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10 Things to Consider when Selecting a Domain Name

10 Things to Consider when Selecting a Domain Name

This article will help in opening your mind to see the many issues that comes with selecting a domain name. Many people do not put much thought into their domain name. Many people will think up a few names and then try them out on a domain name checker to see if they are taken. For many people, that is the beginning and end of their choosing process. This article will expose you to the many issues involved in domain name selection.

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Prior to the net bubble bursting, people were investing thousands in domain names, buying them up because they thought that certain ones had more value than others. This turned out to be untrue, where even though some domain names are more valuable than others, it does not usually warrant the spending of thousands of dollars. You can choose a great domain name and pay just a few dollars to register it. You could also try buying a pre-owned domain name so that you may take advantage of any traffic it still has, or any links that are still pointing towards it.

Here are some things to consider before choosing your domain name.

1 – How easy it is to type into the address bar

When the Internet bubble burst in the year 2001, a large part of the reason why so much money was lost was because of the basic misunderstanding of how future Internet surfers would navigate the Internet. It was widely believed that Internet users would type the name of the item they wanted him to their browsers address bar. This is the reason why domain names such as pet.com and porn.com were sold for so many millions. Obviously, their investment was not worth the potential amounts they could reclaim, and that is where the void (bubble) came into effect.
Nevertheless, you should consider how easy your domain name is to type into the address bar. Frequent visitors to websites have been known to type the address of the website into the web browser directly. It is in your best interests to make the users’ job as easy as possible.

2 – How similar it is to your competitors

Some Internet experts will tell you that having a domain name that is similar to your competitors have potential benefits. For example there’s a chance that you will gain a few of their customers through their misunderstanding of your websites domain name vs. the competitor’s websites domain name. The slight potential advantage that having a similar domain name may bestow is outweighed substantially by the enumerate number of disadvantages and problems it is going to lend you.

Even if your domain name strikes a similarity to a competitor’s domain name, then change into something else. The inconvenience of not having your chosen domain name is nothing compared to the heaps of problems that using a similar domain name will cause.

3 – How memorable your domain name is

There are lots of ways that your potential customer is going to be able to navigate your website. For example the user may use his/her favourites bar like; RSS feed, email link, directory, search engine, and many more. You cannot ignore the fact that the user may type your websites domain name into their web browsers address bar. If your domain name is memorable, if not catchy, then it increases the chances that the web user is going to type your domain name into the address bar and navigate to your website.

Oddly enough what usually happens is that a user will remember your domain name and then type it into Google, whereupon hopefully your website will pop up, along with a number of positive websites that supports your domain name (i.e. it does not pop up surrounded by negative reviews).

4 – Is it even available for you to have?

This one may seem like its obvious, but you’ll be surprised how many people start designing leaflets and web pages for their domain name, only to find that somebody else got it. There are quite a lot of creative people out there who have probably already thought of the clever domain name that you are hoping to use for your website. You need to start checking the availability of domain names fairly early in the choosing process.

Be aware that just because a website says your domain name is available for you to purchase, does not mean that you have to purchase it from them. On some occasions it may be possible to shop around for a better price.

5 – Should you put keywords into it?

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This is a very good question and it does deserve some thought. Installing one or two keywords into your domain name may bestow a few search engine optimization benefits. However, the very act of installing keywords may be contrary to a few of the other pointers on this article, such as how easy it is to type into the address bar. You also need to consider the fact that optimizing the entire website with one or two keywords may be restrictive later on down the line when those keywords are no longer as powerful.

You may find it easier if you leave keywords out of your domain name, and then optimize your web pages for specific key words that are relevant to that specific page. This will give you a lot more freedom to experiment with your keywords, and will help you to optimize each page specifically and individually.

6 – Which keywords are going to restrict future trading?

This is an element that should also affect how you actually name your business. It is very unwise to put in certain words because those words may restrict you in the future. For example, the stores that used to call themselves video stores have a lot of trouble when DVDs took over. The same could happen with your domain name if you’re not very smart about which words you choose for it. If you are not careful, you could end up in the same boat as all those video stores were a few years ago.

7 – How much is it going to cost you?

Even though the Internet bubble has burst and people are now more aware of how much domain names truly do cost, it does not change the fact that some domain names are going to cost you more than others do. Again, if you checked to see if your domain name is available during the early stages and you should already be aware of just how much your domain name is going to cost you.

8 – How clever is your domain name?

Sometimes a clever domain name is enough to get people talking, and makes for a very memorable website. Names such as WishDiary and go2bed may be both memorable and very easy to promote. Being clever also has a novelty value which you can leverage for your own needs.

9 – Is it unintentionally funny?

A therapist in Sydney may choose a name such as Syndneytherapist.com, except that it can also be read as “Sydney The Rapist”. There are also names such as Americanscarpmetal.com which can also be read as “Americans Crap Metal”. The Who Represents site looks like (whorepresents.com) also looks like “Whore Presents”.

10 – Is it pronounced the way it is spelt?

This is vitally important because if you’re winning abroad and mixed campaign then word of mouth is going to come into play. If people are telling other people the name of your website, then you want to be sure that’s the user is typing in the correct thing. You need to carefully consider how the website is going to be pronounced, how easy it is to spell, and any misunderstandings as to how it may be written.

