Choosing a domain name can be difficult, particularly when it seems all the good ones have already been taken. You might find you have to be creative when with your domain name selection, the useful tips below should help keep you on track.
1. Always choose a “.com”
People are familiar with “.com”, when they guess at a website URL, they’ll likely type “.com”. Some browsers even assume you mean “.com” if you omit the extension e.g. typed www.telephone into Firefox and it automatically directs you to www.telephone.com, and even the iPhone and iPad have a “.com” button on their keyboards.
After you’ve got the “.com”, take measures to protect your brand by registering you new domain with as many extensions as possible. If a competitor tries to register the domain name you picked, and finds it’s already gone they may register the “.net” ,”.info” or country specific version of it, which can lead to confusion amongst your potential clients who may inadvertently buy from your competitor thinking it’s you.
2. Always Remember the KISS Principle.
‘Keep It Simple, Silly” – by which we mean short and easy to remember. Even though the maximum characters allowed in a domain name is sixty seven (including special characters), this does not mean you have to buy a domain name that long.
People tend to forget lengthy domain names – who would remember www.yourwebsitenameandmineisveryfreakinglong.com? Also, a long domain name is prone to misspellings, not only does this frustrate your visitors as they spend time typing it in, but a typing error could land them at your competitor’s door.
3. Avoid Numbers and Words that Sound like Numbers.
Avoid using the numbers “two” and “four” or the words “to” and “for” in your domain name. This is because they might be interchangeably misspelled, for example www.monkeytogo.com can be misspelled as www.monkey2go.com and vice versa.
If it is really necessary, be sure to buy the two versions, and redirect the misspelled version to your real site. Remember though, this will increase your domain name costs, as you will also want to double up on all the other extensions you buy like “.info”, “.net” etc.
4. Use your Company or Brand Name.
People always associate you with your company name or brand name. So for better recall use it.
5. Do not use words you have to spell out when you are saying them.
Unless you have the money to put into advertising your brand then make sure it’s easy for some one to guess the right spelling. If you have to spell it out every time forget it, most likely your potential customers will!
6. Check if you are allowed to use the name.
Always check if you are infringing on a protected name. A domain may be available but it doesn’t mean you have the legal right to use it. Check if a certain person or company owns the name or if there is an existing trademark. You do not want to get into trouble down the line, after you’ve invested so much time and money into promoting your domain, so check first.
One final last tip that is very important – do not run the risk of losing your domain. Register your domain at a reliable register like GoDaddy.com, and make sure you select to automatically renew your domain on expiration.
Use these tips on domain selection and register your domain now!
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