Learning Center How to's

How to Pick a Domain Name?

Picking the right domain name is vital for the future of your business.

What's really in a name? When it comes to the internet – an awful lot. Out of all the various aspects involved in establishing a web presence, you might think that choosing a domain name would be the simple part. In fact, there's rather a lot to take into account. Want to know how to choose a domain name? Take a look at the following tips:

Table of Contents:

- Sharp and snappy
- Tell it like it is
- Search engine optimization
- Think big
- Back to the drawing board
- Domain management

Sharp and snappy

Many visitors to your website will be coming to you directly by typing in your web address. Having a domain name that's short, sharp, snappy and will stick in the memory is what's needed. It can play a significant part in building brand identity and recognition, so spend enough time coming up with a shortlist of options. Perhaps run some ideas by friends and family members to get their input.

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Tell it like it is

Try not to be too clever when selecting a domain name. While an off-the-wall choice certainly worked for Google, you might be better looking at something a little more conservative. Sticking to a brand name is never a bad choice, but using foreign or made-up words can cause issues with spelling and be tough for visitors to remember.

Search engine optimization

Not that long ago, you could improve a website's ranking in Google and other search engines by adopting a keyword-rich domain name, for example, www.vanhirein(location).com. It's no longer the case that domain names chosen to include certain keywords will boost your website's rankings, so try and be a little more creative.

Think big

While initially you might be planning to establish just a single website in one country, it's worth thinking about future expansion and whether it could be worth purchasing .com, .co.uk or .org domain extensions too. While you might not use them straight away, consider the potential impact if those domains were not available a few years down the line.

Back to the drawing board

Before you get too excited about a new domain name that you've come up with, just make sure that someone else hasn't had the same idea. There are an awful lot of registered domain names out there and unless you've had a real marketing brainwave, there's a fair chance you might need to revise your chosen title because it's already in use. SITE123 has a free domain name search facility, which makes it simple to run a check on whether a domain name is free in seconds.

Domain management

It is important to remember that if you are going to have a number of domains then you'll also need to manage them. This can be a major task, but thanks to SITE123's bulk management system it needn't be. It's possible to administer multiple domains through a single interface, ensuring minimum hassle for you.