Over to you guys

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23 thoughts on “10 Things to Consider when Selecting a Domain Name”

  1. Hi Korah, and welcome to Babanature’s blog 🙂

    Nice post on what all we need to consider while selecting a domain name. It reminded me of my time and all that I had to do before I chose mine.

    We do need to consider all of what you mentioned and I think in some cases keywords work well, especially if you want your site for business or earning money, or else anything that catches the eye works too. Some people use longer domain names, though they say shorter the better as they are easier to remember. I guess each one to their own choices. I chose mine sitting with my husband after we decided what all we were going to have in it, and then we thought that anyone visiting our blog should have that ‘ Aha ‘ feeling, thus the name of the blog. 🙂

    Thanks for sharing this with us. Have a nice day ahead 🙂

    1. Hello Harleena,
      do you know what? When i opened my blog, i never put all this to considerations. i just think of my domain name, it was available and i registered it 😀 But seeing this post make me to realize that there is more in just choosing a domain name. Thanks for your wonderful comment and do have a create weekend to come 😉

  2. Thanks! This post has to be at every domain registration site. Because sometimes it’s getting so frustrated to keep in mind some domain name consisting with 15 letters… Thanks for sharing the post!

    1. Hello Evan,
      Right? It is well informative to people who wants to create a new domain name for either clients or on their next project. and it also talked with the up and coming bloggers… Thanks for the comment Evan and do have a create weekend

  3. Hi,
    It is very good advice to think carefully before committing to a domain name and you have covered this subject very well in your blog post.
    I didn’t know about the net bust of 2001. Interesting information.
    My internet marketing training teaches us to brand ourself so that no matter what we promote we are the brand. My blog is Tonya Stephens .net.
    Tonya Stephens.com was already taken by a reggae singer from Jamaica.
    Go figure. You might get the reggae singer when you search for me!
    Thanks for your great article.
    Tonya

    1. Hello Tonya,
      Our domain name is more than our identity; it’s our business and picking with a wise choice is just the only way. Thanks for stopping by and do have a fabulous weekend

  4. Hi Korah, and thanks for this great opportunity @Babanature!

    Isn’t this article too late for most of us? We have already made the decision to have our current domain names; I think we need PART 2 for this LOVELY post…

    -HOW CAN WE NOW CHANGE OUR DOMAIN NAME AFTER READING THIS LOVELY POST?

    – WHAT IMPACT WOULD THIS HAVE ON OUR CURRENT BRAND/IMAGE?

    – Are we going to miss out of that Google page ranking after the name change?

    Will my readers still stick to me after my domain name change?

    What are the steps to tackle these issues… …

    Well, we all make mistakes.

    Number 2.. Having similar domain name to your competitors has potential benefits? Sure, I agree with this, most especially for search engine.. but can you actually compete with them? Do you have the resources to? Something one should think about…

    I think using shorter domain name is more beneficial these days, just too many domain names to remember.

    Many thanks,

    Seun

    1. Hello Seun,
      Too many questions to be answered 😀 i just feel the post is great for people who wants to join the WWW world. to be honest with you, when i opened my blog i didn’t put all this to mind 🙂 but as i said; it’ll be useful to the next man…

  5. So many things should be considered before choosing a domain name, just as you stated above the right domain name is the first step to success so should be carefully chosen. Thanks for the tips though.

  6. This post has to be at every domain registration site. Because sometimes it’s getting so frustrated to keep in mind some domain name consisting with 15 letters… Thanks for sharing the post!

    1. Hello Anil,
      You’re just so right. nowadays, newbie makes mistakes with their domain names and it should be corrected to be in the right path. our domain is more that our identity; it is our business. Thanks for stopping by Anil and do have a great weekend

  7. This is an interesting topic Korah and Babanature,
    The most important things to consider when selecting a domain name should be…. How easy is it for your friends and readers to memorize? How profitable is it?

    If you answered this, other criteria will now follow.

    Thanks for sharing.

  8. Hi korah,
    That’s an impressive guide.
    Getting the right domain is the first important step that contributes to online success.

    Now, let me say something about point #2. Some users will advice you get the same domain name as your competitor and only change the extension. For instance if your competitor has goodies.com, you pick goodies.net. I think this will bring more confusion to your clients. You both loose customers to each other.

    My opinion is to be unique and stand out. Let others try to copy you and not you copying others.

    Nice and very helpful tips you have shared.

  9. @Korah thanks for sharing this with us @babanature i greet you boss… To be sincere i when i want to register my blog domain name i dont even know which and which i’m going to use! I only tried the name that comes to my mind.. And i later discover that the domain name is really cool than i think of…..

  10. Hi Babanature,
    These are truly worth considering. I for instance wanted to register facebehind.com for my blog because of its similarities to facebook only to find it has already just after 2 days of its availability.
    I therefore opted for my current domain.

    1. Hello Cudjoe,
      That can be confusing right? i also fell into that mess way back when i first created my first blog. the dot com was already taken so i instead optin for the dot net… Thanks for the comment and hope you’re doing great?

  11. Hello
    Wonderful article. I am a newbie and so I hear many different opinions. Some people say use your name, others say use the name of your business. Well what I did I used my name and Life Coach.
    I hope in the long run it will work for my behalf.
    Thank you
    Gladys Posted…A Perfect Pathway to Connect to God

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