The daily question I get is..”What is a Good Domain Name” or “What’s in a good domain name”?
It’s a common question I get at my internet marketing/business training center and it’s important.
I’ve got some great advise that will help you pick a winning domain name. We’ll consider how a domain names and branding, keyword relevancy, and what to avoid.
If you want to pick a good domain name, keep reading…
What is a Good Domain Name?
The truth is, creating a name for your website is harder than it appears. There are a several things you’ll need to consider.
For example, you have to think about whether or not your website is catchy, concise, easy to remember, easy to type, and more.
It also can be keyword based to help target your niche. I think all in all, the first thing to keep in mind is Brand-ability.
Start this from day one and build your online brand correctly from the beginning. As you can see it can be quite a headache to come up with a viable name for your website. So, we are here to help.
Below are tips and guidelines that you should consider when you’re trying to come up with a good domain name.
Domain Names Should Be Easy to Read and Type:
Google.com, Facebook.com, YouTube.com, Amazon.com all have one thing in common. That’s right, they are all easy to type out and read.
Domains names that are easy to read and pronounce are more likely to be remembered. A memorable website will encourage people to become repeat visitors.
Also, if your domain name is easy to type out, then people won’t have any trouble finding your website.
It is also advised to not use slang words in your website name.
Why is that?
Well, when someone is trying to remember your website, he/she will most likely not type in the slang version of a word. For instance, if someone wants to get on youtube.com, they won’t type in ‘uTube’.
It’s the little things like that, that can determine whether you have a good website name or not.
Keep Your Domain Name Short & Simple:
It will also help people to remember your website if you keep the domain name concise. The websites mentioned above all have relatively short names.
In fact, most popular websites only have one or two words.
If you try to make your domain name sound like a passage straight out of Shakespeare, then you won’t have much luck with generating traffic.
Basically, do not create a name that is overly complex. Instead, focus on creating a title that is not only easy, but short enough to be remembered.
Be Creative with Your Domain Name: Have Fun!
OK, so this may seem like obvious advice, but it is surprising to find many websites with unimaginative names.
Generic names will be easily forgotten as they do not stand out from the crowd. If you come up with a creative name, then you will have an advantage over your competitors.
Tips on being creative?
It is always a great idea to look at the domain names that are forever etched into the internet’s “hall of fame”. That’s right I’m talking about YouTube.com and Facebook again.
Notice that these websites put two very simple and easy words together to create one smooth domain name.
For example, if you are thinking of creating a website for the purpose of affiliate marketing, then you can come up with something like: RichMarket or AffiliatePro.
Simple and easy to remember.
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Another way to practice your creativity skills is to try mashing two words into one. You can add a suffix or prefix to change the meaning of the word as well.
Stay Away from Hyphenated Domain Names:
Simply put, adding hyphens in your domain will make it less convenient for people who want to visit your website.
Granted, hyphens might help your website be distinguished from other similar websites, but typically it really isn’t worth it .
Adding Your location?
So this tip is only great if you are planning on making a website to complement your brick and mortar business.
Adding the name of your country or city into the domain name can help local customers find your store, restaurant, etc.
This is another great way to improve the rank of local websites!
Make Sure the Domain Name is Unique:
It is not only important to be creative, but it is also vital to make sure that you are not infringing on any copyright laws.
If you have a domain similar to another website, then there will certainly be brand confusion. Unsure if a domain name is already trademarked, then it is advised to contact a legal professional about it.
Use SEO Friendly Keywords:
What is SEO or search engine optimization?
Well in a nut shell, SEO is what helps your website appear first on a search engine’s search results page.
All the big name search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc, have a ranking system. The higher your website is ranked, the more likely you will get more Free traffic.
So, it is important to have keywords in your domain name that are optimized for search engines.
Need help understanding Keywords and where to place them?
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Choose the Correct Domain Extension:
This tip is especially important as most people judge the legitimacy of a website by what type of extension it uses.
The “.com” extension is by far the most popular and respected extension. So, you should try to get a domain name with this extension.
However, if you can’t use that extension for some reason, then try the next two most popular extensions: .org and .net.
When you use an extension other than “.com” then it is important to include the full domain name when you advertise your website.
In other words, if your domain name is called RichMarket, make sure to advertise it as Richmarket.net so people do not type in “.com” at the end.
Lastly, Take Action:
Maybe you’ve come up with a plethora of good domain names, but if you do not buy and register those domain names then they are of no use.
There is also always a chance that if you do not act quickly, someone else will take the name you’ve created.
My advice is to take action as soon as possible.
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Thanks for reading this post on what is a good domain name, please leave a comment or socially share the post to help others out if you’d be so kind.
Cheers
Hi Todd:
Thanks for sharing your precious advice on making a good domain name, it is indeed hard to choose, normally, those really good domains were registered long before we got the idea, thus we have to get a relatively good name, so I want to ask you a favor, if my domain name is correct for native English speakers,since I am a Chinese,my domain name is gotothecity yes,this time I pick the .com extention.Thank you Todd~
Looks great Bob, nice work!
