There are so many ways to pick your domain name, but what is the right way…
If you already have a website, how did you pick your name? Did you have to find a way to make the name of your business fit with the name of your website? Or was it born at the same time?
So is the domain an easy name for someone to remember and is it easy for someone to type?
There are so many questions when it comes to picking the right name, the relevance and so much more…
Here are a few recommendations when it comes to your domain… If you follow these guidelines it will help you to have a domain name that is unique to you and your business, it is easy to remember and everyone can remember how to type it…
Ok, so to start off, let’s remember that your website is your brand and you want to make sure that your brand represents who you are…
1. Domains that SHOW What You Do
When you pick your domain you want to make sure that it is EXACTLY what you do and who you are… You don’t want to have a name that is hard to understand and hard to remember.
Try to pick names that have the main characteristic of what you do in the domain. It helps to point out to SEO what you do as the domain name and it will help you to rank higher than other websites that might not have the main topic of the business as part of the domain. For example, if you sell yoga mats, make the domain related to yoga as part of the domain… Something like yogamats4life.com.
When you show what you do in one word, it helps to start to put ideas together to get the domain name that makes sense for you and for your business.
If it’s hard to pick a name because many domains are already taken or they are expensive, you might want to consider searching for something you love.
For example, a flower, an animal, a number or something that signifies the business that you have and what you do. You can connect it so that it personifies that quality that you like as well as what your service is. For example, honeybeeyoga.com kind of has a nice ring to it too.
Ok, so to summarize this part, let’s remember that you want a domain name that is easy to remember and tells us exactly what you do…
2. Domains that are EASY to type
As a consumer, it’s so frustrating to type the name of a business incorrectly and not get to the destination that one is looking for. You need to go to Google to try to find it (hoping that you’re typing it correctly there)…
One clear way to avoid this mess is to type your domain name as easy as possible.
What does that mean?
You want to stay away from complicated words or words that are frequently typed incorrectly.
Just make it easy and use common words that you use all the time. Use words that even a 4th grader knows how to spell.
3. Keep it SHORT!
When you’re coming up with your domain name, make sure that you keep it super short… That means the least amount of letters to get your point across.
As a general rule, try to stick to the 6-14 character limit so that you have a frame of reference of where to stand… Just keep in mind that it is generally hard to find domain names that are not expensive and still pass the “keep it short” rule…
To get around this issue, you can always combine the main topic of your business with a short name of an action that would lead for your business… for example, a marketing website can add the word strategic to it to make the name of the domain specific and at the same time talk about something related to marketing…
A personal development can add words like power, success or any word that is related to the topic. You can still keep it within the character limit if you pick the right words…
4. Think of BRANDING
As a general rule, you want the words of your website to become part of your branding. That means that you will most likely be speaking about the name of your website many times, so you want the words to be related to your business.
For example, if you’re a coach and you teach a certain method or if you have a certain process, then you can insert the word “method” next to the name of your process and you can have a domain name that is relatable to what you do and to your brand in general.
Another example has to do with the color palette and the name of the website. If you use the name honeybee, then you better use a yellow color in there or a color related to the honey or bees…
Think about how the domain is part of the branding and overall, the language, colors and overall image that you want to show as part of the business should also be something that is taken into account when it comes to your overall image.
Branding is really about image and the way you portray who you are to the world. So what name gives me the idea that also protects my brand?
To sum it all up, think of a name that really speaks to you, a name that makes sense to you and your business and a name that closely resembles what you do…
It can be very difficult to find the right name and it can take some time, but don’t worry, it’s part of the process and this process is a very important one!
Final words.. Don’t get discouraged if the domain name is too expensive or if you can’t find the right name for your domain. Sometimes it takes little while, and when you finally come back to find the name, you get so many ideas…
To start off, click here to go to SiteGround and start typing names of domains that you like. Make a list of those domain names that are available and revisit the list a few hours or a few days later. Things will get clearer for you and you will have a better idea of the names that mean a lot to you and the names that follow the guidelines.
Also, these are just guidelines, try to color inside the lines, but don’t get discouraged if you need to break the rules to make something fit.
If you need help reach out, click here to book a call and strategize on some domain names for your website.