Choosing the right domain name could be one of the most important decisions you make for your online business. It sounds straightforward, but there are some things you should always take into consideration when choosing your domain name.
Does it match your brand name?
There are a few reasons why this is important. It is bad branding to have a company name which doesn't match the domain name. Using the same name will help people find your website more easily when they hear about you and type your name into a search engine or the browser address bar. Consistency is key and will help you grow a memorable and strong brand.
What appears when you Google your brand?
Google it. You'll want to know what kind of resources are ranking for your chosen name. If you're going to be competing with many powerful domains, you might struggle to even rank for your own name. Make sure you pick something which is unique and easy to rank for.
Tip: Use Google AdWords' Ad Preview and Diagnosis Tool to see what ranks for your brand name in various different countries using various different versions of Google.
Is it easy to read and spell?
This is a no brainer for building a strong brand which people remember. Not only that, but it will help people find you - a running theme here.
Is it well branded?
A good brand name is unique, clear, short, meaningful, catchy and inspiring. Is yours? Think about how it sounds, what it looks like when written down, how relatable it is, if there is a hidden meaning or play on words you're going for. Put your options out to your network and get feedback.
Don't go over the top with keywords
I would choose a good, creative brand name over a keyword-heavy domain name any day of the week. That's not to say you can't have a domain name with a keyword in it if it makes sense. For example, if I was building a city guide for London I would go for londonvibes.com over londoncityguide.com. That way I am including a keyword in London but I'm prioritising a good brand name over spammy SEO.
Furthermore, back in 2012 Google even went after low-quality exact match domains (EMD) to ensure they do not rank well in the Google search results. Matt Cutts, then head of webspam at Google, confirmed an upcoming algorithm change to reduce low-quality exact-match domains in search results. That should tell you a thing or two about what Google thinks of spammy domain names.
That said, I still see lots of spammy exact match domains with poor content ranking well in the SERPs, so I think Google needs to take another look at that part of the algorithm.
No hyphens
In my opinion, using hyphens in your domain name is low quality for many reasons. It's spammy, for example london-city-guide.com. If you tell someone your domain name you'd have to say London, hyphen, city, hyphen, guide, dot com - rubbish. It's also downright ugly. Very few of the world's biggest and best brands use hyphens in their domain names. That should tell you something.
Is it optimised without being spammy?
Above I talk about not going for a keyword heavy domain name, but that's not to say you can't optimise it without being spammy. For example, if you are a London based business and you're selling something in London, it does make sense to have London in the domain name - just don't be spammy with it.
For me, londonvibes.com is a far better, more brandable and quality domain name compared to london-city-guide.com or even londoncityguide.com. Choose good branding over SEO here but try to get a keyword in there if you can. Don't stress if you can't - it's definitely not the end of the world and you should choose a creative name over a spammy one.
Is it short?
Short and sweet to keep it neat. Not only is a short domain name better looking, easier to remember and type into a browser, it's also better for your email addresses and business cards. Google also prefers shorter URLs over longer ones. So if your root domain is short, that means all of your URLs will be short as long as you are clever with your URL structure and subpage architecture.
What TLD?
TLD stands for Top Level Domain - the part which comes after your domain name and before your subpages, e.g. .com which is the most common. Other common options are .net, .org, and .co.uk.
With so much choice, how do you know which one to go for? It's easy if you follow this rule: is your target market global? If yes, choose .com. If no, choose a TLD for the country you're targeting, e.g. .co.uk if the United Kingdom is where your target audience is based.
Google doesn't give any priority to keywords in your TLD, so there's no need for .bike if you're a bike company. Most potential customers would guess your domain ends in .com, and the same goes for your email address. A .com or a country TLD is more trustworthy and known than keyword TLDs.
That said, there are exceptions. If you're an internet or IT company, you could consider a .net TLD. Or if you're a non-profit, .org could be a good option.
Is it unique?
Check if anyone else is using the domain name you want to go for. You might find that although the one you want is available, someone else is using the same domain with a different TLD. Ideally, you want a domain name which is completely unique. I also recommend buying many other TLDs for your domain name to stop other people getting hold of them. You can always redirect the extra domains to your main domain.
Are all the social handles available too?
It's pretty annoying when you dream up the perfect brand name, get hold of the domain name, only to find out someone has taken that name on one of the social media channels. Even if you don't intend on using them all right away, get hold of the profiles to prevent others from taking them.
Check for Trademarks
Before you go in with your credit card details to buy your dream domain, make sure the name is not already trademarked. You should also look at trademarking the name yourself to avoid potential copyright problems in the future. By trademarking your brand name, you can also stop competitors using that name on their AdWords campaigns.
Wrapping up
With the explosive growth of everyone creating websites these days, the choice of domain names is becoming more and more limited. With that in mind, it's important to be creative, think outside the box and come up with a domain name which will last a lifetime. Now you have all the information you need to choose the right domain name. Go forth and create something amazing.