Thanks for sharing such great information about picking a domain name. There’s a good amount of info out there, but this really made it easy for me to understand.
I think I’ve narrowed down my domain name selection thanks to you.
Awesome Steve, happy to help!
I have one website already that I was surprised to find available. Now I want to start a new website and I’m wondering what to call my next one. This info was great and some of this I have never heard of before. I use an all-in-one SEO and Jaaxy for keyword names. Do you know if numbers are bad to have in your domain name?
Hi Lauren, I don’t think I’d go with a number unless that was part of the idea behind the brand name.
Think of your domain name like your brand. If a number fits your brand, of course it fine to have it in your domain name.
Here’s a really good post by a seasoned internet marketer about branding yourself right from the beginning.
Hope it helps,
Todd
Thanks for the great tutorial link on branding! Happy New Year!
You bet Lauren, thanks for the kind feedback. Happy New Year!
I agree the domain name should be Short, Unique & Catchy.
Well I went in for the keyword of my Niche for the domain name of my website : kitchenfaucetswithsprayer
As brought out by you Domain names post, it should be easy to read and type.
Nice post. It’s simple yet very informative.
Thanks for the great feedback on our domain name post and congratulations on your cool domain name. It’s very easy to remember and catchy, so nice work.
These are excellent pointers for those just getting started and for those who need a reminder on choosing a good domain name.
No one wants to type more then two words for a web address. So we have to be clever. I personally like to use a play on words because it is more creative and more memorable. It has got to stick in one’s memory or it will be lost.
That’s great feedback Wildfind. A good domain name is important, if you can’t find the name, the next step is to go for a keyword phrase if you’re targeting a specific niche.
This can also help you rank faster too. If you need to do some keyword research, here’s the keyword tool I use to get the job done.
I enjoyed reading the article about how to choose a good domain name, thank you!
It’s true you need to keep it short and simple, but it’s hard to find something good that is not taken already…
I came up with momandhappy dot com and purchased also momnhappy dot com. Which one do you think is better to use? Or maybe I should use both for the same site? Any advice?..
Hi Anna, just use one domain name and start building your online business.
A domain name is important, but after you decide on one, focus on producing written or video content that based on your niche to help your niche audience.
That should be the #1 focus when beginning an online business based on a niche.
I think I would keep playing around with the names, the MomNHappy sticks out a bit better, but it’s not my favorite.
Maybe go with a long tail keyword phrase like BeAHappyMom dot com. I’m sure it’s taken, but HappyMommy stands out.
Remember, creativity is a muscle that just needs to be used.
2 domain names that I use for other sites are ArtHouseMedellin and TherapyBoy.com. TherapyBoy is great because it’s short, simple, memorable and catchy.
Art House Medellin was a guest home in Colombia, so it’s Art House (the house had lots of art) and Medellin adds the location and worked great for rankings.
Learn To Grow Wealth Online is a long tail keyword phrase, not the best, but it was my first real site that I put together. I focus on quality content and helping people and for that reason, the site is very successful.
Hope that helps,
Todd
I enjoyed reading the content you have for finding a good domain name. It is a good idea to use a search tool for this as it will tell you what’s taken and whats available.
I personally searched for awhile to find a .com extension.. It took altering a word a bit but it is still catchy from stopfear which was taken to stoppfear.. still memorable.
Google is a catchy word but really has no meaning..
All great info you have!!
Thanks,
Jeff
Awesome feedback Jeff. Domain names can be tricky. I might re look at your domain name again though. Adding the extra p doesn’t make much senses. I’d go for a No Fear or No More Fear versus adding an extra p.
But you are right, having a keyword research tool makes the process much more easy. Plus if you’re targeting traffic (which you should be doing from day one) then you’ll need a reliable keyword research tool.
I use Jaaxy cause it’s so easy to work with and streamlines the entire process.
I’ll admit, my first idea… Learn To Grow Wealth Online wasn’t as well thought out as I could have done. I didn’t have a ton of options so I went for a long tail keyword phrase.
On my other site.. TherapyBoy.com, I think I did a nice job picking out a solid domain name that’s catchy, short, and pretty direct.
Anyways, thanks again and take care.
Todd
Thank you!
You bet Anna, everyone needs a bit of help picking a good domain name from time to time. Thanks for the feedback.
This is a great topic that doesn’t receive enough attention. It is difficult to come up with a domain name.
I think the most difficult part is coming up with something that hasn’t already been taken.
I like what you said about keeping it short and simple. I feel that gets overlooked and you end up with hard to spell domain names.
Thanks Chaddrick for your feedback. Finding the right domain name can be a challenge, but once you do it makes it worth it.
I really like to use my favorite Keyword Tool Jaaxy when looking for domain names, it also does brainstorming when researching a particular domain name.
So that’s great to find some domain name ideas that you may not have thought of yet.
Then with Jaaxy, I can also see if my specific domain name is available, so that’s convenient.
Just let your creative juices flow and you’ll be surprised at what you can come up with.
Best,
Todd