Choosing Effective Domain Names
Domain names are no longer a web address these days. Many profitable companies have been built around their domain name making it the brand and the company. Choosing the right domain should be as important as naming your product. Given that status, here are some pointers how to find a name that will see you through it all.
Branding vs. Keywords
This is probably the most difficult to determine. Yet, should be the first place to start because the rest of the considerations will one way or another relate to this. There are two schools of thought. One group believes you should have your keywords in the domain so that search engines pick up on the keywords and rank you better. To what extent this really affects your search engine ranking is not clearly known or proven. Consider why you are putting the website up in the first place. Most likely it’s for your customers or visitors. So choose a domain that also puts your audience first.
The other group believes a webmaster should go for brand. Most successful companies start off with a brand, including online companies. Brands make the product memorable, create differentiation and encourage loyalty. In the early days of the Internet, everyone wanted a generic domain like searchengine.com, books.com, auctions.com and the likes. Today, very few of those are truly successful sites that rival Google, Amazon and eBay.
A branded domain also ensures consistency throughout your marketing efforts. As one web user describes, "Every time the company tells me to visit their generic website, they lose the opportunity to reinforce their brand name in my mind".
Whether you use keywords or brand for your domain depends much on what you aim to do. If you plan to build a business or website that is going to have staying power, branded domains are a better choice. It might not be easy or cheap to build a brand but there are no shortcuts when it comes to branding either. It’s a slow process that can be very rewarding if done right. Don’t choose a domain simply because of its keywords. First class content, links in and clever optimization are more important to good ranking than anything else. Having said that, a brand name made up of keywords could be best, and you would have the best of both worlds – literally. Take CancerComforts.com. Owner Kathy Browning chose the domain because of its keywords. But apart from being keyword rich, CancerComforts.com is also very marketable and can be a strong brand.
If you are building a resource website, a website for affiliate programs or one that’s temporary in nature, keyword rich and generic domains would be a better choice. Finally, there is no harm in buying both branded and keyword domains that point to the same site. Just make sure you only use one for submissions, directory listings, link exchanges and promotion. This way you build your link popularity.
Domain Length
Short domains are supposed to be best but it’s increasingly difficult to find one without paying someone a lot of money to take over the domain. There are alternatives though, such as expired domains which we will explore a little later on.
Just because a domain is a little longer doesn’t make it bad. For example, TrashToTreasure.com is meaningful, to the point and memorable even though it is rather long. On the other hand, ThisIsAnExampleOfAVeryLongDomain.com is too long, difficult to remember and prone to errors. The other extreme is needless abbreviation. TTT.com is meaningless because TrashToTreasure.com works much butter. Aim for some balance while taking into account ease of use.
Expiring Domains
Anyone who has looked for a domain name finds out soon enough more than half the desired names are taken. If you cannot find a suitable one despite numerous searches, why not explore expired domains? Expired domains are those whose original registrant fails to renew commonly are due to website closings or companies going out of business. Within the list of expired domains are some real gems. There are many services that allow you to monitor expired and soon to expire domains for a fee.
Finally, when you do find the best available domain, get it immediately. Any delays no matter how minor may cost you. Finding the right domain is not easy. It takes a lot of brainstorming, patience and creativity. Once you find it, don’t let it slip.