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Choosing a Right Domain Name
By Paras Shah
Domain names are no longer a web address these days. Many profitable
companies have been built around their domain name making it the
brand and the company. Choosing the right domain should be as
important as naming your product. Given that status, here are some
pointers how to find a name that will see you through it all.
Branding vs. Keywords:
This is probably the most difficult to determine. Yet, should be the
first place to start because the rest of the considerations will one
way or another relate to this. There are two schools of thought. One
group believes you should have your keywords in the domain so that
search engines pick up on the keywords and rank you better. To what
extent this really affects your search engine ranking is not clearly
known or proven. Consider why you are putting the website up in the
first place. Most likely it’s for your customers or visitors. So
choose a domain that also puts your audience first.
The other group believes a webmaster should go for brand. Most
successful companies start off with a brand, including online
companies. Brands make the product memorable, create differentiation
and encourage loyalty. In the early days of the Internet, everyone
wanted a generic domain like searchengine.com, books.com,
auctions.com and the likes. Today, very few of those are truly
successful sites that rival Goggle, Amazon and eBay.
A branded domain also ensures consistency throughout your marketing
efforts. As one web user describes, “Every time the company tells me
to visit their generic website, they lose the opportunity to
reinforce their brand name in my mind”.
Whether you use keywords or brand for your domain depends much on
what you aim to do. If you plan to build a business or website that
is going to have staying power, branded domains are a better choice.
It might not be easy or cheap to build a brand but there are no
shortcuts when it comes to branding either. It’s a slow process that
can be very rewarding if done right. Don’t choose a domain simply
because of its keywords. First class content, links in and clever
optimization are more important to good ranking than anything else.
Having said that, a brand name made up of keywords could be best,
and you would have the best of both worlds – literally. Take
CancerComforts.com. Owner Kathy Browning chose the domain because of
its keywords. But apart from being keyword rich, CancerComforts.com
is also very marketable and can be a strong brand.
If you are building a resource website, a website for affiliate
programs or one that’s temporary in nature, keyword rich and generic
domains would be a better choice. Finally, there is no harm in
buying both branded and keyword domains that point to the same site.
Just make sure you only use one for submissions, directory listings,
link exchanges and promotion. This way you build your link
popularity.
You should also, make sure the site title or name matches your
domain. If your domain is ExtremeBiking.com and your site name is
Smith Brothers Biking Tours this makes visitors and directory
editors wonder if this is the correct website. It also causes
confusion. People who know you tend to look for a domain that
reflects your brand and not extreme biking. If you have yet to
establish a company name or a site name, it might be a good idea to
name it after you find a domain name. This is sensible, consistent
marketing.
Company Name:
This is the most common because in today’s increasingly small and
competitive world, businesses tend to have rather creative and
catchy names. On the other hand, if your business name is very
nondescript such as The Smith Brothers, you might want to take the
approach that combines part of your company name and a keyword.
Although the importance of brand name was emphasized earlier, here
the situation is slightly different. Non-descriptive company names
aren’t particularly helpful to audiences. Someone looking for you
would find it difficult to differentiate your company and the other
company with a similar name. In this case, keywords tied to your
name are worth considering.
Domain Length:
Short domains are supposed to be best but it’s increasingly
difficult to find one without paying someone a lot of money to take
over the domain. There are alternatives though, such as expired
domains which we will explore a little later on.
Just because a domain is a little longer doesn’t make it bad. For
example, TrashToTreasure.com is meaningful, to the point and
memorable even though it is rather long. On the other hand,
ThisIsAnExampleOfAVeryLongDomain.com is too long, difficult to
remember and prone to errors. The other extreme is needless
abbreviation. TTT.com is meaningless because TrashToTreasure.com
works much butter. Aim for some balance while taking into account
ease of use.
.Com, .Net, .Info:
Most people will agree a .com is best. A web user told us, “Whenever
I can’t remember the domain name but I know the site name, brand or
company, I’ll try for a .com first”. If you have no good .com
alternative, start with .net and .org first. Also, be sure to
consistently promote your website as a .net or .org whatever you may
choose.
Hyphens, Suffixes and Prefixes:
Hyphens aren’t necessarily evil especially if it’s in your brand
name or is the correct way to write a word. However, they are
difficult to remember, type and prone to user input mistakes. Avoid
them as much as you can.
Suffixes and prefixes are i’s, e’s, the’s and numbers usually
suggested by domain search tools when your desired domain is
unavailable. If you choose such a domain, be very consistent in your
promotion. Promote the domain as a whole, do not leave out the
suffix or prefix. You might also want to avoid domains with very
little difference between them. These are usually between plurals
and singulars. Aim for singular names whenever possible. For
example, petfood.com and petfoods.com; if petfood.com is taken
resist the temptation to opt for petfoods.com because people tend to
leave out the s.
Can You Say It?
This isn’t always a top consideration but it makes sense you should
have a domain name that can be verbally communicated. Take your list
of chosen domains and tell it to someone. Does it confuse them? Do
you find yourself having to constantly repeat it or spell it? If
that is so, move on or go back to the drawing board.
Copyrights and Trademarks:
In this day and age, many companies particularly those with strong
brand names are increasingly protective of their trademarks. Avoid
the trouble and expense of a lawsuit by spending some time to
research your chosen name. Start by looking up the name with the
United States Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov/)
and your state’s trademark database.
Expiring Domains:
Anyone who has looked for a domain name finds out soon enough more
than half the desired names are taken. If you cannot find a suitable
one despite numerous searches, why not explore expired domains?
Expired domains are those whose original registrant fails to renew
commonly are due to website closings or companies going out of
business. Within the list of expired domains are some real gems.
There are many services that allow you to monitor expired and soon
to expire domains for a fee. Before you sign up for them, a good
place to start researching for free is DeletedDomains.com.
Some believe recently expired domains with good traffic and rankings
allow you to benefit from someone else’s hard work and give your
site a head start. Theoretically, that may be true. Realistically,
you shouldn’t expect that to last. People consistently return to a
website for a reason. If your topic is very different from the
original site, visitors will stop coming back because the
information or resource they previously had access to be no longer
there. If you assume such a domain and want to convert as many
visitors as possible, make sure your content is very closely related
or similar to that of the old site. You might want to also check
that the old site has completely ceased operations. If the previous
site still exists under a different domain, loyalists eventually
find their way back there; Word gets around among them and could
create a negative image on the old domain that’s now yours.
Ownership:
When you do register as domain, have it registered under your name
or your company. If you are registering through your host, remember
a lot can happen within a short space of time. Companies go out of
business or you change hosts, scams, scandals and more. Making sure
you own the domain reduces the risk of losing your domain name in
the future. Check your host’s domain registration policy. If there
are unnecessary expenses to transfer your domain, try to register it
yourself instead. Registering a domain is a very simple and
straightforward affair. Some good registrars to try are Enom and
GoDaddy.
Finally, when you do find the best available domain, get it
immediately. Any delays no matter how minor may cost you. Finding
the right domain is not easy. It takes a lot of brainstorming,
patience and creativity. Once you find it, don’t let it slip.
Paras Shah
Chief Technology Officer
VIP PowerNet, Inc.
Ph: (713)787-6501
Email:
paras@vippowernet.com
http://www.vipwh.com
http://www.vippowernet.com
http://www.thehostingguide.com
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