Your domain name can mean the difference between a highly successful business and a total failure.
With a domain name, you could explode your business, or ruin it completely. If you keep your domain short and memorable, for example, your traffic numbers could hit the roof. It doesn’t take a genius to register a good domain, but there are definitely a few rules you should abide by. In this article I will outline a few of the things you should consider when searching for your dream domain.
1. Keep it short and sweet. Most people hate long domains. They are tricky to type out and even harder to remember. If you are going to have many words in your domain, try separating them out with hyphens. However, using hyphens does make a domain harder to type out. As far as numbers are concerned, they are acceptable, but only if the fit in the context of your domain. Keep it short, and people will both remember it, and be willing to type it into their browsers.
2. Stay catchy. Take a moment to consider the biggest internet businesses; eBay, Yahoo!, Google. All of them have short, catchy names. This can be a tricky job, but if you are determined to transform your business into a fully fledged brand, you are gonna need to think about it.
3. Consider trademarks. You may be tempted to start a business or website out of another. For example, you might want to start a site about eBay. You must not forget that you’re not allowed to use the word “eBay” in the domain name.
4. “.com” is king. You should always strive to register your domain in it’s ‘.com’ format. This is by far the most popular top-level domain. You might also want to consider registering ‘.cn’, ‘.de’, ‘.net’, and ‘.co.uk’.
5. Consider keywords. Again, this might be tricky, but always try to get your top keyword phrase into your domain. However, don’t sacrifice the length of your domain just for this. It’s far more important to keep it short.
Overall, you should try to sum up your business in your domain. You want it to be short, catchy, easy to remember and type out, and preferably have it containing some of your main keywords. Of course, you don’t have to spend years thinking about it, but you should definitely not disregard it as unimportant.
