The first thing that comes to my mind when
setting up a blog is getting a good domain name. In this article, I have
described why I think it is important to choose a good domain name upfront. I
have also explained how you can pick a good domain name for your blog or
website followed by some domain name picking tips and general outlines (“dos”
and “don’t s”).
Why pick a good domain name for your blog
Apart from many other reasons, you want to
pick a good domain name for your blog/site from the start, because most likely
you will be stuck with that domain name for the rest of the blog’s life. You
may change the domain
hosting provider from time to
time depending on how reliable your current domain hosting provider is but the
domain name will remain the same.
The reason I say that you will be stuck with
that name is mainly because changing the domain name is kind of like starting
all over again from the start and you don’t want to do that once your site is
established and getting regular traffic and you have built up a brand. You will
start with ‘0’ Google Page rank and will have to work your way up again if you
do change the domain name in the middle. The Alexa rank and other ranking
metrics will drop too because all these rankings are associated with the domain
name. So the bottom line is that you want to pick a good domain name that you
can live with from the start. Now, the question is how?
How to pick a good domain name for your blog
I don’t think that there are any hard rules as
to how a domain name should be picked, so use the following points as a
guideline for choosing your domain name:
·
Use
Keywords: Use keywords in
the domain name that describe your site (if it makes sense). The domain name
should suggest the nature of your product or service. A good domain name
describes exactly what the site is about. It is important for a visitor to get
an idea of what the website is about just by looking at the domain name. For
example, if your site is about antiques and collectibles then try to get a
domain name like “www.antiques.com” or “www.collectibles”.com not
“www.foobar.com”.
·
Easy
to remember: A domain name
should be easy to remember becuase your visitors will want to type in the
domain name in the web browser for revisits and if they can’t remember the
domain name then you run the risk of losing potential traffic. It is also
easier to spread the word of mouth when the domain name is easy to remember.
·
Keep
the domain name short: A
domain name should be short with less than 10 characters. It also helps the
“Easy to remember” point when the name is short. Although, these days it’s
incredibly hard to get domain names that are short. Basically you don’t want to
end up with a super long domain name like
“www.thisisareallybadexampleofdomainname.com”. When the name gets too long it
gets confusing and the name can be easily mistyped in the browser.
·
Use
hyphens if needed: Use
hyphen (-) in between the words if needed for your domain name. If
“www.domainname.com” is taken then you can try “www.domain-name.com”. Using
hyphen(s) in between the words sometimes help to improve readability. It can
also help in the Search engine rankings.
·
Make
it easy to type: Try to get a
domain name that is easy to type (if you can). Easy to type domain names
are good for branding.
·
Think
Local: If your business
is local then think about adding your region, city or state in the domain name
(example: VegasAccounting.com). Only do it if it makes sense though.
·
Domain
name extension: Try to get the “.com”
Top Level Domain (TLD) extension as it is the most popular. It is also the most
widely accepted domain name extension. When people think about an website,
their mind automatically pictures “domain-name.com” as the address. You can
also use the “.net” and “.org” extensions if you cannot find a “.com”
extension.
Should You Use YourName.com or
YourBusinessName.com?
If the main commodity of your business is YOU
then use yourname.com as your domain name. This works out good if you are an
author, speaker, coach etc.
If your business is based around a product or
a service then use yourbusinessname.com or your productname.com.
Some General things to be aware of
·
Legal
conflicts: Spend a bit of
time searching around to make sure you are not choosing a domain name that is
similar to an already established rival. You don’t want to spend time building
your blog only to find out that someone else has a similar website and wants to
sue you.
·
Avoid
Copyright Issues: Make sure the
name you are going to use is not copyrighted.
·
Be
aware of the scammers: There
are a lot of scammers around, so try to make sure you buy your domain name from
a registrar who is in the ICANN’s (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers)accredited
registrar’s list.
Go Daddy offers cheap domain name
registration. Try not to buy hosting from them though… read the
following article before you signup for a hosting account. Name.com also
offers cheap domain name registration.
As I have mentioned earlier that these rules
are not set in stone. Don’t be afraid to add your own flavor. Use common
knowledge and be sensible. Try your best and get creative. What is your best
tip in choosing a good domain name? Feel free to leave your suggestions or
comments below.
