Choosing the right domain name is an extremely important step that you want to do it right from the very beginning. It can be a real hassle if you decide to switch it later.
Your website name is the first thing your visitors will see. It’s also how people will find you online. Like this:
- Domain = thinkmaverick.com
- URL = https://thinkmaverick.com
So make sure you put some thoughts on choosing a good domain name that not only fits for your business but also makes a lasting and positive impression.
After all, a domain name can have a huge impact on your brands, site’s visibility and rankings.
In this article, I’m going to share some helpful tools and tips to help you out in selecting a domain name and register your domain (*for free).
11 Tips for Choosing the Best Domain Name
1. Use an Appropriate Domain Name Extension
As of writing now, there are over 1000+ different extensions available, from the popular “.com”, “.org” and “.edu” to some funky extensions such as “.unicorn”, “.ninja” and even “.virgin”.
But it doesn’t mean that you have to use those new and eye-catching extensions to make your domain name stand out from the crowd.
In fact, you should avoid them and stick with .com because it’s the most popular, memorable and established domain extension out there.
According to Registrar Stats research, over 75%of the domains have “.com”, followed by “.net” and “.org”. “.com “is still the best and the easiest to remember.
However, different extensions have specific uses. Here are the few main extensions for your domain and its purpose:
- .org: Use this extension for non-commercial organizations and nonprofits.
- .net: This is best used for technical, networking and Internet infrastructure sites. Since it gained its popularity, nowadays many people use this option in case the “.com” is unavailable.
- .edu: This one is exclusively for educational and college institutions.
- .info: If you’re not planning to sell anything, but rather to share knowledge and information, then this domain extension might be the right choice for you.
- .biz: It’s a great alternative “.com” domains for businesses or e-commerce sites. Considering many spammy sites are using this, personally, I’d avoid this.
- .me: For those who are looking to create personal blogs, resumes or websites with no commercial intention, this is the ideal choice.
- .co: Use this for community and company.
If you’re planning to have a business focusing at a targeted location, you may consider using country-specific extensions such as “.ca” for Canada, “.de” for Germany and “.au” for Australia.
If all the extensions are too complicated for you, choose “.com”, you won’t go wrong with it!
2. Shorter is always Better
Try to keep your domain name short, concise and memorable.
You’ll want to avoid a complicated and long name, as it will increase the chance of visitors entering typos.
To minimize the risk of traffic loss, it’s best to keep the length of your domain short, aim for 6-15 characters in the name.
For example, thinkmaverick.com is made up of 13 characters.
3. Make it Easy to Pronounce, Spell and Type
The goal here is to make it easy for potential visitors to find you as well as share your domain with friends!
Having a domain name that’s easy to remember, pronounce and spell will be very helpful for word-of-mouth referrals or when users try to search for your site.
To check whether your domain is pronounceable, write the name on a piece of paper and ask 5-10 people to say it loud. If a few of them find it too hard to pronounce it, then you might need to simplify it.
4. Make it Brandable and Unique
Start building your brand with a domain name.
Your domain name is the first thing your visitors see, hear and talk about you.
Since the name will define your business for years, you want to make sure it sounds like a brand and credible business name.
Try to avoid using a trendy or generic name for your domain.
Your aim is to choose a domain that’s unique, memorable and attention-grabbing.
The easiest way to start is to look at the competition, see what domain they’re using and get some inspiration. But make sure you’re not using any domain name that’s confusingly similar to a brand, company or trademark.
5. Use Keywords
It’s all about keywords when it comes to search engine optimization. By using keywords related to your business in your domain, it will help to improve your SEO and rank higher in Google.
But you don’t want to stuff keywords into your domains, it may look spammy and generic.
6. Avoid Using Hyphens
Don’t create a domain name with hyphens. It’s hard for your audience to remember. And users are more likely to enter typos, forget the dash and land on your competitor’s site.
Besides that, hyphenated domains have negative associations with low quality and spam websites. Not only it will give a bad impression to your audience, but it can also hurt your brand and SEO.
7. Avoid using Numbers, Doubled letters
You don’t want to complicate your domain name with numbers and doubled letters.
