Choosing the right domain name is a tricky thing and can form the foundation of a good online business or personal venture. Its the first step to creating your online presence and the best thing to do is be very considered when choosing a domain name for your project. Don’t rush in to it and especially don’t put lots of money behind it unless you have researched the way search engines crawl and how users interact online with what they see and hear. A good domain name has to be catchy, alliteration is good, rhyme is also good, but don’t give someone a sentence. To make life easier for all of you upstart webeneurs we have compiled a list of our top ten things to consider before deciding a good domain name.
1. Mindmap or Brainstorm Keywords You Would Search
When you begin looking at what your business offers, step back and look at how, if you were an average web user, you would go about finding your site. Its likely you would search Google or a similar search engine using specific keywords for your subject matter. What are those keywords? Create a list of these and prioritise them by how likely it is you would use them. You can also use Google’s keyword tool which can be found HERE. This helps you find the best keywords for your website to focus on during search engine optimisation of SEO. The aformentioned Google ‘SK’ tool also shows you how many people search for those keywords locally and who searches for those same keywords across the globe.
2. Stand Out From The Crowd
The worst thing that could happen is people find your site on accident. Not all website traffic is a good thing. If someone finds your site and they are looking for something else, they will leave very quickly and you will get a high ‘bounce’ rate. It is far better people find you for your niche and are happy you are the right site to offer them what they need on the web. The best way to keep people on your site is to get Google and the other top search engines to list you with a unique domain name, and a clear and accurate description. These are set in your meta tags on each page. So for example you a plumber and need to appear high on Google. What would be recommended is to offer your specialities individually and for your local area. So some of the best key words would actually be better considered ‘key phrases’ such as: “Best Plumbers In East London” or “East London Plumbers Boiler”. That way if an internet user searches for those particular terms, you know they have a high likelihood of actually hiring you. This will raise what is called your ‘Conversion Rate’. Raising your conversion rate on-line is the sole goal of all web masters.
3. Know That People Are Stupid
This, although not quite politically correct is your rule of thumb when considering what you should choose as your domain name. There are a large number of light internet users who are also good online consumers. These people have money and feedback and can bring them to your site! The trick for you, is to cater to their short comings. Many many people still assume that .com is the only extension available. If they hear your name, there is a high chance that if they won’t fully remember your website address (or URL), then they will attempt to type what they know and then enter a “.com” afterwards. This is slowly beginning to change with the use of “.co”, “.co.uk”, “.net”, “.me” etc. but it is very unlikely that anyone hazarding a guess your URL will type .me afterwards. Our recommendation here is that you find a domain name which, although more difficult is both catchy and has the popular extension of “.com” or at least a country specific one like “.co.uk”.