Finding the right domain name is the second go to step for you. This can make or break your chances of a successful blogging business.
According to data, globally, the total number of domain name registrations are about 370.7 million. That represents how rapidly the world is moving towards a digital revolution.
And this also shows the importance of choosing the right domain name–your brand voice.
Finding a unique domain name is a challenge nowadays. However, with proper strategy, you can easily pick one for your business.
Thus, here, we’re going to discuss everything from the importance of a perfect domain name to how to choose the best one for your business. So, Let’s dive right in!
What is a Domain Name?
Before starting our quest for the best domain name, let’s grasp the idea of the domain name.
So, you might have a question “what exactly is a domain name?”
A domain name is the virtual name of a website. In other words, it’s a representation of a website through simple text. Or a domain name is a text you type while searching a business on the internet.
Browsing a website has become easy after the DNS (Domain Name System). Otherwise, the actual address of a site is a complex number termed as IP (Internet Protocol) address.
An IP address is like a fingerprint that is unique for each website. And the DNS connects the internet with a private network or IP address.
The domain name, transfer protocol (http:// or https://) and specific page information create an URL (uniform resource locator).
For example: https://alimohammad.me
This is the URL of our website. alimohammad.me is the “domain name” for this site. Here https is the transfer protocol. Besides, everything else shows the location of a specific page.
Too techy? Don’t worry, remember one thing.
Domain name is basically your business name along with an extension (.com, .net, .org, .in, .me, etc.).
Why is Your Domain Name So Important?
Okay. But why is a domain name essential? What if I’ll use a subdomain with an existing extension?
You can go for it. No doubt. But there are many reasons why having a good domain name is crucial for your business growth.
- A good domain name provides you with instant credibility.
Let’s face it. There are a lot of scam websites out there attracting your audiences by a quick results scheme. So, having the right domain name creates your credibility instantly by differentiating your business from them.
- It shows the unique identity of your businesses.
Each year the domain name registrations are increasing at a rate of 1%. That means the number is growing. And if you don’t uniquely present yourself, you’ll be lost in the crowd of the internet.
- It’s your brand voice.
Do you know why Nike has dominated the shoe market? It’s because of branding. So, having a good domain name can help you in creating your brand.
- It shows your online presence.
Online presence is super critical if you want to sell anything from your website.
- It attracts your potential customers.
Yes, the right domain name could attract your potential customers.
- Your top way to look professional.
If you have a professional domain name that shows your brand identity, people will fix an image of authority in their brain.
- It allows you to relocate whenever you want.
Provides you mobility no matter where your business location is.
- It helps you to minimize your SEO efforts and build your authority on the worldwide web.
A domain name with your niche keywords can reduce your SEO efforts.
So, there are numerous reasons why you should consider choosing a good domain name for your blogging business.
11 Tips for Choosing the Best Domain Name
We’ve learned what a domain name is and why it’s important; now, it’s time to select the perfect domain name for your business. Let us take you through the step-by-step process:
1. Pick the right domain extensions
There are numerous top-level domains (TLD) to choose from.
According to a recent report from Statista, the most popular TLD is “.com”, representing about 52.3% of total websites.
The most common reason for this is people are most familiar with the “.com” extension, and they tend to find sites by using this extension most of the time.
Beside .com domain extension some other authority TLD include .net, .org, .gov, and .edu. Every domain extension has a different meaning and is used for a different type of organization.
For instance, most official websites from the government use .gov as an extension. Most non-profit organizations use .org, and most educational institute websites use .edu as their extension.
If you want to quickly increase your website’s authority, choose either .com or .net as your extension. Otherwise, consider the ones mentioned above if you have a different purpose for your business.
Furthermore, if you have a local business and most of your audience is from a particular country, you can choose a country based TLD for your domain name.
For example, .in for India, .ru for Russian Federation, .de for Germany, etc.
But, if the sole purpose of your website is blogging, then you should choose “.com” as a TLD.
2. Observe the popular brands and decide on some brandable names
So, you’ve understood the importance of the right domain extension. Now it’s time to brainstorm the domain name ideas for your business.
Choosing a brandable name has its peak. You can easily convert your blog into a start-up and sell your products. You can create an irreplaceable image in your audience’s mind. And you can market your brand without any hassle.
Brandable names mean names that don’t have a meaning. But that’s unique and great for standing out from the crowd.
If you want your name as your brand, go for it. It’s a better option. Otherwise, closely observe some famous brands.
For example: Google.com, youtube.com, Facebook.com. These are the most famous domain names on the internet, and if you closely observe them, these don’t make any sense. But highly brandable.
