How To Choose The Best Domain Name
Last updated on June 14th, 2021 by Editorial Staff | Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. See how WPBeginner is funded, why it matters, and how you can support us.
Choosing the right domain name for your website is crucial for your success. If you choose the wrong domain name, then it can be a hassle to switch later on without hurting your brand and search rankings.
Thats why its extremely important that you choose the best domain name from the start.
When first starting out, it can be hard to come up with catchy business name ideas with a perfect domain name.
In this article, well share all the tools and tips you need to get domain name ideas, choose the best domain name, and register your new domain .
14 Tips for Choosing the Best Domain Name
When starting a blog, choosing a domain name can be stressful because you dont want to make a mistake.
To make the process easier, we have a simple 14 step framework that you can use to pick the best domain for your website.
Lets take a look at these tips one by one with more details.
1. Stick with .com
There are plenty of new domain name extensions available today, from the original .com, .net and .org to niche extensions like .pizza, .photography, and even .blog.
We always recommend choosing a .com domain name.
In our opinion, newer domain extensions like .ninja, .photography, and others can make your business appear less trustworthy.
Are Other Extensions And Handles Available To Protect My Brand
It doesnt matter whether youre a one man band or youre growing your business every month its important to plan for the future and protect your assets.
Domain names and social media handles are no exception, and having a consistent brand across every network can help customers find you easily and increase trust and conversion rates. So, it makes sense to buy a domain name that has the appropriate social media handles available for consistency.
Use a website like namechk, which scours the internet and checks to see whether your name is available as .com, .net, .org and .co.uk domain names, and shows which social networks and online services have your username available.
Register as many as you can to protect your brand, even if youre not planning on using them just yet, and consider buying multiple domain names with different extensions, directing them all back to your main dot com address.
You may even want to consider purchasing additional domain names to boost your websites search engine optimisation and drive more traffic. For example, if a competitor closes down, you could buy their domain name and direct their traffic to your website.
/ Keep It Short & Simple
When it comes to choosing a domain, shorter is always better. A long and complicated domain will be hard to remember and type.
Plus, it will be easy to misspell, which can cost you a lot of traffic. You should always go for a short and simple domain.
Your domain name should also be easy to pronounce and spell. If it’s not, people will have difficulty finding your site.
If you can’t find a short domain name available, you can try adding prefixes or suffixes to make it shorter.
For example, if the domain you want is already taken, you can try something like MyDomainName.Com or TheDomainName.Com.
Also Check: How To Make My Own Email Domain
Check For Hidden Charges
Many of you may not know that your domain name has some hidden cost that would be added up to your pricing at the final checkout process. Many registrars might add an additional charge if you transfer your domain to another registrar.
Most registrars will also try to upsell other services with the domain. They will bundle up various extra services like domain security, storage charge, etc., to your final pricing. So if you dont want to pay these extra charges, be smart at the time of making the purchase to avoid them.
You can do that by checking the registrars Terms of Service page. They should have all of these listed on this page. Some registrars even offer freebies with the domain name. So you might get a free SSL, free 24*7 customer support, and several other free services along with your domain. Do check out for these freebies if you dont want to miss them.
These were some of the important points to remember before buying a domain name. Now that you know how to get your perfect domain name, we hope you find the best domain name for your website. And once you do, dont forget to tell us what it is in the comments below.
Think Of Future Expansion
While buying your domain name, it is safe to have a flexible and varied option to give an overall idea about the business/products you deal with.
Initially, you may restrict to one specific product in the business.
But later when you want to expand your business or add a couple or more other products, you will be stumped.
Buying a new domain and establishing it again will be very tiresome. Moreover, your customers may get confused by the sudden name change.
Also, you may lose your ranking in the Search Engine Ranking and have to start again!
Hence to prevent all these troubles it is best to go for a suitable name that allows expanding your business.
Read Also: How To Get Free Tk Domain
Is This Domain Name Easy To Type And Remember
Despite superior SEO ratings and a great social media presence, nothing spreads a web address faster than word of mouth. To make that possible for your web address, what does it need?
It has to be something that:
To that end, what do you need to do? Thats right you need to keep your domain short, with words that are easy to pronounce and remember. The spellings should align with the pronunciation. So when people hear the address, they dont have trouble typing it or committing it to memory for future reference.
