Domain names are the Internet’s real estate. Just as a good location is important for your brick and mortar business, your domain will become the foundation upon which you build. With that being said, there are certain things to keep in mind when choosing those special words for your web enabled business.
Domain names are the Internet’s real estate. Just as a good location is important for your brick and mortar business, your domain will become the foundation upon which you build. With that being said, there are certain things to keep in mind when choosing those special words for your web enabled business.
A branded domain is like nike.com or cnn.com. We all know the brands and looking them up online is simple. However, the name tells us nothing about what they do. We just know. This poses a problem for new businesses looking to ramp up traffic stats quickly. We have to work extra hard at getting our name out there.
A keyword based domain on the other hand is like justbathroomremodeling.com or dallashalloweencostumes.com. Each of these domains tells us exactly what we will find at that location. The big benefit here is that search engines will rank us quicker for the keywords in our domain. The downside is that our name, once chosen, is static. If the keywords in our industry ever shift, we are in trouble.
If you believe you are going to be in business for more than a year ( and who doesn’t ), a branded domain is best. It will take some time to get ranked on the major search engines, but once there, you are likely to stay.
Keyword domains on the other hand are great for domains with a finite lifespan such as annual events and other short term items.
The best domains are easy to remember. To give people the best chance at remembering who you are, keep your domain name short and to the point. Make sure it rolls off the tongue and is no more than three syllables. Stay away from numbers and hyphens as people get confused whether to spell them out or use the Arabic numerals.
When choosing a good domain, we like to use the “billboard test”. People usually see billboards when travelling 65 mph ( 80mph here ) and only have a few seconds to read the billboard, comprehend its message and store it for later use. Choosing a good domain name should pass this test. We want people to remember our name and pass it along to their friends. This is best accomplished with short, easy to remember domain names.
Just like the real world, the Internet has “neighborhoods”. Some of these neighborhoods are better than others. The .com extension is one of the oldest and most respected “neighborhoods”. Having a .com adds legitimacy to your business and provides a certain amount of rank in the search engines. In absence of the .com extension you can try going for .net. Ultimately try to register your domain under as many legitimate extensions as possible. This will ensure other online companies can’t use your brand to boost their business ( These guys are known as squatters and it does happen ).
The caveat to this rule is if you are a non-profit. In this case you should focus on the .org extension. This extension is also well respected and generally reserved for organizational use.
Above are the major considerations to keep in mind when creating your domain. However there are other considerations you might use to get that special URL.
Any company can have a great domain. It just takes a little research ( and sometimes luck ) to land that cherished URL. Keep in mind the advice above and you will find your site online and landing traffic in no time!
