This post is two-part: it will walk you through what to keep in mind when you’re creating your domain name, and it will also explain what to watch out for–and what not to do–when picking your web address.
Domain Name Pointers
Choosing the right domain name can make or break you or your company’s reputation and the number of users you get to your site. Your domain name should be relevant to what your site is all about, not some random name. If your selling shoes, you better have the word “shoe” somewhere in there. If you’re not picking a relevant name, it should at least be brandable and marketable, such as Kayak.com: They’re not selling kayaks, they’re comparing travel deals; however, it’s still a market-worthy name.
Other factors play in to the success of your domain name. If you stick to these pointers, you should end up with a positive result:
Stickability Factor:
A domain name should “stick” to someone’s brain after they hear it. It should be so “sticky” that they don’t need to check your business card to remind them what web address to go to. For instance, if you have a shoe company called The Jane Doe Shoe Corporation, a good domain name would be shoesforyou.com, rather than thejanedoeshoecorporation.com. shoesforyou is catchy and simple. Even though the latter is the name of the company, it’s much harder to remember.
Keep It Short:
Your domain name should never exceed 20 characters. The shorter, the better. Many short domain names are already taken, but if you can score a relevant, short domain to promote your brand or website: do it. Long domains just aren’t condusive to getting a lot of hits or link building promotions.
Make It a .com:
Nonprofits and other organizations might prefer .org, but it doesn’t mean that users are going to remember that. Often users try to go to a .com version of a site they have heard about, even if the actual site is a .net, .edu or .org. The .com extension is so popular, you should at least register it and file traffic to your actual site. In fact, a good rule of thumb is to claim multiple extensions to your domain name, so some competitor can’t snag a .net or .biz version and take traffic away from your site.
Domain Name Mistakes to Avoid
As you try to decide on your domain, don’t fall victim to these common mistakes that businesses and publishers make when trying to get their content on the web:
Awkward Domain Names:
Don’t make your business or site the butt of a joke. Unintentional hilarious domain names are a big joke on the web, like the ever popular PenIsland.com (you figure it out). But more subtle domain mistakes can be made. For example, Richard wants a website for his pest control company, and he thoughtlessly chooses: dicksexterminating.com. Most are going to take one look at that and see something totally unintended and pretty funny, Dick’s Exterminating looks way different when the terms aren’t side by side. An awkward domain like that will overshadow any business reputation you build for yourself.
Hyphens and Numbers:
Not only are such domains a pain to explain to potential visitors, they are not helpful at all in driving traffic to your site. A domain name like high5.com is going to easily get confused with highfive.com: a common mistake, but bad news for the success of your site. Furthermore, court-reporting.com is a great domain, except for the hyphen. The only words people are going to remember are “court” and “reporting,” and these user’s will be visiting your competitor’s
site, courtreporting.com, instead!
Not Getting a Domain Name At All:
If you have big dreams of being a blogging superstar or you want to get a successful blog going to promote your business, don’t make the mistake of registering at a popular blogging site whose title will remain the main extension word for your site’s domain. cookingtips.blogspot.com is not effective in driving traffic to your venture if you’re trying to make it out there on your own. Instead, take the time to register something like janescookingtips.com for a more effective approach.
In Conclusion
You CAN go wrong when picking a domain name, and you do not want to start off on the wrong foot, especially if you have your business in mind. Rather than discovering a fault in your domain choice later on down the road–and having to spend all that time and money correcting the situation–consider the advice above to develop a strong domain: one the will stick to the minds of your users without making them chuckle at your expense.
(eranet present)