The very first thing that we see while looking at a website is its domain which laymen call URL. No doubt, both of them are two different terms which are very closely connected. We will come to this topic later and for now, I will make a brief distinguish between the two terms. “Google.com” is a domain name and “http://www.google.com” is the URL of that domain. Ok, now let’s go back to our main topic.
When it comes to a domain name, we put so much thought into choosing a domain name for our website because we know its importance. It makes the first impression on our visitors and it can create a positive or a negative impression. All this depends on your choice while choosing a domain. We all know that the most popular websites in the world are www.google.com www.youtube.com www.facebook.com www.wikipedia.org www.yahoo.com etc. But, have you ever notice, what these websites have in common? They have many things in common and we can also follow these common features while choosing a domain for our new website.
- They all are easy to remember. If we can remember them only then there would be a chance of using it whenever required and becoming a word of mouth for it.
- They all are easy to pronounce. You as well as others have more possibilities to popularize your domain name among others if it is easy to pronounce and if it is not then you need to make it more simple & easy.
- They all are easy to type.Your visitors can type your domain name easily and if it is complicated then they may mistype it and land on some other website which you surely don’t want.
- There is a correlation between domain name length and popularity. They all have approximately 7 characters in their domain name. In Wikipedia’s list of most popular websites, the longest domain name is www.googleusercontent.com, containing 17 characters. So, create a domain of 7-17 characters, containing 2 or 3 words – and remember: the shorter, the better.
- They all don’t have any hyphen, brackets numbers or any other symbols. These marks make our domain difficult to pronounce in one go and a single mistake of a character can mislead our visitors so don’t use them.
- “.com” is the best domain name extension you can choose because everyone is more familiar with this domain and it is easier to remember. All these benefits could be the reasons, why 75% of domains have the “.com” extension. “.com” is the best choice for better performance of websites. If the domain name you chose is already taken by somebody else then think of a new domain name with “.com” extension.
- Domain name is also essential for SEO point of view. You can use your most powerful keywords at the beginning of your domain and get ranking.
- A domain name gives you an opportunity of branding for your business and makes it recognizable among your visitors. The names of websites mentioned above are unique as no one else had used these words for their business but they did. You can also dig deep and choose a very different yet relevant name for your domain and make it brandable and stand out from the competition.
- Sometimes when we brainstorm a new idea, most of the ideas we think of are already taken by someone else. In that case, you can use domain name generators Like Wordoid, Learn Domain Search & DomainHole etc. They can help you in every possible way and give you fresh ideas for your domain by keeping in mind your prime keywords.
- A blogger can use his or her own name as a domain as it can make a new blogger more recognizable among reader and what more a blogger wants. But, if your name is difficult to spell or pronounce then you can take the combination of your first name and surname or you can also use your nickname as your domain.
- The name you choose should be not be used by someone else on social media as well. If it is unique and available only then it will be easy for visitors to reach you.
- To stay away from legal issues, never use names for your domain that already have trademarks.
The list of benefits of a good domain name is never ending.
The first step towards a website or a Blog is to have a domain and to choose an effective domain is extremely essential. It has the ability to make or break the popularity of our website and if you will have to change your domain name in the future, it will be a huge pain and will cost you a lot. So, be very cautious as well as creative and keep in mind the above-mentioned tips and tricks while choosing an effective domain name for your website.