Choosing Domain Name

So, you have a great idea for a website, you even bought a hosting for it, and the only thing remaining is a domain name. If you did a little research I’m sure you've noticed all good domains are already taken. But there is still hope. Fortunately there is wide range of TLDs (Top Level Domains) ranging from .COM .NET .ORG to .ME .TV or national domains like .US. Short domains are of course most popular because it’s so easy to remember them. There are few more things that matter when choosing a domain name you should know about.

Domain length

Are shorter domains better? Yes. There are few reasons for that, mostly because they are easier to remember (especially if they have some meaning). The problem is, most short domains are already taken. But don’t bother with that, even a longer domain containing 10-15 characters is ok. Of course, if you choose to have a longer domain try to pick something catchy and meaningful. Are you worried about search engines? Don’t be, unless your domain is stuffed with 5+ keywords you won’t have any problems, even then it might be fine. I have found an interesting article (actually a research) about domain length, so take a look if you would like to know more.

Keywords in domains

I’m not an expert on this field but I can confirm from my personal experience that keywords in domains do matter. The real question is how much? Only Google knows that for real, others can only guess. When picking a domain, if you can in any way, choose a domain with at least one main keyword in it. Of course, you may choose a domain with no meaning (for example, if you are creating a website for your company), than the name of the company should be the domain, in this case it’s more about branding your business then the (meaningful) keywords in a domain. What ever you choose you still can have great rankings with your website, with or without keywords in it.

Which domain is the best, .COM .ORG .INFO…?

If you ask me all domains are good, you just have to choose ‘em smart. If you are planning to have an international (English based) website then .com is probably the best option. If it’s already taken .net .org or even .info (or some other top level domain) will be fine too. If you are doing your business locally then national domains are the best. Some people say that it matters what you choose and that .com is the best (considering search engines). Honestly I do not know, but personally I haven’t had bad experience with domains different than .com. I think it is more important how good you do your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on site and off site, than the extension of your domain is.

With or without “-” between words?

Hmm, difficult question. Considering SEO some say that it’s better without it. It’s also easier to remember that way, and easier to tell someone over the phone. But sometimes it actually helps. If you have a domain containing 3 words it’s not really nice to have “-” after every word, but if you look the other way around, it would be very hard to read without it. Maybe you should avoid 3+ words in domain names.  But for two words it can be cool, sometimes it helps in reading of words in a domain. In matters of SEO don’t worry about it. Let your first option be without “-” unless it’s really hard to read, if that’s not available, use “-”.

Domain ideas

Last but not least, the fun stuff. Some of you might ask where’s fun in that? Searching for available domains can be exhausting, annoying and sometimes impossible. I believe you, but not if you know where to look. And besides that, I like to find myself some good domains, it makes me happy (I’m a weirdo, I know). When you are thinking about your new domain you have to think out of the box. Take for example this blog; there are hundreds of websites about blogging and all good domains are taken (it looks like that at first), but in the end it all depends on your imagination and creativity. And all that doesn't matter also if you don’t do anything with your domain. Whatever you name it, your website will be remembered by your content in most cases, even if you have a bad domain name. Never mind, let’s get back to the subject. How to find great domain names? It’s easy, use tools for it. There are few websites which can help you find the right domain, you just have to fill out the keywords.

Impossibility.org

You just have to enter keyword(s) you like and add some additional element in your keyword such as an adjectives, verbs, or nouns at the end or beginning of the keyword you want and click Search. The results will show you available domains of a .com extension. This is great if you really wanted to have a .com domain name.

NameTumbler.com

NameTumbler is another great website for finding cool domain names and is similar to Impossibility but you can actually choose what extension you want for your domain. The best thing to understand how it works is to visit their site. It’s pretty cool actually.

Where to buy cheap domain names?

Oops, I almost forgot to tell you where to buy domain names. I recommend only two websites, GoDaddy and NameCheap. If you want some discounts you can find many online, just go search in Google domain discounts and coupons. You can also find domain names that are for free but not a top level domain extensions, for more details about this, you can visit it here.