So you are looking to start a new business online ? Great ! First of all let me salute you for taking this awesome decision. With the fact that world is getting digitalized, it is really a great idea to start targeting your customers online. So do you know what things you’ll require to set up your brand online ? Let me quickly, make you aware of those checklists. Firstly, select a perfect domain name, secondly good hosting service and finally a perfect platform like WordPress, Blogger or Drupal etc.
Now, let me make you aware of each one separately. A domain name is the first identity of your online business. A domain name is the address of your site, blog or business where your product or services can be found. Domain name is the a unique web URL that commands user’s browser to land to a particular site. So your domain name is really important in bringing your customers to you. That’s is why it becomes a very important step to select a perfect domain name for your online business.
However, on a planet where already 114,678,053 number of top class .com domains only are registered (source). And every day a large number of URLs are being registered as web address of some authority, it becomes really tough to select a perfect domain name for your business.
I have already discussed how to create a free WordPress or free BlogSpot blog. But the fact is that a free blog comes with some limitations. And one of the most annoying limitation is coming with a sub-domain included in your desired URL.
To make it simple, let me tell you if you create a free BlogSpot blog, your URL would be >> yourdomainname.blogspot.com. You can see there is a sub-domain (blogspot) included in the URL. However this can be overcome by buying a custom domain name, that is why I suggest BlogSpot bloggers to must buy a custom domain. But usually new bloggers or webmasters don’t know how to select a perfect domain name ?
Contents
- How to Select a Perfect Domain Name for Your Business ?
- 1. Don’t Use Your Name Please !
- 2. Domain Name Should Reflect Your Niche
- 3. Have Uniqueness
- 4. Don’t Use Strange Characters, Numbers and Punctuation Marks
- 5. Be Short in Selection
- 6. Buy Top Level Domains Considering Your Target Audiences
- 7. Don’t Get Users Confused
- 8. Consider SEO and Include Some Keyword(s)
- Some Best Places to Buy Domain Names :
- The Pro Review from TechReviewPro
How to Select a Perfect Domain Name for Your Business ?
Its often said that “First step taken rightly is equal to almost half the work already done”.
Your domain name is first step in setting up your business online. And hence, it is really somewhat deciding factor in how far your business will you ? So it is recommended to select a perfect domain name. But when you are really new to these things, you might find it tough to select a perfect domain name. Even experienced commit some common mistakes in selection. That is why I’m sharing some key ideas to select a perfect domain name for your business. So that you might not end up committing mistakes.
1. Don’t Use Your Name Please !
This is the most common mistake I have seen committing web masters. They simply buy a domain name with .com included in their name. For example, Rahuldubey.com or abhi236.org. Please, for name’s sake don’t buy your name. You name it a privilege that you have already got, why to pay someone for you name ??
And believe me, there is nothing much annoying than such domain names. Also, when it comes to promotion and branding your business, such URLs are not having a good reputation.
However, you want to run a consultancy service with personal branding then you must opt for your name.com.
2. Domain Name Should Reflect Your Niche
You might not be knowing, what niche actually mean. Right ?
Let me tell you, Your niche is a subject reflecting what your business will be about. It’s none other than you who knows your business best. But if you select a perfect domain name that reflects your niche or business, you provide a nice clue to let others know what your service is all about.
For example, at TechReviewPro, we mostly focus on reviewing tech products. So don’t you think this domain name reflects my business ?
3. Have Uniqueness
Your Domain name should be unique. Taking someone’s name may be subjected to copyright. So never ever use others brand name or a part of their company name in your domain name. Otherwise your such mistake can lead to serious issues. So be unique with your domain name and brand name, just to make sure you are not violating any brands’ copyright policy.
Do you know, one of the most popular tech blog – Techulator.com of today was initially MyWindowsClub.com. But when webmaster Mr. Tony John got a UDRP complain from Microsoft corporation for using their trademark, he had to re-brand it to Techulator.com (Source).
Now a days, I’m watching a similar craze for WhatsApp tips due to its popularity. So please don’t ever think to buy whatsapptips.com or any similar domain that include others trademark.
