Great Examples Of Good Blog Domain Names In Action
Having a good domain name can save you a lot of time in your journey to building a successful blog.
Yes, it is not enough to guarantee that your blog will be a hit, but it can sure help you along the way.
Use a wrong domain name, and youll make it hard to build a brand around your blog, thus hindering your growth.
And in the end, you may need to rebrand your domain which will cost you a lot in short to medium term.
So why not do it right from the beginning and choose the right domain for your blog?
As its not easy to find the right domain name, I am going to share some good domain name examples for inspiration.
What Are The Five Most Common Domain Extensions
When it comes to choosing the right domain, you should start with familiarity. Look for what domain extensions are most prevalent in your space and choose one that aligns with your brand and consumer expectations.
This typically means selecting a TLD that is popular. Here are five of the most common domain extensions to consider.
The domain extension you select has a much more important role than you might think. Lets explore the five most common domain extensions and why you should consider that extension for your new domain.
Use Broad Keywords When Sensible
If you can include a keyword that helps make it obvious what your business does while keeping your domain name catchy, unique, and brand-friendly, go for it. But, stay away from domain names that might be considered “keyword-rich” or “keyword-targeted” We mentioned this earlier, but it’s worth mentioning again: While these types of domain names once carried weight as a ranking factor, their tendency to be associated with low-quality content means searchers may now view these keyword-dense domain names with a negative bias.
What’s more, in recent years Google has made several changes that have de-prioritized sites with keyword-rich domains that aren’t otherwise high-quality. Having a keyword in your domain can still be beneficial, but it can also lead to closer scrutiny and a possible negative ranking effect from search engines, so tread carefully. For more on this topic, read The Exact Match Domain Playbook: A Guide and Best Practices for EMDs.
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Hosting And Domain Names
Owning a domain name is not enough to get a website up and running. To be visible to others connected to the web, a domain name needs to be hosted on a server.
Most hosting companies will allow you to purchase a domain name along with your hosting subscription, which makes it easier to get set up right away.
However, if you buy your domain name somewhere else, such as from a domain name registering company such as Go Daddy, or by negotiating the sale of a domain name privately, you will need to work with your hosting provider to make sure the domain you own is associated with your hosting account.
Domain Names Accomplish Three Things:
- Create a lasting first impression: A domain name is the very first thing a prospective customer will see of your site and its their initial interaction with your brand. A unique or memorable domain name will speak to what they want and stick in their head. An unfitting domain, on the other hand, can turn off prospective customers.
- Define your brand: A domain name can be used to instantly speak to your brand, letting the customers know who you are and what you are selling. A relevant domain name can help key your customers in on your product, or a unique domain name can create a link that associates your name with your product.
- Optimize SEO: Search engine optimization utilizes keywords in order to help your SEO rankings. Exact match domains are not necessary, but it is helpful to use a domain that is close.
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How To Keep A Domain Name Secure
Once a domain name has been registered with a registrar, that registrar is in charge of notifying the registrant when their domain is about to expire and giving them the chance to renew, ensuring they dont lose their domain name. In some cases registrars will prey on their users by buying those domains the second they expire and then selling them back to the original registrant at an exorbitant price. Its important to choose an honest and trustworthy registrar to avoid these kinds of predatory practices.
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Overview: What Types Of Domain Name And Endings Are There
A web address can cause a lot of headaches. On the one hand, this is because a good, catchy name is not that easy to find. On the other hand, its complicated, especially for inexperienced web project operators, to keep track of the various domain types and levels available.
Here, well introduce you to the five most important components and types of domains to know before moving ahead with a successful domain registration.
Our Digital Guide has more useful articles on how much a domain costs and how you can find out how much a domain is worth.
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Understand Domain Names To Choose One For Your Idea
We cant stress enough how important it is to find the right domain name for you or your business. The importance of having a good domain name can sometimes get thrown to the wayside but in reality, a good domain name keeps you top of mind with your customers and audience.
Kristin Crabb
Content Marketing Strategist working in the digital marketing industry. Skilled in SEO-focused content creation, keyword research and competitive analysis, interactive content, web content optimization, and landing page creation.
How Do I Find A Domain Name
Hostinger offers a domain name search tool to help find a suitable domain. Simply enter a domain name of your choice in the search box and press Enter. Our system will then display a list of available TLDs based on your suggestion.
If your preferred domain name is already registered, choose another extension or try coming up with different variations. Once you find an available domain name, proceed with the registration.
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What Are The Different Types Of Top
Checking a top-level domain list is a great way to help you decide which one to use on your website.
However, before that, you should know there are multiple different types of TLDs that might put some restrictions on your choosing process. After all, some of them are reserved for specific situations.
Below, you will find the most important types of top-level domains and some examples.
Domain Costs Vary Considerably
Youll see a lot of different prices for domain options when you search at Namecheap. Namecheap offers domain options for as little as $0.99. But some top-level domains are much, much more expensive.
For example, do you want to register the TLD .sucks? Prepare to pay hundreds of dollars. And it doesnt stop there. A few domain options are even more expensive. Fittingly, youll have to be quite wealthy to buy a .rich domain, which will set you back almost two thousand dollars.
