A great domain name is one that enhances your position in the industry and offers you an advantage over your competitors. The following are some of the main characteristics of great domain names.
Memorable
Good domain names are those that can be remembered easily. They don’t need much advertising so as to make them stick in the customer’s mind. The best way of creating a domain name which is straightforward and memorable is to keep it ‘short and simple’. The name should be limited to two or three words at most.
Avoid using special characters or hyphens in the domain name. Most people are not likely to remember those special characters or hyphens when typing in your URL. This means that they will not be able to find your site. When people can’t locate your site due to complicated or long domain names, you will end up losing business.
Relevant
The domain name should reflect what your site is actually about. This will help you position yourself advantageously on the internet. If your domain name shows how you stand out from the competition, you will attain a better position than others players in your industry. Relevance was a key criterion for selecting a domain name for my blog which offers ANhosting discounts and midphase coupons.
Use a .com extension
When it comes to commercial websites, .com is the default extension for many people. When looking for any site, web users are likely to type in a domain name with a .com extension. Therefore, it is very important to get a .com domain name, especially if you are in business.
Value
Perceived truth is very powerful. A great domain name creates a certain perception of a site’s value and says something about the quality of products and services offered. Your domain name will determine how people judge your site and whether they visit it or not.
Unique
Your domain name should not be an imitation of existing ones. This is because copying similar domain names may result in legal problems. In addition, you need to brand yourself differently from your competitors. It is therefore important to take time to think of a domain name which will distinguish you from others who are dealing with similar services and products.
It is also advisable to avoid ‘free’ domain names. When people realize that you are being hosted for free, they will automatically conclude that the services or products you are offering are substandard. If you can’t invest in a proper domain name, you will end up losing credibility with your customers.
Conclusion
Domain names can be a very powerful marketing tool. They give customers the first impression even before they visit your website. Therefore, it is very important to select your domain name wisely so as to get credibility from the onset.
6 comments
Becca says:
Feb 29, 2012
Hi Charles!
The ideas you’ve shared here are fantastic and no doubt so great and it may really improve the variety of individuals visiting your website.
Charles says:
Mar 28, 2012
Thanks Becca. Glad you could stop by.
Ravi says:
Feb 29, 2012
Some nice points, I think your domain name should be relevant to your niche, should be (short) easy to remember and of course should be unique.
Blog Lady says:
Mar 13, 2012
A valuable domain should be easy to spell. Avoid names that are apt to be misspelled or contain misspelled words.
A good domain should be descriptive because searchers are more likely to click a result that has a relevant-sounding URL than one that doesn’t. If you look up “hbo tv guides in pdf,” and you see “www.freetvguides4u.com” and “www.funbloggerxxx.com” which would you click on first?
Because a domain is so important, you should pick one carefully. Use a domain name suggestion tool to get ideas.
Charles says:
Mar 28, 2012
Good points….thanks for sharing.
David says:
Apr 30, 2012
Good article. I believe a .ca extension is relevant if you focus on Canadian content.