It can be boring to confine your creativity to achieve simplicity, but you dont have to compromise on uniqueness and appeal. Your domain name can still be catchy and impactful without being too complicated. Sometimes the simpler and shorter a name is, the more forceful its effect on the audience.
To keep things clear, simple, yet impactful, there are a few elements you must avoid in your domain name. First, using special characters, numbers, and hyphens is undesirable and not advisable. They only end up complicating a name and making it clunky. They also compromise your brands credibility and authenticity, giving an element of unprofessionalism and suspicion. For example, shoppingforall.com sounds more realistic and professional than shopping_4all.com.
How Much Domain Names Cost
There are two options when it comes to getting your domain name:
Regardless of which option you go with, youll pay an annual registration fee of $7$15/year on average. If you are acquiring the name on top of that, youll pay an additional acquisition price.
The cost of acquiring a domain name varies widely: You can easily spend 45 figures on a name. In some cases you can find a good one for hundreds of dollars. Some domain names arent for sale at all, while others have sold for millions of dollars.
Read Also: How To Transfer Domain From Godaddy To Hostgator
Things To Consider When You Buy Cheap Domain Names
There are some things you should never buy cheap: jet fuel, legal advice, and drastic haircuts, for example. But what about domain names? Registering your domain name is the first step towards having a website, and some domains sell for a shocking amount of money. So, does that mean cheap domain names arent any good?
Drive Traffic To Website
To earn from Affiliate Marketing, Google AdSense, Sponsorship, Membership or any other way, all you need is Traffic on your website.
Because if Content is King, then Traffic is Subject and without Subject, King is useless.
First, you should drive traffic to your website. There are multiple ways through which you can easily drive a good amount of traffic to your website for free as well as paying.
Here are some Top ways to Drive Traffic:
SEO
SEO is the best and long term way through which you can easily get a lot of targeted traffic in bulk.
But SEO takes time to rank your website on top positions of Google.
To rank your website on Google you need to optimize it according to the search engine. So that search engines can crawl it, index it and rank it.
When your website starts ranking on Google, then you will start receiving traffic and then you can easily convert that traffic into revenue.
Watch this video for a complete practical guide to On-Page SEO
Email Marketing
Email Marketing is a gold mine method to drive traffic to your website.
In this powerful and working method, all you need is just the email list of your websites subscribers.
Follow these steps to become successful in Email Marketing:
Here are some Top Email Marketing Service providers:
Quora
You must do SEO, but as you know it takes time.
But, if you want to get quick traffic to your website, then Quorais the best option.
Quora is basically a QnA website, where many questions are asked almost in every category.
Recommended Reading: Can You Use Godaddy Domain With Shopify
Verify Ownership Of Your New Domain
Paying for your domain might seem like the last step in the process, but you also need to verify your ownership. This step lets you send email using the domain and keeps other people from using it without your permission.
If you purchase your domain through Mailchimp, this process is simple. Youll receive a verification email after you complete your purchase. Simply click on the Verify Domain button in the email and follow the instructions on the next page, and you can start using your domain to build your brand. Youll only ever have to complete this step once.
Best Tips Before Buying A Domain Name
Having a good domain name is essential since it can add extra credibility to a website, spread brand awareness, and ensure that users can find you on the internet. Thats why its crucial to dedicate some time to research before choosing the right domain name for your site.
Here are 15 tips to review before deciding on a domain name:
Also Check: How To Pick A Domain Name For My Business
Things To Consider Before Buying Used Domain Name
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we recommended. Read more about Affiliate disclosure here.
The first step for starting a blog is to select a domain name. If you are planning to buy a used & old Domain name, I suggest you select the domain name for your blog after doing proper research.
There might be chances that you select a banned or a blacklisted domain name, which might create a problem in or many other unknown legal & technical issues in the near future. There are many other factors which must be kept in mind before buying used domain name.
Here Im outlining some of the important factors that you should consider before purchasing a used domain name.
Age of Domain
If you are planning to buy an old domain name, consider age as a major SEO factor. The older the domain is, the more domain trust value it will have. However you need to check the history of domain name that it has never been misused in the past. Else a domain name could contain penalty & it would do more harm than good.
You can use archive.org to see what kind of website was earlier created on that domain name.
