Choosing The Right Domain Name
Choosing a domain name is similar to choosing a company name — it requires a lot of thought and consideration. Your domain name is your identity on the web; you want to make sure you choose a name that not only fits your business, but is also easy to find and promote. Some helpful tips on choosing the perfect domain name.
Keep it short.
You risk customers mistyping or misspelling your domain name if it is long or complicated. Keep it short and simple
Research it.
Make sure the name you’ve selected isn’t trademarked, copyrighted or being used by another company. It could result in a huge legal mess that could cost you a fortune, as well as your domain! Here is a free Domain name search tool namemesh.com
Use an appropriate domain name extension.
Extensions are suffixes, such as .com or .net, at the end of web addresses.
The .com domain extension is far and away the most popular, but it can be tough to get a short and memorable .com domain name. There are many new suffixes now like .nyc and .guru — offer a great opportunity to register short and highly relevant names. And here are some other top extensions and how they’re often used:
.co : an abbreviation for company, commerce, and community.
.info : informational sites.
.net : technical, Internet infrastructure sites.
.org : non-commercial organizations and nonprofits.
.biz : business or commercial use, like e-commerce sites.
.me : blogs, resumes or personal sites.
Be memorable.
Try having a domain that’s catchy and memorable. Once you’ve come up with a name, share it with close friends to make sure it sounds appealing and makes sense to others. There are millions of registered domain names,so get your name now before
someone beats you to it.
Avoid numbers and hyphens.
If you need these in your domain, register the different variations to be safe.
People who hear your website address don’t know if you’re using a numeral (5) or it’s spelled out (five) or they misplace or forget the dash.
Don't sweat it if your perfect Domain is taken.
Sometimes if it is a parked domain, you could buy it. Some people buy domains just
to sell them. If the domain is completely empty and there’s no contact info to be found, try looking through known domain-flipping marketplaces, such as GoDaddy’s marketplace (auction based),
Sedo,
SnapNames, or Flippa.
Set Your Domain to Auto-Renew.
Generally, when you register your new domain name, you get to choose the registration period — the time span during which the registrar keeps the domain active on your behalf. Most commonly, everyone registers their domain names for either 12 or 24 months.
After that initial period, your domain name needs to be renewed (for another X months). Otherwise, it becomes inactive. And then, after a short while, if you miss your window, the domain goes back to the pool of available domains, which means anyone will be able to register it.
What usually happens — in case someone doesn’t make it in time with renewing their domain — is that the domain gets snatched by a domain broker or someone similar. Basically, aged domains are valuable in the domain market, plus there’s higher chance that the person who originally failed to renew the domain will want to buy it back at some point.
In the end, stay safe by opting to renew your domain name automatically whenever the time comes.
Recent Comments
1
Thank you for posting this important information!
Jeff