How to Choose a Domain Name
Now that you have decided to build a paid blog and are ready to get started, the first thing to do is to pick a niche you are familiar with and won’t mind spending a couple of hours weekly working on. Having done this, the next thing is to get started with setting up the blog and the first step is to get a domain name.
Choosing the right domain name is vital to the success of your blog. If you go wrong with domain name choice, then it can be a bit difficult to switch later without negative effects on your brand or search rankings.
In this article, you will find tips to help you get the best domain name ideas, choose a domain name and register it.
1. Buy a .com domain name
There are very many domain extensions available today with even more coming up. However, from this pool, it is recommended to choose a .com domain name.
While you can come with cool domain names to come up with clever blog names using newer extensions, .com extension is still the most established and credible domain name extension there is. Many users, especially tech-savvy ones will naturally type .com at the end of every domain without even thinking of it.
Moreover, Google is biased towards .com domain names and close ones like .net, or .org domain names. Custom domain names like .info and other custom domain names require a lot more back-linking effort to rank highly in search engines.
2. Use Keywords in Your Domain Name Search
Keywords in a domain are essential. By having keywords in your domain name, search engines are able to tell what your website is about. Domain name keyword along with high-quality content and optimum user experience can help with ranking high in Google.
Finding a good domain with your target keywords is not easy because most domain names are already taken. If you are going to get a domain that incorporates your keywords and stand out, you’ll need to be creative and combine your keywords with other words.
3. Keep Your Domain Name Short
When you are trying to use keywords with your domain name, it is necessary that you keep your domain name short so that it’s memorable.
It is recommended that a domain name should be kept under 15 characters. The longer the domain, the harder it is to remember. Not to mention that users are prone to making typos when typing in longer domain names which can lead to loss of traffic. So it is very important to keep your domain name as short as possible.
4. Make Your Domain Name Easy to Pronounce and Spell
Your domain name should be easy to share when speaking as well as in writing. You want to be able to share your domain name in person. If you plan to use your domain name to create a professional business email address, then it has to be easy to understand and spell for any listener
5. Keep it Unique and Brandable
You’ll need to keep your domain name unique if you want it to stand out in your reader’s minds. When finding a unique, brandable name, it’s good to start your research with other blogs in your niche to see what kind of domain names they are using and model yours along this line.
You don’t want to be accused of using a trademark name or copying another blogger. You can pick a domain name that’s more brandable. Brandable domain names are catchy, unique and easy to remember. For instance, Google.com is more brandable than “searchonline.com.”
Another thing to keep in mind when choosing a unique and brandable name is to avoid names with hyphens. Hyphens can be a sign of spam domains which you don’t want your domain to be seen as. Hyphenated domains are also prone to typos and when users fail to type it in properly, they are likely to end in your competitor’s site.
6. Use Domain Name Generators for Ideas
There are over 500 million domain names that are registered. This means that many people can’t get domains they want because all the good domains are taken. Searching for good domains can be herculean and time consuming, however with one of the domain name generators out there, you get a free tool that can automatically searches for your defined keywords from hundreds of clever domain name ideas.
7. Act Quickly Before Someone Else Takes it
Thousands of domain names are registered daily from all parts of the world. If you have found a domain name you like, do not wait too long. Domain names are like real estate. There are thousands of people searching for brandable names at cheap rates that can be helpful to their business in the future. If you don’t act fast, someone else can get ahead of you and register your domain name.