Tips for Choosing A Perfect Domain

Whether you are planning to launch a business site or personal blog, choosing the perfect domain name is of huge importance and requires careful planning. Regardless of what purpose your site will serve, there are a few general guidelines which are universal for choosing an effective domain name. A few of the most important are listed below:

- Dot com domains are the number one choice for just about any new website. The reason for this is basically the familiarity that the general public has with these types of domains, though the importance of your domain extension may vary for some types of sites.

- For best results, your domain should be both as short as possible and as easy to remember as you can manage. Try to avoid awkward combinations of letters or names that would be difficult to recall or even challenging to type, as this will ensure that you don't lose much traffic due to misspellings or other input mistakes.

- Make sure to do your research and choose a domain that is unique and one which does not violate any trademarks or copyrights. This one goes without saying, but don't forget to check on the status of any names you are seriously considering.

- Always avoid using numbers and hyphens in your domain name, if at all possible. Using numbers can make it difficult for users to remember whether they should spell the number out or use the numerical symbol. Hyphens create a memory block as well, since most of your visitors will forget where to place them in your domain name, or may even forget to include them at all.

- Check similar domain names to make sure that your domain name won't be easily confused with a different website, as this will make it difficult to brand your site.

One of the greatest challenges of choosing the perfect domain name is the overwhelming number of domains that are already registered or unavailable. After brainstorming a list of your favorite ideas, you may be disappointed when you discover that most or all of them are already taken.

At that point, you should evaluate your budget and the different options you have. If you have your heart set on a specific domain and your budget is considerable, you may consider contacting the owner of the domain to find out if they are willing to sell, or even hire a domain broker to assist you in securing the name you want for your site.

If you're working on a more modest budget, you will need to get creative and go back to the drawing board.

When choosing the perfect domain name for your website, your traffic strategy also matters considerably. There are two main types of domain names: keyword-based and brandable. Keyword-based domain names are likely to be discovered by large volumes of web users who are searching for broad or general keywords.

Brandable domains, on the other hand, are unique and oftentimes made-up names that immediately bring something distinctive to mind that is associated with the company behind the product or website.

Obviously keyword-based domains are more discoverable and work best for sites that plan on attracting most of their traffic from organic search results. Brandable domains are a more attractive option for sites that plan to utilize paid search promotions to generate traffic.

There are several ways to find a unique and brandable domain name. A few of the most popular methods are listed below:

1. Tap into your creativity and think of a relevant metaphor. The best way to find an appropriate metaphor for your site is to first identify what makes it exciting or how it stands apart from other sites. Once you have that in mind, try to think of a few simple concepts that you can use as an analogy. Try to pick one that most people will have no trouble understanding. Think of "Tech Crunch. com" as an example.

2. Use two relevant words to find a great compound word to use as your domain. This is done by choosing two nouns or other types of words and simply sticking them together in order to form one, as in the case of http://www.dropbox.com.

3. Use a phrase for your domain instead of a word. With phrase domains, emphasis often goes on the second or last word, unlike compound domains, which typically place their emphasis on the first word.

4. Blend parts of different words together to come up with a creative and clever domain name. The most classic example of a blended name is "Microsoft," which blends part of the word "microcomputer" with the "soft" from "software."

5. Alter the spelling of a word to find an appropriate domain name. When using this method, it's best not to change the spelling of a common word by more than one character. A perfect example of an altered spelling domain is "Flickr.com."

6. Add a common prefix or suffix to one of your keywords to find an available domain name. This has been a popular choice in recent years.

7. Get imaginative and make up your own word or name entirely. Some domains are completely invented words, like "Etsy.com."

Just be sure that you stick to relevant concepts when combining keywords to come up with the perfect domain. Both words should add to the meaning of your site, or allude to its purpose. Hopefully the ideas listed here help you kick start your domain name inspiration and now it's time to start brainstorming!

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