Domain: 8 factors to Consider When Choosing a Domain Name

Did you have trouble naming your domain after realized how important that is to have you self-hosted domain? It is not the hosted domain that you can have it for free, but you can not control it.  I know that you have been searching on the internet for the information on how to name your domain.  Welcome to the virtual real estate on the cyberspace where you can get a piece of the pie and enjoy whatever you do with your domain.

Without further ado, I am going to talk about how to choose a domain name.  Here are important points you need to consider when choosing your domain name before heading to register your domain with Godaddy or with other domain registrars.

1-Goals and objectives and future directions

Before you get a domain name, you should have a plan in mind.  You should know what your goals and objectives of having a domain are.  Do you want to have a domain to advertise your business or you want it for your interests or hobbies?  And what is your long term vision of your domain?  Is that going to be just a regular website or blog website (diary blog)?  Eventually, do you plan to sell it in the future?

2- Domain ending

Select the top level domain(TLD) as dot com (.com) unless you want to get a specific country of a particular legal or organization structure such as dot edu (.edu for education).  It depends on your objective of having the domain.  If you want a domain to redirect a specific url, then get a domain with dot info(.info).  It would serve your purpose well.  You can redirect the traffic to a specific url that you want to.  In term of the price, it is cheaper than the dot come one.

3-Hyphens

Avoid hyphens your domain name even though some people would say that would help search engine identify keyword more clearly.  Some would say that would be the same thing as without hyphens.

The reason you choose a domain name with hyphens is the availability because the name you intended to use was taken.  That may get into a problem when you want your audience to remember it.  That is the next factor that I talk about next.

4- Name length

The name of your domain should be short, simple, and memorable.  The purpose behind this is you want your audience to spell, say quickly, and remember your domain.  Remember that the longer the domain name, the easy it is to misspell it.

It does not mean you can not choose a lengthy domain name, but choose it wisely and as long as it is a good word of mouth.

5- SEO and traffic

Domain name has influence on search engines.  That is why you want your domain name related to keyword in your niche that you are going to do business in or a particular subject that you are an expert on.  Doing this way can bring some organic traffic (free traffic) when people guess at or remember a domain and type it in to the URL bar rather than search for it.

6- Intended audience

You must have in mind of what kind of audience you intend to appeal your business to.  Is that young people, internet marketing or cool groups of people?  This way you can gear the way you talk to your audience so that you can tone your voice through your writing properly.  Especially, you can use the jargons that they understand what you are talking about.

Remember that if it is a blog, it tends to be a two-way communication between you and your audience and you want your voice to be heard and the feedbacks.

7- Trademark infringement

Before you register your domain, do a research to make sure you don’t use a trademark name. Trademark research and information can be found at name protect (http://nameprotect.com) and trademark Association (http://www.inta.org).

Be warned that buying a domain containing a trademarked name could result in taking your domain down after a legal battle dispute. It is better to find out first if you violate someone else’s right or you got into domain name infringement.

What is the trademark ? It is name or symbol officially registered to a third party and the trademark owner is the only party that can legally make use of a trademarked name.

8-Branding

You can use your name as a domain name, but it is going to take a lot of work to brand your site.  People do not know your name.  You have a lot of marketing and advertising to do.  However, if you choose a keyword as you domain name, you may have more chance to get traffic and lesser work in advertisement because you did the keyword research and knew how many people are searching for that keyword.

Domain search

Here is a site where you can do a domain research about a domain that you intend to buy.  This site would let you know if the domain is available and also suggests domain names.  Here is the link: http://domain-search.domaintools.com (Note: The url is not exactly the same as the one on Youtube, but I found it very useful).

What do you think?

I am glad you dropped by my blog and I love to hear your thoughts.  So please leave your comments below.

Related posts:

1. Domain Name: How Important is Domain Name History?
2. Internet Marketing: Which One is Better? Domain or Website Flipping?
3. Checklist: 10 points Domain Name Analysis Checklist
4. Blog: Hosted Versus Self-Hosted Blog

Tagged As: domain ending, domain name, factors to consider when choosing a domain name, factors to consider when choosing domain name, objective, SEO