9 Tips To Choose An Awesome Domain Name
Even though some of these domain names are accidentally hilarious, you’ll want to pick a domain name for your website that you can live with. So here’s some tips to choose an awesome domain name.
1. Be Unique
Your domain and blog name should be something that is incredibly memorable. Not only should it represent what you talk about on your website, but it should set you apart from other websites like yours. Trying finding a clever name by setting a theme and playing with different imagery adjectives in the category. Is it cutesy? Is it funny? Is it earthy? How about sexy? Is it fun/youthful? Is it straightforward? Is it just your name? Here’s a list of even more descriptive words. And here’s a list of really fun sites that let you enter word combinations and creates domain name ideas for you!
2. Make it the name of your business
I believe your domain name should be the exact same, or as close to, the name of your business or blog. It makes it easier to find. Avoid unexpected hyphens, even if it’s in your actually business name.
3. Keep it clear and concise
Be short with your domain name. Remember, you’ll still have to add the http://www. and .com to the full domain address, so it can get wordy quick. And if the business is represented in the name of the domain anyway, it shouldn’t be a long sentence.
4. Stick with a .com address
If you’re a blogger and not a small business, you’ll probably want to stick with the traditional .com. And by probably I mean definitely. .Com actually stands for commercial, which represents a business’ presence on the internet. It’s the most recognize symbol representing your brand, online.
5. Don’t be too broad
If you want to start a lifestyle blog and want to talk about kids, cooking, pets, DIY, recipes and organization, that’s fine. But always narrow the name to be around your deepest and richest content – a good example of this is a huge lifestyle blog that is full of content – LivingWellSpendingLess.com. Ruth focused her domain name on the frugal side of her blog, but the site is full of much other content. And, the ‘LivingWell’ portion cleverly encompasses that.
6. Don’t be too narrow
You need to think long, long term. If you want a successful blog, it’s going to have to be around for a while. Are you writing about something in your life that may change? You could get married, have kids, buy a house, and it’s even possible…you may lose interest in your niche. That’s ok, but that’s why you shouldn’t be too narrow when you choose your domain name. Don’t name your blog www.OnlyFingerPainting.com, if one day you may want to blog about acrylic canvas painting. You’ll have to explain the transition on your blog, and it’s not a good idea to not have your domain name not match your niche.
7. Look at it in lowercase, first
Don’t make the same mistakes those bad domain names sites made, and understand that sometimes, actually most times, your domain name is seen in all lowercase. Whenever you are brainstorming, make sure to brainstorm in lower case so that no words have accidentally blended together to make an unintentional word.
8. Make it easy to spell and pronounce
Some people aren’t great spellers, or they are super busy and forget to add an E to the end of a word that is commonly misspelled. Whatever the reason, you don’t want to lose this traffic. Choose simpler words over the complex.
9. If it’s in use, move on
Don’t waste your valuable time stressing over a name that is already taken (and avoid emailing the marketing companies selling the domain if they aren’t established, this was a great source of spam and hoards of annoying emails for me after I did it once). If it’s already been thought of, no matter how much you love the name, you should pick another one.
Once you’ve decided on your name, do a quick search to see if the name has already been taken. And when you do decide on your domain name, I highly recommend Bluehost as your website host. They’ve been incredible for me in helping me get started as a beginner blogger. So go ahead and get started, go choose an awesome domain name.
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I like the suggestion to look at the domain name in lowercase letters when you are brainstorming ideas. Be sure that there are no unintentional words that may come out if you put other words together. Keeping in mind that your clients will most likely see your URL before they even get to your website so be specific and short. Making a good first impression is very important here.
Very true, Lillian! Thanks for stopping by.