7 Qualities of a Great Domain Name
Whether you’re starting a new company or expanding your company’s reach by creating an online presence, you will need a domain name.
Your domain name will be your company’s unique address on the Internet. It’s also, typically, the first thing that people see.
Your domain name will become an important part of your brand, which is why it should be chosen with careful thought and consideration. You should know the qualities that make up a great domain name. The list, below, will help you get started in the process of choosing the best domain name for your business.
1) Memorable
To start, your domain name should be memorable. Memorable domain names are catchy as well as easy to pronounce and spell.
A domain name that’s memorable will be more shareable. People will be more likely to share a link to your site or talk about your site with someone they know.
You may have to do a little research to make sure the domain name you want to use is available. Be sure to avoid using a name that’s similar to a competitor’s domain name.
2) Descriptive
Ideally, your domain name should be the name of your business. However, using the name of your business is not always possible. For example, if the name of your company is really long or if the name is already being used by another business.
It’s a good idea to have a few different domain names in mind in case your first choice is unavailable. No matter which domain name you choose, it should be descriptive of your brand.
3) Unique
Most single-word domain names are taken, which means you might have to get creative. You could try creating your own word by combining two words (YouTube). You could also modify an existing word (Flickr), or make up a new word (Groupon). Whatever you decide to go with, try to come up with something unique.
4) Maximizes SEO
Your domain name can impact your SEO, which is another reason it should be selected with care. Although your domain name can impact SEO, it shouldn’t be chosen based on the keyword that you want to rank for. This is known as an exact-match domain (EMD). Choosing an EMD could actually hurt your SEO.
Around 2012, Google noticed a lot of sites were using exact-match domains to rank high in search engines. In response, Google changed their algorithm to reduce the number of low-quality exact-match domains in search results.
As mentioned above, the best thing to do is to use your brand name as your domain name. Using your brand name will build brand signals for your business. Brand signals are any mention or occurrence of your business or website on the Web. Search engines will learn to associate your brand name with your keywords as you produce more content and your brand grows in popularity.
5) Short
Remember to try and keep your domain name short. Domain names should be under 15 characters. A domain name that is too long increases the chance of visitors misspelling or mispronouncing it.
6) Doesn’t contain numbers and symbols
A domain name should also be brandable. Hyphens and numbers in a domain name don’t look or sound brandable. Instead, they seem generic.
Domain names with hyphens and numbers are also usually associated with spam. For that reason, you should avoid using hyphens and numbers when possible.
7) Uses a common top-level domain
A top-level domain (TLD) is the suffix that appears at the end of the domain name. When selecting a top-level domain, it’s best to go with a common TLD, like .com. If you don’t use .com, be careful what you select. Certain TLDs –like .biz and .us — are often associated with spam and receive less traffic. Other high-quality top-level domains that you could use include .net and .org.
Now you know the qualities that make up a great domain name. It’s time to put what you’ve learned into practice and choose a domain name for your website that’s unique, catchy, and aligns with the look and feel of your website.