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How To Know If A Domain Is Premium
The biggest giveaway will be the price. Domain pricing can vary depending on which extension you use, but for the most part they will fall within the $10-$30 range. When you see a price that is drastically higher, chances are youre looking at a premium domain.
Searching for easypasta.com on Hover, we can see that the domain is more expensive than all of the other listings. It also explicitly says this is a premium domain, which should add more clarification.
Check The Domain History Via Wayback Machine
Note: This one is worth checking even if youre getting a new domain name. In some cases, the domain name youre trying to register may have been registered in the past but then abandoned by the owner. Its still good to have a look at what was on it.
There are a couple of ways in which you can look up a domain names history. One of the more popular ones, and one thats also within anyones reach , involves Wayback Machine.
This is one of the first tools of its kind. Quite simply, it lets you enter a time machine, so to speak, and have a look at how any website used to look in the past.
When I say any website, its not actually any website. But you can expect to find most websites that had any noticeable traffic at any point in time. In our case, doing a check via Wayback Machine allows us to see whether the domain were interested in has ever been used for anything significant, and, if so, whether it was all kosher or not.
For example, if you look up this site, youll get records dating back to 2013:
Its safe to assume that this site didnt exist before then . When you click on any of the records, you get a snapshot of the site back then. Quite handy, isnt it?
If youre buying an existing domain name, it would be a good idea to go to Wayback Machine and browse through every month of the domains history, just to make sure there wasnt anything shady going on at any point.
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Buy The Common Misspellings Of Your Domain
This, however, can grow your annual domain bill even further, so its your call.
In general, youre going to be pretty safe if you just focus on a couple of the most likely misspellings of the domain.
Looking at my earlier example, Lotterio.com could be misspelled as Loterio.com single T.
Once you have those, redirect them back to your main domain name.
Great Examples Of Personal Domain Names In Action
Having a personal domain name can be a great resource. Whether or not you have bought a domain that is your actual name, there are a lot of different reasons to do so.
Even if you have a hard last name to spell you can use your personal domain name as a living, breathing business card or host your full-fledged blog and website on it.
For example, Corbett transitioned his blog FreePursuits.com to just be at CorbettBarr.com before merging it with this site. And I used to just use CalebWojcik.com as a portfolio of sorts, but then I unbranded my own blog and host it there. Many other people I know just own their personal domain name to redirect it, like my wife does with JenWojcik.com to JenWojcikPhotography.com.
After seeing some of the examples below I think you will agree that using your FirstNameLastName.com or a variation to brand yourself with an online calling card should definitely be at the top of your to do list.
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Where Can You Buy A Domain Name
You will need to pay an annual fee to register a domain name. When the registration period expires, you will be given the option to renew. If you dont, the domain name will be made available to others.
There are quite a few domain name registrars out there, but godaddy.com and NameCheap are probably among the most popular ones. Shopify also offers an option to buy a domain name through them for those opening a new e-store.
Bonus Tip #1 Use An Easy Add
Sometimes using a single word with your primary keyword can be challenging, especially when its a predictable combination and the domain is already taken.
So, what can we do about this?
Well by using an easy add-on you can find that free domain whilst still keeping those two words youve grown fond of.
For example, lets say from category 1 youve chosen chateau and your keyword is musical, combined its Musical Chateau. Just by using an add-on you can come up with more variations, such as:
- Your Musical Chateau
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Why Do Premium Domain Names Cost So Much
Its all about supply and demand.
When the demand for a particular premium domain name increases, its price and value naturally increases due to the supply being quite low.
A good example and parallel industry to this virtual real estate is the nature of the physical real estate.
We use an agent or broker to find a specific property or lot, right? The same happens when searching for a premium domain name as well as domain names in general.
To find the perfect premium domain name for your business, let the experts help you out.
Why? Theyll help you save money and time with proven domain negotiating experience.
But do remember and recognize that most premium domain owners expect you to state your buying price as an initial point, so be mindful to not low ball or insult the owner.
Think about the game of monopoly and how it works. Players make or receive rental payments based on the value of the land.
This same concept transfers to the digital world of buying and selling premium domain names.
Further Components Of A Url
Now that we’ve analyzed the top and middle domains, we’ve technically covered all there is to a domain name. makeuseof.com is the domain name for this website but of course, if you look at what’s in your address bar, you’ll see there’s a lot more to it than that!
The rest of the address outside of “makeuseof.com” is called the Uniform Resource Locator . It’s not part of the domain name, but it’s used to modify and build upon it to create a functioning website. As such, it’s good to know the additional parts of a URL and how they alter the domain name to bring you the page you want to visit.
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Can I Use A Domain Name Thats Already In Use
If someone already has the domain name you want, youre kind of out of luck. These are unique identifiers, which means there cant be more than one. If youre desperate for the one thats taken, you can try to contact the site and see if they will sell it to you.
When considering buying a domain name, remember that youre never really buying it since there is not an it. Instead, youre buying the right to control it, which you will need to pay to maintain. So, when you buy a domain name, you are paying the person who currently pays to control it for the right to pay to control it yourself.
In some cases, this is totally worth it, but there are other options, such as using a different TLD or slightly changing the spelling of the name you seek, that might be cheaper, less hassle, and equally as effective.