Choosing a domain name is a very important part of your online dealings. It deserves a lot more thought than people are prepared to give it. It has a massive effect on your future SEO and a massive effect on how much traffic you are going to receive. A poorly chosen domain name is going to make it a lot harder for you to market your website, and is going to lower the amount of people who visit your site from places other than a search engine. In fact, a very poorly chosen domain name may even make it difficult for people to find you on a search engine. Here are some tips to help you improve your domain name choosing skills.
Cannot be too similar to well known domain names
Picking a domain name that is very similar to other domain names may seem like a good way to get a bit of free advertising, but it does not work in that way. For example, some silly people have picked domain names that sound similar to popular websites. Their theory is that when people hear the domain name that they may type it into the search engine or address bar and spell it incorrectly, thereby reaching their domain name instead of the one the viewer wanted.
For example, a person who has just heard the name “Google” for the first time, may spell it as “Gugle” (like bugle). So a silly domain name picker would call his/her domain name Gugle.com and await people to type it into their address bar. No doubt this idea works sometimes, but the viewer is likely to realize his/her mistake immediately, and continue to search for the correct website.
Cannot be too similar to your competition
Again, some people will try to capitalize on their competition’s success. For example, a website selling shoes may call the business S&P, but since using the “&” symbol is not allowed, their website may be called “Shoes.com”. A silly competitor may try to capitalize on this, and name his/her domain as “SandP.com”. If you do this then the viewer is going to realize immediately that he/she has not landed on the true “S&P” website, and will leave in order to find the real one.
Must not be too expensive
Do not forget that your domain name may end up being very expensive. There are some people who pay thousands of dollars, just so that they may have a certain domain name. The domain name sale is not as big today as it was in the year 1999, but there are still people today who buy domain names just so that they may sell them on for a profit. Once you have picked your fantastic domain name, just make sure it is not going to cost you a lot of money.
Be careful in picking one that has been used before
The ones that have been used before may have bad links pointing towards them. They may have a very bad online reputation, and may have even been banned from the Google index. The opposite may be true. The domain name may be one that is loved, and people may still visit it, but it is up to you to check up on the history of any existing domain name that you wish to purchase.
It must be easy to spell
If you have a domain name that is hard to spell, then people are going to be unable to enter it into the address bar of their browser. They may even have trouble finding the right website if they try to Google or Bing the domain name they are looking for.
It does not have to be the same as your business name
It is sometimes a good idea to have your domain name the same as your business, e.g. Virgin.com for the Virgin company. And other times, it may not be such a good idea, e.g. Richardsonandsimkins.com.
It does not have to have keywords in it
People will tell you that you should put keywords in your domain name, but this is not a good idea (for hundreds of reasons). You could concentrate on more important factors for your domain name. You should leave the addition of keywords to when you are building web pages, where you can put them in the URL of the page.
It must sound the way it is spelt
When people hear the name on the TV, the radio, or in person, they may be inspired to look up the website when they get home. They are going to spell the domain name the same as it sounds (phonetically). This is why you really need to pick a domain name that is easy to spell, and that sounds the way it is spelt. The amount of traffic you will lose through people misspelling going to be quite high.
About the Author
My name is Kate Funk. I am an expert in teaching Finances and Marketing courses at Tutorsville. I like sharing my knowledge with people. When I’m not coaching individuals in SEO and business networking skills you can find me contributing to different sites and blogs or travelling abroad in search of new impressions and friends.