to establish a memorable, consistent and unique digital presence.
Crystal Clear Branding
Well branded domain names are:
– Clear
– Memorable
– Short
– Unique
– Catchy
– Inspiring.
It is important to consider what your domain looks like when it is written down, how it sounds, and how well it relates to your brand. Put together a few different options and ask for feedback.
Google Yourself
Understanding the content that is currently ranking well for your prospective domain name will help you to ensure that you don’t end up having to compete with powerful domains.
Is It Easy to Spell and Read?
It is impossible to build a strong and memorable brand if your name is difficult to read and impossible to spell. Don’t make it difficult for your audience to find you.
Avoid Hyphens
Domains with hyphens, especially multiple ones, are tricky to say out loud and just don’t flow particularly well. Additionally, at best they look a bit clumsy and at worse, spammy. There aren’t many big brands that have hyphens in their domain names, which should definitely tell you something.
Consider Optimisation
Although avoiding a keyword-heavy domain name is always recommended, this doesn’t mean that you can’t optimise it without veering into spammy territory.
If you’re a New York based business also selling in the city, it makes sense to incorporate ‘New York’ into your domain name. It is imperative to prioritise solid branding over SEO, but if you can naturally incorporate a keyword in there, even better.
Short and Sweet
As well as looking more attractive from aesthetic perspective (which will look smarter on business cards) short domain names are also much easier for your audience to remember.
Consider Top-Level Domains (TLDs)
Put simply, a TLD is the part of your URL that comes directly after your domain name. The most common TLDs include:
– .com
– .co
– .org
– .net
If your business operates in a global market and your customers live across the world, try to secure a .com. If your target audience is based in a particular country, selecting a country-specific TLD. Using .co.uk for UK based businesses, for example, will help you to rank well on country-specific search engines, like google.co.uk.
The Unique Test
While your ideal domain name and TLD combination might be available, it is important to check whether another business is using the same domain name with a different TLD.
At a time when seemingly everyone has a website, standing out from the crowd is crucial. As the choice of available domain names is becoming increasingly limited, it is important to employ your creativity and select a domain name that will stand the test of time for you and your business.