Good domain authority
- Domain registration date
- Domain swapping date
.com, .org or .net
Though anytime .com and .org are preferred as I dont see other TLDs appearing much on the Googles homepage. Do you?
Domain Name
You might be interested in reading:
Copyright
Niche:
Dont Sweat It Too Much If Your Perfect Domain Name Is Taken And Cant Be Obtained
Okay, so as much as domain names do matter, and having the right one can mean the world to you, if you cant get your hands on what you want , dont sweat it too much.
First of all, something thats more important than anything else even than the domain name itself is to actually get the idea behind your website or business right. If you dedicate yourself to executing that idea and do it deliberately, the lack of that perfect domain name wont hold you back.
Secondly, domain names can be changed later on. Even if you dont have the right domain today, you can always get it later, and then just redirect your website to it.
For example, that is what Sumo a suite of online marketing tools did not that long ago. The domain name they started with was sumome.com, but then, after a while, when they got enough funding, they bought the domain they really wanted sumo.com. In their case, that domain switch was kind of expensive. Their new sumo.com domain actually cost $1.5 million. But dont worry, yours doesnt have to be this expensive. Sumo has actually turned out to be the 83rd most expensive domain name ever.
Read Also: How Do I Find My Domain Address
Avoid Hyphens And Doubled Letters
Using hyphens may seem like a creative way to get the domain name you want and is admittedly still popular in some European countries . Unfortunately, theyre tough to express verbally . They also make the domain more difficult to type. This can create a poor User Experience from the start, leaving a user frustrated. Even worse, they may give up entirely and end up on someone elses website.
While there are exceptions, when youre brainstorming domain name ideas, its best to avoid anything that isnt a letter. This includes replacing letters with numbers, which make the name a lot easier for people to mistype.
The same goes for doubled letters its asking for typos. Doubled letters are hard to read and even harder to type correctly. If mistakes happen often enough, you may end up with someone typosquatting and stealing your traffic.
Go Ahead And Get Your Domain Name
Whew, okay, that was a lot of reading! Still, I dont want this list to be intimidating. Even reading through it just once and then noting down the most important takeaways will give you more than enough insight to be able to obtain your perfect domain name and do so safely.
Just to help you out, heres a cut-out-and-keep version of everything thats been said above:
Read Also: How To Get A Web Domain
Verify Domain Name Ownership
The final step is to verify the domain ownership through the email address you used when registering the domain. The email usually arrives within a few minutes after finishing the domain setup. Simply click the verification link in the email to verify your contact information.
If the email doesnt arrive, resend the request from the control panel. We recommend doing it immediately, as waiting for 15 days or more will lead to a temporary suspension from the registry.
Thats all there is to it. Now you know how to buy a website domain name and complete the initial registration process.
Expert Tip
To make the most out of your newly acquired domain, consider authorizing it with the Google Search Console. This will provide you with important analytical insights and make it easier for Google to crawl the content of your site.
First, log into your Google account and head to the Search Console page. If you want your entire domain to be crawled, enter the URL in the bar on the left. Once thats done, click Continue and youll be presented with a code. Then, copy it and do not close the tab.
Now, log into your Hostinger account, head to the hPanel, and on to the DNS Zone Editor. Under Manage DNS Records, select TXT as the Type. Unless youre only adding a specific subdomain to the Search Console, leave @ as the Name. Next, copy the code youve received previously as the TXT Value. We recommend leaving the TTL Value as the default. To finish it all off, click on Add Record.
Darius G.
Will My Data And Privacy Be Protected
Since the personal details associated with domain names are public information, you may want to ensure your data and privacy are safe and protected. Does your web hosting provider or domain registrar provide you with domain privacy options? Or do they charge an extra fee for the same? Look for a package that includes privacy features in the basic plan.
Unfortunately, some domain registrars secretly take ownership of your domain by putting their details in the WHOIS forms to protect your privacy. However, this gives them the rights and ownership over your domain. So youd want to be cautious of this during the registration process.
You must confirm that your data is safe and that the registrar will not share or sell it to any marketing organizations or third parties. Often clients fall into the trap of reselling their domains to others without being consciously aware of it. Thus privacy protection is a vital consideration when buying your domain
Recommended Reading: How To Get A Custom Domain For Free