Episode 04: How to Choose a Good Name / Domain for your Website?
With nearly two billion websites on the internet, the competition to get a name and domain is getting tougher. There are different theories about what should or should not be done, such as considering the customer's opinion over your personal taste. So how do you get the perfect name for your domain and make it stand out from the rest? The first step is getting a name that makes it unique and professional. Next, I will teach you the basics of how to choose the name of your domain.
Timestamp
0:00 - Introduction
2:30 - Choosing a TLD
5:10 - Selecting an easy name
8:20 - Tools for name generation
9:50 - Bear in mind trademarks and copyrights
10:55- Final thought
Read about this episode:
In today's episode, we will talk about how to build a good domain for your website. Once a friend asked me for help to buy a domain for her website. The name she chose was already taken by another web owner. She tried finding a different name but as she has already a great online presence she was keen on using that exact name. Then, we found an inactive name online. We contacted the owner and asked him to transfer it so we can use that exact name for my friend’s site.
If you already have a name you really want to use, nothing should stop you to try and get it. If the domain owner is inactive online it’s possible to negotiate a future transfer of ownership. Now, what’s the most important point when choosing a domain? Before starting an eCommerce or social media presence it’s important to give it a name. The domain will be the first contact point between the user and your webpage. It’ll define your brand and business.
The first point is trying to get a “.com” version. This is known as TLD or top version domain. Think about it as a black dress, something that can’t go wrong. Approximately 47% of websites use this extension and most online users will search using .com. For example, If you own a jewelry business and your name is Ana, people will search jewleryana.com by default. This is what users relate to a web search. Lately, people have been using new extensions like “.blog” or “.shop”. Still, you want to avoid users misspelling your domain name or landing somewhere else, always go for a top-level domain.
If your chosen domain is not available with .com the second-best option is using a local TLD (high-quality domain) like .uk for the United Kingdom or pe. For Peru. This depends on the location and type of consumers, If your business has a strong local presence then this is a great TLD choice. Otherwise, if sales are global you might not want to go for a local one. Other fairly new options include using “ly” or “it”. This can be integrated and added to your brand giving it a creative nuance. For instance, a brand called visual might choose “ly” as an extension so it reads visual.ly rather than visual.com
The second point is choosing an easy to the type name. Remember that your name is a key element of your personal brand, it is the first thing the user interacts with, it must be a name easy to remember. Some of the best tips are:
Use 15 characters or less.
Avoid awkward vowel combinations
Make it easy to pronounce
Avoid hyphens, punctuation and apostrophe
Use words only and avoid numbers.
I also recommend avoiding ambiguous or misspelled words, because if people make a mistake in writing they could go to another page instead of ours. If there’s a language barrier, it might be difficult for users to find my website like using an English name in Latin America or using Spanish slang in England. People won’t even know how to pronounce it and therefore find it.
The third tip is using a thesaurus for inspiration. If your chosen domain is already taken, try using an online dictionary and look up synonyms of the word you want to use. My fourth piece of advice is using a domain name generator, there’re websites such as "link domain search" which are free tools created by WordPress.com or Name Lix, a business name generator. I’ll leave both tools in the description box below.
If you happened to feel stuck searching for the perfect domain, try using the tips mentioned. It can be surprisingly helpful and it’s really easy to use just with your business keywords.
Keep in mind trademarks and copyrights. Before you have a name that sounds great, first google it and make sure there is no other company that is using this brand, or that sounds similar. The last tip is to check the availability of the handles of social networks, if you want to use the same name in your social networks before buying your domain make sure that these variations are available; .if someone already took the exact name add some suffixes like underscores or word extensions, which may help. I couldn’t find digitaljump.com for my website so I went for insidedigitaljump.com and it turned quite well.
To conclude, don't worry if your ideal domain name is taken. You can always check this website for guidance. If the name is being used try to negotiate with the brand if it is down and try to contact the domain owner and negotiate the sale. Actually GoDaddy has that service available if you rather not get involved with domain negotiations. You can also migrate to a similar, better-sounding domain name for maybe in the future.
Have a Great Week.
Gabriela
Are you new on Digital Jump? Take action with this post by asking your Digital Jump team for tips on how to choose the perfect domain name for your website. You can contact us on Instagram @insidedigitaljump or write to us at contact@insidedigitaljump.com. If you liked the episode, spread the knowledge on your social media or with other entrepreneurs that might find it useful. See you soon.
