It can be daunting if you are looking for a domain name for the first time. There seems to be an explosion of new domains available to us but which one is right for me? Well, these are some of the things I would consider when purchasing a domain name…
1. Stick with real words
If you are a multinational with deep pockets then you can simply make up a new word or name and spend millions on transforming it into an iconic brand name. However, if you just starting out, you may find that your budget forgot all about your online spending in the first place so you need to compromise. Saying this, it is still better to pick a domain name that is made up of real words. For example, using Express will always trump Xpress… This is mainly because your clients will search for “express” and are likely to end up on your competitor’s website. The same applies to numbers. Not many people type actual numbers in their search strings so highfive.com will be better than high5.com. Similarly, hyphens are also things that your clients do not type naturally into their searches. So high-5.com is just going downhill fast…
2. Keep your domain name short
Having a long business name doesn’t easily translate into a great online name. So the “Tasmanian Society of Great Domain Names” will struggle with a domain – tasmaniansocietyofgreatdomainnames.com.au. That just hurts your eyes, can’t be typed without typos, and will only narrowly fit on your business card. An acronym or some sort of abbreviation may solve your problem. TSGDN.com.au already starts to look a little better… But as you may already have noticed, good, short domain names are becoming impossible to get…
3. Stick with an integrated marketing strategy
When researching your business name you should look at your legal name and internet name at the same time. This means finding a business name with ASIC as well as finding the availability for the domain. Often you find your perfect business name only to find out later that the domain is already taken. So searching for the availability of names simultaneously will prevent a lot of frustrations… Even when you have a Eurica moment and think you have the best and cleverest name, someone already has it; don’t get discouraged and keep hacking away at it.
4. Localise your domain name
It is important that your domain name looks and sounds great but as we all know the boss needs to like it too. The internet presence boss is Google and what Google wants we give… It is extremely important that Google ranks you well in their search results and your domain name is going to play a part in this. Google looks at the age of the domain name and naturally assigns more importance to older names. But this is irrelevant for you unless you are willing to purchase an old domain name. Let's assume you are not in a position to buy your domain so you are back to registering a new one. Google also really likes anything “local”. So adjust your type of domain name to the most localized one. This means that if you operate solely in Sydney then you should consider a domain name like yourname.sydney
5. Service focus your domain name
Very similar to the above, you may want to consider linking the type of domain name to the service you provide. For example, if you are running a property management company in Sydney, why not look at sydney.property? You do not have to stick with the old .com.au because there are many generic domain names popping up on a daily basis.
6. Keywords or phrase
Yes, we are back to Google… Use your main keywords or phrase in your domain name! So you have decided that your new invention (the green widget peeler) is going to be big. You set up an eCommerce shop where the world can buy your new revolutionary peeler. All you need is a domain name. Well, only one option really: greenwidgetpeeler.com. So when someone in the world types in “green widget peeler” in the search bar, Google rightfully thinks that you can supply the goodies and therefore will assign a lot of relevance to your site (all other things being equal).
You can register your perfect domain name here: Register your domain name.
