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Selecting the ideal domain name for your upcoming website can be daunting. Once you have established your site with a specific domain, altering it can be cumbersome. Therefore, picking a domain name that instills confidence and aligns with your website’s purpose and identity is crucial.
The good news is that once you have that perfect website name, registering it is simple. You have plenty of domain registration options; if your name is available, the entire process can take as little as a few minutes with a domain registrar. Some domain name registrars like GoDaddy offer a free domain name for the first year if you commit to 3-5 years.
This article will help you find and register the perfect domain name by reviewing a few easy tips. Let’s get the ball rolling!
Why Your Website’s Domain Name Matters
We all associate websites with their domain names. Your site’s domain is one of the first things visitors will see, which tends to generate an instant reaction.
Imagine that you want to make a homemade pizza, and you’re looking for a recipe. You get plenty of results from Google, and you’re trying to decide which site to check out. The top results include website names such as:
- The Fancy Italian Chef
- Generic Kitchen
- Homemade Flavours
These names are exaggerated to make a point—they all provide immediate and very different impressions of what the websites will be like. Some domains draw visitors in, while others turn them away before giving your site a chance.
In other words, your domain name can significantly affect your website’s chances for success. Moreover, if you’ll be paying for a domain name for years to come, you might as well make sure it’s one you like.
3 Tips to Help You Choose the Right Domain Name for Your Website
Naturally, your choice of domain name will be heavily influenced by your preferences or brand name and the kind of website you’re building. However, you can keep a few things in mind to ensure you make the right choice, regardless of your niche or audience.
1. Keep It Short
It’s called a domain name, not a domain paragraph. Strong domain names usually include only one to three words. The reason for this is simple – shorter domain names are easier to remember and type.
To get started, we recommend listing the names you’re considering and crossing out any options that seem too long. It’s also important to note that you don’t need to play it too safe regarding your domain name.
For example, many world-renowned businesses use domains that seem nonsensical at first glance. Google and Nike are two prominent examples. Take away the brand, leaving you with a word with little meaning.
However, these names are catchy and concise, which makes them highly memorable. So don’t be afraid to opt for a unique one-word domain or an abbreviation that will separate you from the pack.
2. Include Terms That Relate to Your Niche
If you’d instead go with a more traditional domain name, it’s one way to develop robust options and brand recognition in your niche or industry. You’ll want to ask yourself a few simple questions, such as:
- What are some standard terms in my field?
- Who is included in my site’s target audience?
- What are the products my audience tends to use often?
- Are there any problems that most people in the niche share?
Usually, merely answering these questions is enough to develop exciting domain name ideas to find a brandable domain or one that matches your business name. For example, you might name a cooking blog “The Rusty Spoon” or “Cast-Iron Nerds”. If you’re setting up an online store for sporting goods, names such as “Runners High” and “Barbells & Beyond” can make for catchy options.
If you struggle with ideas, try brainstorming, using a domain name generator, and keyword research. Find out what terms and phrases your target audience is already searching for online, and you’ll have a list of promising keywords you can use to select a good domain name. You can check Google search engine results for sites with good SEO (search engine optimization) and keyword rankings.
You can use hyphens in domain names, which can help improve readability, especially in longer names. However, some users might forget to include the hyphen when typing the URL.
3. Consider Using a Top Level Domain Other Than .com
As a rule of thumb, most website owners default to using a .com Top-Level Domain (TLD). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Many visitors trust .com sites more than those with unique TLDs like .ninja – although times and assumptions are slowly changing.
However, .com is such a popular TLD that many of the best domain names aren’t available. You can check domain availability and pricing on many sites, such as these registrars. All you have to do is type in the domain name you want to look up and run a quick search:
Unfortunately for us, therustyspoon.com is off the market. However, as you can see, the domain name is available using different domain name extensions, such as .co.uk, .ai and .biz. If you’re confident you have the perfect domain name, but the .com version isn’t available, you can always consider using another TLD.
There are some caveats to taking this approach, though. Most importantly, you’ll want to ensure that if someone else uses the .com domain name, they’re not a direct competitor. Otherwise, people might think you’re copying them, and visitors can quickly end up on the wrong site.
With that said, however, don’t be afraid to experiment a little. Just ensure that your chosen TLD matches the tone of your site and your audience’s expectations. You probably want to avoid .ninja for a professional business site, but it could be the perfect choice for specific blogs or forums.
Conclusion
How to pick a website name is one of the most important decisions when building your new WordPress website. It’s vital to put some thought into this choice. That doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun, though – plenty of websites have made it big with unorthodox names.
The next time you’re stuck while trying to find the perfect domain name, keep these three tips in mind:
- Make sure your new domain name is between one and three words long.
- Try to include terms and keywords that are relevant to your niche.
- Consider using a TLD other than a .com extension.
Do you have any questions about how to choose the perfect domain name? Contact WP Tech Support to see how we can help.
Very informative post.