Beyond The .COM: Exploring Ideas for Choosing the Perfect Domain Name

Your domain name is perhaps one of your biggest decisions when starting a business. It determines how potential customers perceive the brand. Thus it becomes imperative to ensure you choose a good domain name, which conveys what you do, captivates people, and connects with them.

But how to come up with a business name, and, more importantly, how to choose a domain name? Well, let us find out.

Best Practices for Choosing a Domain Name

There are numerous guidelines and dos and don’ts when choosing a domain name. Following these will ensure that you have a name that’s more accessible, easy to remember, and will give you a better chance of attracting traffic.

So, here’s a list of best practices you must follow while creating a domain name for your brand.

Keep It Short and Simple

Rule #101 of creating a domain name must be short and simple. The name must be easy to pronounce, type, and remember. For instance, if you open a patisserie for vegans, you can keep the domain name as:

bakevegan.com

veganbakes.com

Such names can make it easier to type the brand name and reach your website quickly. Furthermore, the audience might easily remember you due to the name's simplicity. Do not try names such as:

vegancakesbreadsbiscuits.com

vegancakesandbreads.com

Add Your Niche in the Domain Name

Notice something in the above domain name example. We added the keywords around the topic within the domain name. Adding keywords isn’t necessary, but it always helps with SEO, convenience, and brand recall value.

For instance, if people use keywords such as vegan cakes or vegan baking, there’s a higher chance of your website popping up in their results. Furthermore, seeing the keywords in the domain name will draw more people as it will build a perception that they can find what they seek on your website.

Avoid Double Letters, Hyphens, and Words with Multiple Meanings

Using double letters and hyphens will make it difficult for people to get their names right. As a result, while searching for your website, they might end up on some other website if they make spelling errors. No brand wants to lose its potential customers and audiences due to such challenges. So avoid double letters.

Example:

Let’s say you have a web app that helps people track steps. You shouldn’t have the domain name foottracker.com

Besides this, you must ensure the domain name’s readability is straightforward. Don’t use words that could be read differently. For instance, if Alex decides to open a perfume eCommerce store, the domain name alexsscents.com can be quite confusing.

Keep the Domain Name Scalable and Relevant in the Long Run

Let’s go back to the vegan patisserie example. You start with a shop where you only sell cakes. However, naming the website vegancakes.com might not be advisable because, in the future, you might want to expand. You will start selling biscuits/cookies, bread, desserts, and more. You can’t keep changing your name as you include more items. Thus, bakevegan.com might be ideal. Thus, the name is scalable and relevant even in the long run.

Go Beyond the .com Extension

.com is the most common domain name extension. Thus, it is likely that the domain name you like might already be taken by someone else. However, you can try two things:

1. Find a smart way to name your domain while keeping the communication and the keywords intact, and use the .com extension.
2. Use customized domain names, which gives you more avenues to get the names you want.

For instance, if bakevegan.com is taken, you can try words related to bake. These include bakery, patisserie, cakery, etc. So your name can be veganbakery.com. You can also play with the words by keeping the name bakevegano.com or veganifybakes.com.

Alternatively, you can customize the domain name and keep it as bake.vegan or vegan.bakes.

Use Domain Name Generators

If you’re ever feeling lost or unable to find suitable names, domain name generators can be handy. All you need to do is select the industry type, the purpose of the website, what you’re going to sell, and with just a few clicks, you can find a good name.

Ensure the Domain Name is Not Taken

We are in an era where anyone and everyone can build a website of their own and start a business as and when they want. As a result, it is easy to choose a domain name that someone else has already chosen. Thus, before you settle on the domain, check it with tools that ensure the domain name you have your eyes on is not taken by someone else. There are several tools and online portals where you can check this. We’ll enlist them in an upcoming section.

Protect Your Domain Name

Protecting your domain name is quite important. Once you like a domain name, register it before someone else does. In fact, you can go a step further and register a few more domain names close to yours to ensure you don’t lose traffic.

For instance, if your domain name is bakevegan.com, you can register bakesvegan.com, veganbakes.com, cakevegan.com, and more. Thus, even if someone misspells the names or gets confused, they have a better chance of landing on your website.

Overall, these are the best practices you must follow while creating a business name and choosing a corresponding domain name. However, know that most of these are mere guidelines, so if you want to try something offbeat and have figured it will work better, go for it.

How to Register Your Domain Name

• Check if the domain name isn’t already taken and ensure you will have no legal issues by choosing a specific domain name.
• Choose a reliable domain name registrar. You must go for one accredited with the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), and gives you domains at affordable prices.
• Follow the steps mentioned in the registrar’s portal to purchase and register the domain name.
• Confirm the ownership of the domain.

Voila! With just a few steps, you can easily register your desired domain name.

Tools to Create and Choose a Domain Name

• Looka
• Namelix
• Shopify Business Name Generator
• Hostinger
• Nameboy

Tools to Verify If Domain Name is Already Taken

• United States Patent and Trademark Office
• Marcaria
• 101 Domain
• IONOS
• Name.com

Conclusion

To summarize, domain names must instantly connect with your audience and potential customers. This will increase the brand recall value, help them remember and type it easier, and attract more people to your business.