Including number in your domain may look strange and unnatural, such as 4you.com.
If you’re using doubled letters, there’s a higher chance of making typing mistakes which result in loss of traffic.
The key is to create a smooth and punchy domain name.
8. Avoid Acronyms
It’s good if you can avoid acronyms in your domain.
For example, if you’re using “abc-name” and the “abc” stands for Audio Book Club. It doesn’t say much about your brand and you may end up competing with every other company, in and out of your niche, that uses the same letter as their brand identity.
9. Think Long-Term
Like I said, your domain name is the foundation of your online brand and identity.
You’re in it for the long haul, so choose a name that resonates with your values, benefits and long-term goals.
Let’s say you’re searching for a domain for your piano business and you find onlypianoclass.com is available. This domain name seems to fit perfectly for your business right now. It gives a clear idea and message of what your website is about. But what if you decide to grow your business in the future like teaching violin and guitar classes?
You don’t want to limit yourself to a specific niche, sometimes you just never know how your business might expand.
In short, always think long-term when brainstorming ideas for your domain.
10. Make sure your domain is available on Social Media Sites
Look for a domain name that’s also available on all the social media networks is an important step in the consideration process.
It’s ideal to use the same name across all social media channels and your blog. This makes it easy for visitors to remember and find you around the web.
Therefore, you might want to have your domain match exactly (or as close as possible) with your social media profiles. If someone stumbles upon your social media post, he or she can easily discover your website.
To check the availability of your domain across many different social channels, use Namechk. With the click of a button, this free tool will instantly show you the result across dozens of popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and more.
11. But all the good domain names are taken!
After trying all the tips above only to find out that your deal domain name is unavailable?
Be creative. You can also use Hostinger’s Website Builder to check whether your domain is available and get the 1st year for Free! If your desired domain name is taken, they’ll give you a list of name suggestions.
Try to find synonyms, mix and match your keywords, add a prefix or suffix and see which domain names are still available.
Next, you might want to narrow the list down to 3 names and ask feedbacks from friends.
Once you’ve selected the perfect domain name for your business, follow the steps below to register your domain before it’s taken.
How to Register a Domain Name
There are many different domain registrars out there. It’s a frustrating and painful process if you want to move your domain later on. So let’s do it right from the start.
There are a few choices that we recommend here:
Best Domain Name Registrars
If you want to keep your domain and hosting separate Or you don’t plan to have a website now, then you can just register a domain name with the domain registrars. You can buy domain names in bulk using Namesilo which I currently use.
Namecheap is also a good alternative as a domain registrar. I bought my first domain here back in 2010 and subsequently transferred to Namesilo later on when they increase the prices of my domain names.
You can register your domain name here. Simply type in your desired domain name into the search bar and click “search”.
Free Domain Registration with Web Hosting
If you’re looking to start a new blog or website, then I highly recommend you register your domain and host it at the same place with a hosting provider.
Hostinger
Hostinger has a website builder that offers you a cool solution to your website design needs. What’s more, they offer you free domain for your first year, and free website migration.
Bluehost
Bluehost used to be a top web hosting companies used by professional bloggers. You can still get a free domain with their annual hosting package and create a professional-looking blog in 3 simple steps.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on How to Start a Blog with Bluehost + Get a Free Domain name.
SiteGround
SiteGround is another popular reliable hosting provider in the market. They’ll take care of everything for you, from registering a domain to setting up a website.
HostGator
HostGator is one of the oldest and budget-friendly hosting providers. If you’re ready to start a website or blog with HostGator, follow this step-by-step guide for beginner.
Use Promo Code: THINKMAVERICK to get up to 60% discount on any package.
Conclusion
If you want to start a blog today, you can see how easy it is by following this step-by-step guide. You’ll have everything you need at the end of the day.
Here’s a list of best resources and tools for your blog! I use them to manage, optimize and grow my blog. I’m sure they’ll help you as much as they’ve helped me.
I hope this article helped you in choosing the best domain name for your blog. If you have few domains and not sure which is the perfect one, or you need my input, feel free to leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
I live and breath making an income online.
I’ll be sharing more of ideas and guides soon. Stay tuned.
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