4. Don’t Use Strange Characters, Numbers and Punctuation Marks
When you select a perfect domain name for your business, avoid including a hyphen, dot(.) or other strange characters as well as punctuation marks because these are not easily type-able. And chances are high that users may commit typing errors while entering your web URL. Also, avoid using numbers. The numbers are stopping factors and everyone can’t remember your lucky number.
A perfect domain name is having a name which is easy to talk, read, write, remember and pronounce.
5. Be Short in Selection
When you are going to buy a domain name, you should select a perfect domain name which is short. Because shorter the name easier it is to remember. Don’t you think domain name like howtoearnmoneyonlinescamfreefromhomewithoutinvestment.com is a bad domain ?
Though this domain has included many keywords of its niche already in it. Yet it is bad because it is very large. And large names are tough to remember. Make sure you select a perfect domain which is easily memorable because your customers have already so many of other things to remember. So why would they care for you ?
6. Buy Top Level Domains Considering Your Target Audiences
Before you start any online business, you must know who your target customers are. And once you are familiar with it, select a perfect domain name accordingly.
For example, if you sell product and services in UK, you might consider to buy .uk extension. If your business has to be in India only, select .in. But if you are thinking to go beyond countries and set up a business which would rule all over the world, consider to buy .com or .org and similar top class domain name(s).
7. Don’t Get Users Confused
When you are going to select a perfect domain name for your business, you should consider to make it easy for your customers. Don’t let them reach into a state of confusion. Usually names like btech, b-tech and betech all are having similar pronunciation. So users might get confused. Same with photo sharing site – Flickr. Though Flickr is run by Yahoo and one of the most reputed image sharing websites. Yet, I think it should have been Flicker.
Similarly, usually there is a trend of blogs about technology tips and blogging tips. So one common mistake user commit while they select a perfect domain name is – they select names like techtips or bloggingtips, techtricks or bloggingtricks. But there are already thousands of reputable sites with those names. And it is tough to beat them.
Moreover, they limit their scope and niche as those having “bloggingtips” as domain name would only be dealing with blogging tips. It would be really tough to broaden their niche if they ever though to do so in future.
8. Consider SEO and Include Some Keyword(s)
SEO… ? What the hell is this ? Aren’t you wondering ? Yes, you must. Because, you are just thinking to start a new business and I started making you fearful.
Well, sorry for that but the fact is that SEO stands for search engine optimization. And it is a very important factor in deciding your success in online business. SEO makes your site to gain more customers by increasing its visibility in search engines.
Now, the question is why to use keyword in your domain ? The idea is simple. if some keyword(s) of your niche is included in your domain name, you get an additional boost in ranking. And chances are high that your site will appear in top results for that keyword. For example, TechReviewPro.com is a technology blog where we review tech products. So don’t you think it is a great domain name having two keywords (Tech and Review) of this niche already in domain ?
Some Best Places to Buy Domain Names :
There are many places from where you can buy a domain name. But some of the best one I recommend are :
- Godaddy – Obviously very trusted and most leading among the all domain registrars. (View Plans and Pricing)
- BigRock – Very Popular in Asian Countries and growing at a very faster pace as compared to others. (View Plans and Pricing)
- Namecheap – Best Alternative of GoDaddy. (View Plans and Pricing)
Recommended : 5 Best Domain Registrar Websites to Buy Cheap Domain Name
So once you got able to select a perfect domain name, refer to one of these and buy first identity of your online business.
The Pro Review from TechReviewPro
To select a domain name is equivalent to choose your brand name. So be precise while choosing. However, I would suggest to ensure that whether your desired brand name is already taken (or not) before buying. One very useful tool to check this is – NameChk. NameChk not only gives you idea of availability of your brand name but also helps to know whether your desired brand name can be used as username for various networks.
So also, keep an eye on availability of username on popular social networks. This might be very useful in proper branding of your business later on.
Hope you enjoyed these tips to select a perfect domain name. However, please do let me know if I missed any.
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By the way, which domain name are you going to buy ? If you have already bought, does your domain name meet above all criteria ??