Why is selecting a domain name an essential step for creating an online business?
The Domain Name is the first thing that a potential customer sees about a website, so you want to make sure that it's the right one. There are many factors to consider when choosing a domain name. This article provides useful tips on finding a great domain name.
Well, simply because it tells online visitors what you do and serves as the first introduction of your business to your customers and prospects. That’s why you want to make sure you do it right.
Several factors should be considered when brainstorming names for your domain. In this blog, we will give you a quick rundown of how you can select a great name at the time of domain registration so you can choose one that is both effective and smart.
Here are our top tips:
Choose A Domain Name That’s Easy To Pronounce
Though website visitors won’t say the name out loud, it is still vital to ensure it is pronounceable and ‘brandable.’ This is due to a concept known as ‘processing fluency,’ or the ease with which our brains process information.
You are doing them a massive favor by not requiring your audiences to think twice about what to call your business. Besides, if you have to spell it out to someone, you are not doing it right.
If people misspell your domain name because it is too complicated or easy to confuse with another famous website, you won’t get the traffic you deserve. There are approximately 199,845,130 internet users in the Middle East alone, and if they give up searching for your website quickly, you will lose out on a lot of potential business.
Take a look online at some business domain name examples of your competitors to better understand what works and what doesn’t and make better choices.
Make Sure Your New Domain Is Brand-Worthy
A brandable domain has good potential for playing a role in branding your business in a competitive market so you can stand apart from other similar organizations online. Doing this also has significant potential for your search results rankings and social media presence.
A unique, brandable handle can propel you on your business journey when done right.
But how can you achieve that?
For starters, ensure that it is unique, memorable, and straightforward. Don’t add numbers, hyphens, or anything else that complicates it. The best example would be pepsi.com. So simple, yet a thousand times better than “pepsi-drink.com” or “pepsi-cola.com.”
A Dot Com Is Better Than Everything Else
Numerous studies show that URLs ending with .com are 33% more likely to be remembered than other domains. It also happens to be the most trusted top-level domain, and people are 3.8 times more likely to think a URL ends with .com, so they use it intuitively with business names to find their websites.
So, all in all, .coms are great for SEO and enhance your chances of ranking higher in search results. That’s because visitors are more likely to click on YourBusiness.com than YourBusiness.brand or YourBusiness.net.
The “com” points to the fact that yours is a “commercial” site. This can cover business websites or other sites trying to make money online, personal blogs, portfolios, and more.
Keep It Short
A study of 1 million most popular websites showed that their domain names are 6-10 characters long. So the general rule of consensus is that the shorter you can go, the better.
However, do remember, if you go too short, you may be turning off users. For example, instead of using pastascience.com, you choose pastasci.com. It is shorter, but it is a lot harder to remember and pronounce because of the abbreviation and doesn’t tell what the site is about, whereas the first option is perfectly fine.
Choose a short handle, but that doesn’t mean you cut all the words in half or create weird anagrams and acronyms.
Clearly State What You Do
Your domain name or local domain name should let users know what your business has to offer them. For example: if your business is all about pasta, then pastaperfected.com is a great example. It lets customers know what they will find on your site.
Also, this helps people remember your domain name a lot more efficiently. If they can just read your URL and know what your business is all about, you know they will be able to associate with your site a lot better.
Keep Trademark Infringement In Mind
When registering your new domain name, make sure that you don’t use a word that’s protected by a trademark, thereby infringing upon someone else’s intellectual property.
The Middle East has strict trademark and intellectual property protection laws like most other countries. This makes it important to choose an easily distinguishable domain name that will not be mistaken for someone else’s.
This isn’t just good for customers but also guides search engines, telling them about the integrity of your business and that it’s 100% original.
Be Sensible When Using Keywords
Even though having keywords scattered within your domain name can help, it doesn’t mean you need to go above and beyond to include them into your domain name unnaturally.
Google is brilliant now and can catch tactics that include stuffing keywords unnecessarily. Exactly similar keyword domains are a significant factor when it comes to ranking.
Try not to use generic phrases and keywords exclusively. They are harder to remember, and also, a domain name solely based on such keywords is not as beneficial for SEO efforts as before.
In Conclusion
Take time to develop the best domain name for your business because it can make or break a customer’s impression of you. It might be a good idea to refer to other brands in your niche and refer to successful business domain name examples to better understand what is expected of you.