11 Tips to Help You Find a Great Domain Name

If you are going to establish a web presence, the importance of choosing just the right domain name can't be emphasized enough. This is particularly true if your domain will be your business website. There are many factors to consider when choosing a domain name. The tips below will help you find the best domain name and avoid some common mistakes.  

1. Before you even start looking for available names, you need to think about a few things. What is the purpose of your website? Do you plan on trying to optimize the site in order to gain organic traffic? Make sure that you know what you want to do with the website before you begin to brainstorm domain names.
   
2. Decide whether you want to focus on a keyword or on a brand. Say you're selling blue widgets and want to focus on a keyword, then you should go after a domain involving blue widget phrases that are being searched for. If you're more concerned with branding your business name, then you should try to get a domain with your business name, instead.
   
3. Brainstorm a bunch of different potential domain names that you would be happy to own and use. There are so very many domains already registered that it would actually be unusual for you to get your first choice when trying to register a new domain. Don't get so attached to one name until you're sure you will be able to acquire it.
   
4. Prioritize the domain names you come up with in the brainstorming phase before you ever go to a registrar and try to find them. There are programs out there that somehow scrape the domain searches and register those domains automatically if they don't get registered immediately. That's why you'll see people complaining about various registrars, as they think they are the ones scooping their domains while they think things over. Usually it's not the registrar itself but the effect is the same - if you wait even a few minutes, you could find that the domain is already registered.
   
5. Your goal should be to have the domain be as easy-to-remember as possible and easy for someone to actually type into the address bar. The more unusual factors you throw in, the harder it will be to get it right. Avoid things like using numbers instead of words, for example. People will forget that your site has bluewidgets4you, instead of bluewidgetsforyou.
   
6. Along with not using numbers, you should also avoid slang and hyphens in your domain names. Slang terms won't be understood by as many people, especially if you have a global market. Use an Americanism, and your UK prospects may not have a clue what you mean by it. Hyphens are a bone of contention by many. Some say that hyphens enable you to get your preferred domain name. Others say that it is harder for people to remember and it also makes it harder to type in the domain. A good rule of thumb would be to avoid them when possible, but when you absolutely need to have a particular domain, then use only one hyphen.
   
7. Make sure you domain is easy to understand and doesn't inadvertently spell out another possible meaning. There won't be any separating factors in the search bar - the domain will be all in lowercase and blending together. Are you sure there are no other ways that it could be read?
   
8. Being creative with a domain name is fine, but don't get so creative that your target market simply doesn't get it. This happens a lot. People get clever with their domain, but then spend far too much time explaining the meaning of the name to people. That frustrates your audience and it frustrates you, so don't be overly clever.
   
9. Make sure you check for any possible trademark infringement when you're brainstorming domain names, by the way. Using a product name is one way to get in hot water fast, because many brands will come down on you like a ton of bricks, resulting in you losing the domain. Most people are aware of that, but forget to see if there might be another company somewhere using the same company name as you are. If the other company has trademarked the name, it doesn't necessarily mean you can't use it for your business, but you may not be able to have the domain name.
   
10. Avoid misspelled versions of the domain you're interested in. That was trendy for a while, back when Google put undue weight on exact match domains. People would find that a misspelling was getting a lot of searches so they'd register a domain with the misspelled phrase in order to capture that traffic. This really doesn't work today, after the algorithm changes over the past year or two, plus honestly, it makes you look unprofessional.
   
11. Once you're ready to actually start checking on domains through the registrar, focus on getting the .COM version over any others, in most cases. Even though there are a lot of extensions now available, the truth is that most people think of .COM first and won't bother trying other extensions. Remember, part of your goal was to choose a domain that is memorable and easy to type into the address bar. That means that you should almost always shoot for a .COM name. The exception to this is when you are targeting a specific country, such as the UK. In cases like that, it can be good to get the country code extension.

Your domain name has a lot of work to do, when you think about it. It's not a choice that should be made lightly or without a lot of thought going into it. Particularly if you are going to use the domain for business, then it needs to be memorable and brandable in some way. Following the 11 tips given above should help you choose the ideal domain name that will do the job you need it to do.

Erin Gray is a professional author and webmaster who works for Discount Domains