One of the most important things you should decide while establishing an online presence is choosing the right domain name. If you are serious about your business, your domain name is definitely going to be your brand name. The right domain name for your business is important both for the targeted audiences and search engines. It is always a great idea to choose a brand name that is easy to remember.
It will also help others to recognize your brand easily. This blog explains some of the mistakes and tips that you should consider while registering a domain name.
Let Us Discover Some of Them
Analyzing the Domain History
Once you select your desired domain name, you should make sure that the domain name is not expired. An expired domain name is one that is not used before or was left to expire. There are multiple reasons for the same. Once of the reasons could be that the domain has been blacklisted by the search engines.
On choosing an expired domain name, chances are that you might come across issues and your website fails to generate great SEO results. So, before registering a domain name, you must check via tools like WayBackMachine. This will help you find the complete history of an expired domain name.
Say “No” to Trademarked Names
There are many people who make mistake by choosing a trademarked name for their domain. Trademarked names might lead you into trouble because such domain names are strictly prohibited. So, before registering a domain name, always check with tools like Markify, TMarque, and Name Check to see whether a domain name is trademarked or not.
Skip confusing names
Using number, abbreviation or hyphen in the domain name is one of the biggest mistakes. Not only it looks bad but also confuses people. This kind of silly mistakes should be avoided and only easy-to-remember keywords should be used. Long or difficult to spell keywords should also be removed.
Make use of domain name suggestion tools that will help to find some good domain names. Some of the tools that can be used are Name tumbler, Domain suggestion tool, or DomainsBot.
Using High-end Domain Extension
There are 3 top-level domain extensions in the web. .com extension is the preferred one. Other than this, .net and .org us also used. Google offers an extra advantage to .com extension. You can also choose the other two. All the domains are usually priced around $10 per year which is affordable. Other than this, the country level domain like .in (India), .co UK (England) are also used. This should only be chosen if you are targeting an audience from a specific country.
Check Availability on Social Media Platforms
When you have already picked out a name, then research to see if the word or phrase is available on social media websites or not. Even if you are not planning to use social media, you will definitely like to have the option once you are ready. It can be made the easiest if you use the same phrase on each website.
Use of Hyphens
Hyphens are used to separate words in the domain names. They make it easier for search engines to read and recognize the individual words. People often forget hyphens when they type domain names. Do not buy a domain with more than 3 hyphens. This turns them messy.
Avoid Slang Terms
Always pick a name that will stay meaningful even in the next 10 years. This will help your name to be understood and remembered even by non-native speakers. Whether you intend to do business internationally or locally, this can help you in both the cases.
Ending Notes
A little bit of research goes a long way in finding the right domain name for your business. Look for similar websites and check out competitor’s domain name using a website like Compete.com You can also search via keyword. It will help you provide the popularity of certain words in domain names.
So, these are some of the major things that need to be considered while registering for a domain name. If you skip these mistakes, you will definitely land up into the selection of a right domain name for your business.