Just brainstorm some keywords of your niche and then choose the alternative terms for those words. Then after combining one or two, you’ll find a great name for your business.
Below are some of my favourite domain name examples:
Milk + Shake = Milkshake (mail delivery service)
Crazy + Egg = Crazyegg
Single + Grain = Single Grain
You can see there’s no link between the type of business and the domain names. But, these are brandable.
3. Choose a short domain name
According to data from datagenetics.com, the most popular and successful blogs have an average domain name length of 12. You can choose one between 6-14 characters.
Short domain names are easy to remember and brandable; therefore, choosing a domain name with one or two short-length words is wiser.
4. Easy to spell and remember
Let’s assume. You’re searching for a recipe and opened two websites. Both have easy to follow instructions. And you tried to know the site name for future reference too. But, when you see the site URL, you find something like this: sbeimatuc.com and yumtonum.com.
Which one will be your preference? Which one do you tend to follow easily?
Of course, the second one. This is because it’s both short and easy to type along with easy to remember.
People tend to follow those websites more quickly, which are remarkable and relatable. So, choose the name carefully.
5. People could easily pronounce it
Pronunciation is a huge factor in making a business remarkable.
If you closely notice, the most common brands, such as amazon, google, Facebook, Nike, are super easy to pronounce.
You don’t even need to think twice. These are short, easy to remember and easy to pronounce.
When you choose your kid name, you try to be creative but easy. So that it will be unique, but still, people won’t make fun of it.
Similarly, you have to select an easy to pronounce the name.
6. Don’t use hyphens and numbers
Are you thinking of adding some numbers and hyphens to your domain name because it’s taken?
Well, It’s a big no-no. Change the name. But never use hyphens and numbers.
Most of the time, the sites with hyphens and numbers seem spammy, and it might cause you to lose your audience as well if they forget the numbers or hyphens in between.
So, keep it simple with words without any additional things like numbers or hyphens.
7. Brainstorm your niche related keywords
Now when you brainstorm ideas, keep the words easy to spell, pronounce, and remember. You can create fun and generic names by combining well-known words. However, keeping a niche keyword can help you in multiple ways.
First, if you’re choosing a niche keyword in your domain, your audience would easily grasp the idea of your business. Having niche keywords also expands your way towards SEO. Yes, it can decrease your SEO efforts.
However, don’t confine it to a laser-focused niche term. It can create difficulty in the long run.
8. Have a future vision
When you initially begin with a business, you don’t have an idea about the upcoming hurdles.
You get excited and work towards success. But soon, your enthusiasm goes down after understanding some inevitable mistakes.
And picking a super-specific domain is one of those mistakes.
Yes, you can change and redirect domain names later.
But if you have a long term vision, you don’t need to take the risk of losing audience and SEO efforts due to picking a too niche domain name.
Let me give you an example for a clear understanding.
You’ve chosen a domain name: guestposting.com; however, after a few articles, you ran out of ideas regarding that super focused niche.
Then you don’t have any choice except to quit the business or to change the domain name. So, a better idea to keep some room for change in future.
9. Be careful with the history of the domain name
Whether you’re choosing an existing domain or researching a new domain name, you need to check its history.
If you’ve decided on an expired domain, you need to check if it still exists on google. Just enter “site:yourdomain.com”.
Now, if you’re choosing a new name, check if the domain was ever there. This can be done through the Wayback machine (an internet archive).
After that, you can check your domain’s WhoIs for knowing more about its previous owner.
This verification process can save you from purchasing domains with high spam scores and trademarks.
10. Use domain name generators when stuck
After all, what if you fail to brainstorm cool ideas for your domain name? No worries. You can use domain name generators for this purpose.
Yes, domain name generators are FREE tools for finding some incredible domain ideas.
Just search for “domain name generator” on google. Enter a website. Now, input 2-3 words of your choice. And boom. You will get tons of ideas.
11. Choose a well-known domain registrar and purchase it quickly
Alright! You found a great domain name that is qualified through all of the above points. Now what?
Now you need to act as fast as possible. There’s a high chance that someone will take your domain name if you don’t purchase it immediately.
Some of the good options for domain registrations are Bluehost, Godaddy, Hostinger, Namecheap, etc.
If you’re buying hosting along with a domain name, you can capture some discounts.
Hostinger and Bluehost provide free domain names for one year if you purchase web hosting from them.
Some people try to find some anonymous domain providers for cheap options. However, this cost them a higher price later, along with some other difficulties.
So, always pick a trustworthy site for domain registration. If you want better protection, subscribe for “whois privacy”. This will protect your personal information from stealing.
