Choosing your domain is one of the most important steps in starting your website, you want something that is easy for readers to remember and type it at any given moment. For example, if a reader is out and about and wants to rave about your website or business to a friend you want a name they can easily pronounce with little confusion so that it sticks in the other person’s memory as well as the readers.
Don’t rush to this decision, take some time bouncing off keywords in your head (or with someone else) to find things that stick. No domain name comes easy and often times you may think on it for a few days before finally deciding on the “right fit”!
10 tips in choosing your domain:
1. Keep it short and sweet
You don’t want a name so long even you have a hard time remembering it! Choose something that’s short and easy.
2. Make sure it’s easy to spell
If your last name is Nickelfreud it’s probably not a good idea to use that in a domain, it’s not easy to spell and hard to remember
3. Avoid number and hyphens
When you tell someone your site name they most likely will not think that there needs to be a hyphen in it or any other weird characters. Stick with words only.
4. Make it memorable
You will want something that sticks out in people’s minds, something catchy and easy to remember for readers. For example one of my favorite domain names was actually my own when I ran a blog, ThriftyWifey.com, it was catchy and memorable!
5. Keep it to your language
If you are writing a French blog it’s perfectly fine to use French words or phrases, however, if you’re writing an English blog or website you will want to keep the name in the language you’re representing
6. Use keywords
Using keywords for your domain is helpful in readers quickly know what you’re about and what you offer, be it services or blog topics
7. Buy more than one
If you have found the perfect domain name you want to use make sure to also purchase the relevant extensions for it (.com, .net, etc) this helps protect your brand and keeps others from buying them later and trying to sell them back to you (oh trust me, it happens!)
8. Buy it now
The number one thing I always tell clients is when you find a domain name you love BUY IT. You would be surprised how quickly they get snatched up either by other bloggers, business owners or even domain resellers.
9. Use a Thesaurus
This one may sound a bit weird but if you’re stuck on keywords and ideas this is a great start! Let’s say you’re starting a food site but all the ideas with the word Delicious in it are taken. Insert that word into Thesaurus.com to see what other related keywords come up for you to use instead!
10. Don’t paint yourself in a corner
I’ve worked with many clients over the years who’ve decided to transition from one topic on their site to another but their name had them too closed in! If you want to possibly expand your site in the future make sure to keep this in mind and choose something a bit more broad and open to change
Need some help with keywords or ideas? There are some great generators out there to use that you can insert keywords into and get a mix of examples and ideas. Often times I find these examples a bit odd BUT they do provide some great keywords you may not have thought of!