You’re creating a website for your business, and suddenly the thought strikes you - “What am I going to call it?”. Choosing a domain name or a URL for your website can be quite a stressful experience and requires careful consideration. URL, which stands for Uniform Resource Locator, is entered on a browser’s address bar and is more than just a string of letters. It is the very foundation of your digital identity and is a crucial part of the website design and hosting process. With nearly 2 billion websites in circulation today, the internet can be a vast space and choosing the perfect domain name can be a confusing endeavor.
So, let’s
talk more about why your domain name is so important.
·
It’s your first impression. Since
it’s the first thing your visitors will notice, it’s crucial to make an
impression that’s positive and lasting.
·
The keywords in your domain name
can have a hand in improving your SEO ranking.
·
Your domain name is a significant
part of your brand identity, much like your business name or logo. When
chosen wisely, it can increase brand recognition.
For these
reasons and plenty more, it’s essential to choose the right domain name for
your business. It’s an undoubtedly time-consuming process. In order to make
this process easier, we have consolidated a few important factors to keep in
mind.
1.
Stick with .com
Your Top-Level Domain (TLD) name follows after your site name. The
most commonly used ones are, .com, .org, and .net. Your best bet
would be to use a TLD that’s been around the longest, is the most popular, and
is familiar to internet users. So, .com. There are a plethora of novel
and wacky domain name extensions, like .pizzaand .ninjathat are
available today, but it’s wise to stick to .com since it’s the most
established, credible, and memorable. Don’t let a strange name reduce your
traffic.
2.
Incorporate
keywords strategically
Search engines determine your search rankings by looking at your
domain name. So, it’s imperative to include keywords for your domain name that
are relevant to your website. If you’re looking for keywords that represent
your content accurately, and are out of ideas, try Google Keyword Planner, a free tool
that lets users explore keywords by search volume. However, be careful not to
awkwardly stuff your domain with keywords, which can make your website seem
generic.
3.
Make it easy
to pronounce and spell
Word-of-mouth advertising is extremely powerful. You don’t want to
end up with a domain name that looks cool but is hard to write down or deliver
verbally. This rings especially true if you’re planning to use your domain name
in order to create a professional business email address. In essence, you want
your domain name to be passed around by people easily and effortlessly.
4.
Keep it short
Shorter domain names are far more easier to remember and type. On a quest to exhaust all potential keywords, if you end up with an unbelievably long domain name, you are bound to look suspicious. Plus, visitors will be more prone to entering typos, ultimately leading them to an error page and causing you to lose traffic. Aim for 6 to 14 characters and remember, shorter is better.
5.
Keep it niche
and brandable
If you want your business to stand out (and avoid legal issues),
brainstorm a unique, brandable domain name. It should be catchy and memorable.
I think we all can agree that “ebay.com”
so much more brandable than “buystuffonline.com”. The way you choose to express
your brand is important, because consumers often make purchase decisions
through subconscious brand associations.
6.
Leave room
for expansion
Be specific, but not too specific. Of course, you want to stick to a domain name that’s very much related to your industry/niche. However, you also want to think long-term over short-term. For example, if your company currently sells rose bouquets, you might be tempted to name your website “rosebouquets.com”. However, there’s a chance you might expand your business and start selling orchids, or flower vases, which might prevent you from attracting consumers interested in the other two categories. And trust us, changing a domain name once it’s already established, is a long and frustrating process, which can cause you to lose out on your search rankings. It’s safer to keep your domain name long-term-friendly and flexible.
7.
Do the
research
It’s always good to perform a trademark search to find out if a
registered business uses a domain name that is similar to or the exact same as
yours. A matching name can lead to confusion and potential lawsuits. Remember,
an available domain name does not mean that someone else hasn’t claimed it
already. Afterall, you’ll also want to be able to use appropriate social media
handles for your business. Even a simple google search will give you a rough estimate
of companies that already own and operate on the specific domain name.
8.
Protect your
brand
Even if you managed to secure the perfect domain name, consider purchasing multiple other domain extensions and domain names, and setting up redirects. Purchasing commonly misspelt versions of your domain name is also a smart move to ensure that your customers always end up on your website. Moreover, you can protect your domain from being hijacked (yes, that happens) by keeping your domain in a registrar-lock status, a feature currently offered by quite a few domain registrars. You can even protect your personal details from being exposed by setting up a domain ID protection, which is actually offered by all domain registrars.
There, now that you know how to choose the perfect domain name, you can go ahead and register it. How, you ask? A few things to keep in mind. Firstly, always work with ICANN-accredited (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) domain registrars. Secondly, the price difference for a domain name between two registrars can sometimes be vast, so don’t forget to shop around. Finally, if you plan to launch a website immediately after getting the domain name, and want to avoid dealing with technical unnecessities, it’s always better to purchase the domain name and hosting plan from the same company.
Design Master
is among the top app development
companies, web design & development companies in Kuwait and SEO companies in Kuwait. We employ some
of the Kuwait best website designers
and mobile app developers in Kuwait
and have years of experience in creating and registering domain names. We aim
to always provide the best website design and hosting services in ways that are
most conducive and responsive to our clients’ needs.
Thousands of people, every day, are actively registering domain names from all around the world. If you’ve found the name you want, act fast before someone else registers your domain idea. Contact us today to create and register your dream domain name for your business.
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