How Can You Select a Domain Name?

Businesses and individuals should exhibit a strong online presence to reach their goals. In the current digital age, choosing a suitable domain name is very important to show digital existence. Selecting a domain name is a fundamental step during creating a website. A domain name is the website’s address of a business or person on the internet; this name stands as a digital identity for a brand or personal project. If you select the right domain name, you can improve your online success effectively. In the article, we help you to select the perfect domain name for your website.

Criteria for Selecting a Domain Name

Selecting a domain name is as important as creating a company name. You should think on the name critically by focusing on your target audience. Now, we would like to share six factors which must be considered during the selection process.

1. Keep the Domain Name Short, Simple, and Rememberable

Firstly, you should consider the memory of your target group. If you create a forgettable domain name, your target cannot reach your website. Because of this circumstance, your domain name should be easy to recall. For a memorable name, you can think about the nature of your business/project.

In addition to the memory issue, you should select shorter names because they are easier to type and share. You can follow a straightforward process and choose a name with 6-14 characters. You should not prefer complicated and overlong names because they can confuse internet users. Also, we do not suggest the usage of abbreviations and unfamiliar spellings.

For this step, you can consider Google and Amazon examples. The companies are very popular and on every user’s mind thanks to their short domain names. Like these examples, you can select a short and simple name.

2. Use Keywords Intelligently

Utilizing the keywords related to your project is another critical step in selecting a name. This can help with search engine optimization (SEO), making it easier for potential online visitors; internet users are generally searching the main keywords on search engines to reach specific businesses. For instance, if you run a bakery, you can use ‘bake’, ‘bakery’, or ‘patisserie’ in your name.

For selecting some keywords, you can benefit from some online tools, which offer the opportunity of keywords and trends search, such as Semrush and Ahrefs. After considering the related and proper keywords, you can include the most suitable ones in your domain name.

 

3. Avoid Numbers and Hyphens

The main point in domain names is being recallable and typeable, so the name should not involve complex characters. Numbers and hyphens can be considered as complex characters, and they can cause confusion. For example, users might not know whether to type the numeral or the word for 10. Like the example, hyphens are frequently misplaced or forgotten.

You can prevent potential loss of traffic by avoiding numbers and hyphens in your domain name. If you want to make your business easy to remember, you must consider the nature of these characters.

4. Select the Right Extension

Domain name extensions are the suffixes, like .com and .net, and they impact websites’ credibility. These suffixes are also known as top-level domain (TLD), and there are main differences between TLDs. For instance, .com is the most recognized and trusted one while .tech or .shop are industry-specific extensions.

For choosing the right extension, you should consider your website’s purpose and audience. Each TLD is used for specific situations, so the extension that will not work for your project may cause digital damage. You can be creative while selecting the extension. For example, the musician will.i.am is using .am, that is the country-code TLD for Armenia, and the extension belongs to the singer’s online fan page in Armenia. In addition to creativity, you can focus on geography or sector of your business. Geographic extensions, like .london, and sector-specific extensions, such as .edu and .health, can be selected according to your project’s nature.

5. Protect Your Brand

Good domain is the starting point of new businesses, and protecting brand is a critical step during selecting domain name.

If possible, you can register multiple domain extensions and variations to protect your brand from competitors and cybersquatting. For example, if you own domain.com, you may also register domain.net and domain.org. Also, you can implement strong security measures for the protection. For instance, you can use strong and unique passwords for your domain registrar account and enable two-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security. Moreover, you can regularly update your passwords and monitor your account for any suspicious activity.

6. Check Social Media Availability

To reach target audience and attract potential customers, there must be a consistency between domain name and social media. You should ensure that your name is available as a username on major social media platforms, like Instagram and Facebook. By taking the same username, you can build a cohesive brand identity across the web.

Conclusion

In establishing a successful online presence, the first step is selecting the right domain name. You can select a name which is short, memorable, effective, and aligned with your brand’s identity by following the above criteria.

You can improve your brand’s credibility and attract visitors with a proper domain name. For selecting the best name, you can explore affordable domain registration options with Hostingo’s competitive prices and discover the perfect name with our intuitive search tool. Happy domain hunting!

What is a domain name? Why is selecting the right domain name important? How to select a proper domain name?