10 Tips on Choosing the Perfect Domain Name

Domain names are one of the first pieces of marketing your visitors will see. Choosing the right domain name can be challenging. Many times, you think you have the perfect option but find someone has already registered that name, leaving you frustrated. These 10 tips will help you with the selection process; be certain to have a couple alternatives in mind in case the first option is unavailable.

1. Keywords

   Make a list of keywords that describe your business and the services or products you offer. Try to narrow down your list to five keywords. You can add prefixes and suffixes to these five keywords, creating some good domain name ideas. For example, if you are Italian restaurant you could start with pizza, pasta, restaurant, food, Italian and keep playing with words until finding a good match.
    

2. Easy to Remember

   There are millions of websites out there. Having a domain name that is clever and catchy while still being descriptive of your business is essential.
    

3. Targeted

   If your business targets a specific geographical area or specific type of customer, consider using those target markets within your name. Our hypothetical Italian restaurant from the example above is located in Utica, NY, so we may want to use Utica in the domain name as a prefix or suffix. ie: BestItalianFoodUtica.com or MangiaUtica.com (Mangia is Italian meaning "to eat").
    

4. Domain Name Extension (TLD)

   Is the perfect .com taken? No worries, there are thousands of top level domains (TLDs), the .com portion of the domain name. New TLDs are appearing all the time. Some are geographically based like .us and .ca, while others are industry specific like .aero and .cafe. You are certain to find the perfect fit for your needs. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANNA) keeps a running list of current TLDs at http://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt
    

5. Build your Brand, Promote your Brand

   You have worked hard to build a brand for your business, keep promoting it by incorporating your brand into your domain name. You may need to register your domain name across several TLDs to protect your brand. Last thing you want to do is have your competitor register yourbrand.net while you have yourbrand.com and then they mislead traffic from your website to theirs. Consider any common misspellings as well to catch traffic which otherwise might be missed.
    

6. Length

   While there is a maximum limitation of 63 characters (https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1035) not including the TLD, you want to keep your domain name as short as possible. Having a long domain name leads to the risks of mistyping and misspelling. Many visitors will be using a mobile device to view your website, if it was you, would you want to type out a long domain name like www.supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.com?
    

7. Avoid Copyright Issues

   A domain name is no different than any other marketing you do, make sure you fully research your choice. Using a trademarked or copyrighted name or phrase will cost you a huge legal mess as well as the domain name. This mistake is made too often, a great place to start your research is http://copyright.gov.
    

8. Check Ownership

   Had that perfect name but found it's already taken? Check the ownership as the domain name could be sitting dormant or be up for sale by the current owner. A great place to start is http://who.is where you will find the details for who the current registered owner of the domain name is as well as how long they have owned it and when the current registration expires.

   From there you could check some of the domain auction and marketplace websites.
   Here are a few to try:

   http://sedo.com
   http://auction.godaddy.com
   http://namejet.com
    

9. Social Media Availability

   Before making the final decision on the domain name, check to make sure that you can obtain easily matched social media accounts. A good site for checking availability is http://www.namecheckr.com.
    

10. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

    Act fast, if you found that perfect domain name and it is available, get it registered today, as tomorrow it may no longer be available! Quadsimia offers domain name registration services, contact us today and we will secure that perfect name for you.
     

In summary think of your domain name as a branding tool, be short, catchy and memorable. When you find that perfect domain name, contact Quadsimia and we will guide you through the process of registering it.

Share your experience, comment with how you came to finding the perfect domain name.