Choosing a domain name is the first thing you need to do when you are about to start a blog.
It's not an easy job. You might find it difficult after discovering that all the cool names are registered.
Because of the unavailability of the desirable names, many people go with a random name and make some common mistakes.
To avoid those mistakes and make things easier for you, I am going to share 10 tips for choosing a domain name.
- Keyword Rich Vs Branded Domain Name
The very first thing you need to decide whether you want to choose a keyword rich domain or a branded domain name.
If you don't know the difference between the two types of domains, here's an example for you.
Keyword Rich Domain Name: BestProducts.com
Branded Domain Name: TheWirecutter.com
Both are products related sites. But only the first domain name contains the keyword "Products". So it's a keyword rich domain name. The second domain name is a unique name which is more branded than the first one.
Keywords Rich Domain can be two types - Exact Match Domain (EMD) and Partial Match Domain (PMD). Let's see an example:
Exact Match Domain: BestProductsForAcne.com
Partial Match Domain: BestProducts.com
EMD doesn't look good. People used to buy EMD for affiliate marketing purpose. A few years ago, it was easy to rank an exact match domain. But things have changed. Now EMD doesn't work. So stay away from EMD.
On the other hand, Partial Match Domain are doing good. As it contains a related keyword, it's easy to understand what's the blog about. And it's not so tough to make it brandable.
RoadToBlogging.com
HealthAmbition.com
TechCrunch.com
Now let's talk about Branded Domain Name.
Branded Domain Name has nothing to do with the keyword of the niche. It's a unique name. For example, Labnol.org is a technology blog. The domain name doesn't represent its niche. In fact, Labnol has no meaning.
ShoutMeLoud.com
Hongkiat.com
Mashable.com
The best thing about the branded domain name is, it allows you to switch the niche without changing the name. You can also extend your niche.
Once you have decided, which kind of domain you want to pick, let's move to other points.
- Make It Easy To Pronounce and Spell
Look at these domain names:
Mashable.com
Problogger.com
Lifehacker.com
All of these sites are popular. And the common thing is, it's very easy to pronounce and spell their domain names.
Your domain name is the name of your brand. So make it easy to pronounce and spell. Don't use complex and unusual words. Make it rememberable.
- Keep It Short & Simple
There is no ideal length of a domain name. Try to keep it as short as possible. Short domain name is easy to remember. But it's very difficult to find the short domain name. I'd recommend you keep the domain name within 10-15 words.
At the same time, you need to make sure that the domain name is simple. Don't use any complex words.
For example, RoadToBlogging.com is not a very short domain name. But it's simple.
- Go For The .com Extension
.com is the most popular domain extension.
People remember the name of your blog, not the extension. If your domain ends with other extensions like .net, org, it might be a little bit tricky to find your blog.
So go for the .com extension.
If .com extension is not available, go for other popular extensions like .net, .co, .org, etc.
Don't go with .info or .biz extension. There are a lot of spammy domain names with these extensions.
- Avoid Hyphens, Numbers, & Articles
It's hard to tell about the domain that contains hyphens. Let's say your domain is Tech-tips.com. You have to say "tech hyphen tips dot com" to the offline people. There is a chance that most of the people forgot the hyphens and ended up visiting techtips.com.
Same things happen to the domain with numbers or articles. People forget numbers and articles.
Even though some sites like Digital-photography-school.com, 9lessons.info, thewirecutter.com, etc are very popular, but these are exceptional. They have been here for a long time.
Try to avoid hyphens, numbers, or articles on the domain name.
- Avoid Copyright & Trademark Violation
Copyright and trademark violation can do severe damage to your blog. You may end up losing the domain name.
So it's better to be careful before choosing the domain name. Make sure that your domain name is not going to conflict other commercial names.
For example, you cannot use terms like Facebook, WordPress, etc on your domain name.
However, I am not a lawyer. I cannot help you professionally. If you have any confusions, you should talk with an attorney.
- Singular Vs Plural
Look at these two domains:
BestProducts.com & BestProduct.com
BestProducts.com is the main domain name. But some people might visit BestProduct.com instead of BestProducts.com.
If your domain contains such thing, I'd recommend you to buy the both domains. This way you will not lose any visitors.
You can choose one as primary domain and redirect another to the main domain name.
- Make Sure Social URLs Are Available
One of the essentials things to do after buying a domain name is secure social media URLs like https://facebook.com/yourdomain.
If you have a plan to give more attention on any particular social media site, it's better to make sure that your desirable URL is available.
You can use this tool - knowem.com