Looking to buy a new domain name?
Before you go ahead and finalize your domain name, it’s important to know that the domain you are going to purchase is the right one.
There are many factors that come into account when choosing a domain name. And, it’s not just having a good name.
A good name is not enough for the domain to be helpful. You need to take a step back and cross off some items in your checklist to pick the perfect domain name.
In this article, I’ll share my 13 most important domain name tips you should definitely know before buying a domain.
I’ve used these tips before purchasing domains and it helped me made the right decision. So, let’s get started.
The tips I’m about to share will not only help you purchase a good domain but also help you from a business standpoint.
- 1. Keep It Short & Simple
- 2. Choose A Unique & Brandable Name
- 3. Make It Easy To Type & Remember
- 4. Avoid Numbers & Special Characters
- 5. Try To Get The .Com Extension
- 6. Consider Having A Targeted Keyword
- 7. Leave Room For Expansion
- 8. Check The Availability Of Social Accounts
- 9. Avoid Copyright Infringement
- 10. Be Careful When Buying Old Domain Names
- 11. Use A Domain Name Generator
- 12. Choose A Trustworthy Domain Registrar
- 13. Get The Free Domain Name With Web Hosting
Let’s start with the first and most important tip.
1. Keep It Short & Simple
Domain names need to be short. The longer the domain name, the more difficult it is to remember and type it in the browser.
Short domain names are memorable and there are fewer chances of people mistyping or misspelling the name.
And, which this may not seem important to you, but the problems a long domain name brings can cause a loss of traffic which in turn could affect your business revenue.
A good domain name length is around 15 characters. So, try to find a name that is under 15 characters.
A great example is the domain name of this site – HostLater.com.
2. Choose A Unique & Brandable Name
The domain name you choose should be unique and brandable enough to captivate your audience.
If your domain fails to do that, you will have a hard time growing your business.
Finding a brandable name is not so easy and requires a lot of brainstorming. To speed up your process, perform a brainstorming session with up to 5 people to come with unique and creative name ideas.
If you don’t have people who can brainstorm with you, ask your friends and family about the different names you came up with and see whether the names are memorable enough.
3. Make It Easy To Type & Remember
The reason why you need to have short names is that it makes it easy to type and remember.
But that’s not what makes a domain easy to remember.
The words you use in your name is should not sound like they came out from a fantasy world. They should be simple enough for people to remember it.
Also, the domain should be easy to type for the user. And the next tip explains how you can make a domain easy to type.
4. Avoid Numbers & Special Characters
Numbers and special characters make the domain sound confusing. And, I’m sure you don’t want that to happen to your name.
For example – Let’s say you have a domain name ‘kindness4life.com’.
At first, it sounds like a good domain name. Right?
Well, not exactly.
Imagine you’re at an event and someone asks you about your website?
And you’re standing there telling them “It’s kindness4life.com”. They try to look it up and find nothing. Then you’ll have to explain that it’s ‘4’ and not ‘for’.
It’s so confusing that you’d rather wish you chose a better name.
That’s why don’t go for names with numbers. The same case goes for special characters such as hyphens, underscore, and more.
5. Try To Get The .Com Extension
This is not so necessary but having a .com domain extension really helps. So many great domain names with the .com extension are taken now but if you can find one, then you’re in luck.
So, try to find names and search if they have a .com extension available.
Not having a .com domain is not a big deal but still, a top-level domain helps as people are more familiar with it.
6. Consider Having A Targeted Keyword
The domain name you choose should have the target keyword that people will be searching for your business.
For example – If you’re a roofing company, you can include the keyword ‘roofing’ in your domain name such as ‘roofingservices.com’.
This helps you get noticed in the search engines more easily and affects your ranking tremendously.
But do not overdo this as it could make your domain sound long and not memorable.
7. Leave Room For Expansion
The domain you choose shouldn’t always be too niched down. Unless you plan to focus on just one industry, it’s a good practice to choose a name that allows you to expand to other areas in your industry.
For example – If you want to start a gardening website but also plan to expand to other areas such as house management.
Then, it’s a good idea to choose a name that’s not just related to gardening but also sounds relevant to topics besides gardening.
The reason why this is important is that, if you, later on, decide to expand to other areas and topics, you’ll have to purchase a new name.
And moving a website to a new domain name is one big trouble.
8. Check The Availability Of Social Accounts
Many people don’t seem to check whether there are social accounts with the same name as your domain.
It’s a good practice to have your domain name and social accounts have the same name. It helps with branding your business and allows your audience to find you from one name.
Having a different domain name and different usernames on social media just leads to more confusion for the users.
You can use the tool KnowEm to check if the social URLs of your domain name are available or not.
9. Avoid Copyright Infringement
Don’t choose a name that conflicts with an already established business or name.
Trademark and copyright infringements are a serious matter and if you’re using a name that is trademarked, you can get into legal trouble.
And, let me tell you:
These legal troubles suck up your time and money if not handled properly.
So, before choosing a name, make sure it’s not trademarked.
Also Read: Don’t Use WordPress in Domains – Avoid The Term “WordPress”
10. Be Careful When Buying Old Domain Names
Sometimes buying old domain names can be good from a business standpoint. Especially when the domain name you choose belongs to your industry.
Many times old expired domain names have backlinks to them which can help you kick-off your business strong.
But remember this:
Old domain names are double-edged swords.
If the domain you choose had a bad history of Google penalties and low-quality backlinks, then you should stay away from such domains.
11. Use A Domain Name Generator
Remember when I told you about brainstorming creative ideas for domain names?
Well, using a domain name generator tool can help you come up with hundreds of domain name ideas in minutes.
There are many great tools out there but one of my favorites is NameLix. With this tool, you can enter the target keyword and the tool will generate some great domain name ideas for you instantly.
The tool lets you choose the length of the domain name.
You can also choose the style of the domain names you want.
The ideas generated by the tool are really creative and help you choose a name quickly.
12. Choose A Trustworthy Domain Registrar
The place you buy your domain from should be trustworthy. There are many domain registrars out there that offer discounts and certain coupons.
But, they don’t offer a great service when it comes to managing your domain.
You should choose a registrar that is reputable and offers great service to its customers. My recommendations for good domain registrars are GoDaddy and Namecheap.
13. Get The Free Domain Name With Web Hosting
So, you’ve chosen a great domain name that fits your business, is short, and memorable. Now, the next step should be to purchase it, right?
No.
Don’t go ahead and purchase your domain right away.
You should do this when you’re purchasing your web hosting. The reason why I’m suggesting this is that many web hosts offer a free domain with the hosting plan.
So, instead of wasting your money on purchasing a domain and migrating it to your web host, it’s better to get it for free with the hosting.
But, if you don’t plan to purchase the web hosting for a while and want to make sure the domain is not taken, then you can purchase the domain right away.
Conclusion
So, these were my 13 best domain name tips you should know before purchasing a domain. I hope these tips will help you make the right decision and choose the perfect domain name for your business.
If you have any questions regarding these tips or have questions related to domain names in general, feel free to ask them in the comments section below.
