There are many things a web designer has to think of when designing a website. Moreover, if he has full responsibility, he has to come up with a good domain name as well. Although many think it is not so important, the domain name is as important as your company name, the website or the Facebook page. Having a good domain name will many times not only bring you more traffic, but also make your webpage easier to remember – and this brings traffic too.
Finding the perfect domain name is not easy in today’s web. Many of the domains which you could think of using are either used by another company or bought for profit by individuals or even other businesses. Web professionals often spend more time finding the right domain name than designing an identity or a website.
Domain Name Tips and Tricks:
Do’s
- Your domain name is for life not just for launch. Some business owners build their entire marketing campaigns around their domain name. Marketing dollars are very expensive and choosing a domain name that you will later on change can cost you additional marketing dollars. Also, re-directions from other sites are gold…if you change your domain it will be very difficult to redirect all of them. So when picking a name, take in to consideration all the ways your business can grow and filter those factors in to your decision.
- What domain extension should I use? A lot of people assume that .com is the best choice. Yes, .com one of the most popular domain extensions and it is a great benefit if you find one that is available that suits your needs. But, now more then ever you should really think about it and be innovative with the extension.For example: If you are an association or a non-profit maybe .org is a better fit; or if your a blogger maybe .blog is a better choice, or .tv can be a good choice for an organization that will feature multimedia content (audio and video).
- Brainstorm Keywords: When choosing a domain name it will pay off to brainstorm keywords of your business. Take a pen or pencil and bounce ideas of your staff or friends. Write down all words that will relate to your business. Then place them in a search engine such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing and see what comes up.
- Add simple words in front of the key words: There are some simple words that can be placed in front of your keyword to make a great domain name. For example: my (mycar, mybook, etc.), your (yourcar, yourbook, etc.), i (icar, ibook,etc.), pro (procar, probook), best (bestcar, bestbook,etc.).
- Jokes or Common Sayings: For example, greeneronotherside, lastlaugh, etc. Users will remember very easily and set a marketing tone.
Don’ts
- Clever Word Combinations: For example, redynomite, andthen, etc. This domain names can lead to confusion or poor branding.
- Don’t misspell words: For example, cammunication, revalutionize, etc. This domain names can also lead to confusion or poor branding.
- Hyphens or underscores: For example, eat-in, drive-thru, etc.
- Registered Trademarks: For example, intel-books, ebay-books, etc.
- Numbers replacing words: For example, insure4care, take2out, etc.