The principle of wisdom is to call things by their correct name… Chinese proverb
How do you choose a good domain name? Why should you worry and worry so much about the dying process? Is “getting it right” really that important? Every day I hear business owners ponder this question. Over and over the mantra is “I need a good domain name, but all the good ones are busy!”
It can seem overwhelming to choose a domain name that captures your business brand, is optimized for local search, and is scalable for your growing and changing business needs. Does it have to be such a difficult process for such an important task? NOT! In fact, it’s a lot easier than you might think if you follow a few common sense tricks and traits and implement a little creativity in the process.
Basically, selecting a domain name requires using the following criteria:
It should be easy to write to avoid confusion.
Easy to pronounce / read
Free TLD .info or .biz that are hard to remember
Does not use hyphens, underscores, or periods between words and letters
Short so it’s easy to remember
You have no words that end with a letter that is also the first letter of the next word (i.e. firsttimeecommerce.com)
It is easily identifiable
If you have friends who are really good at games like Scrabble or Boggle or are champions at puzzle solving, it can be a useful exercise to help you with your site’s naming conventions. Keep in mind that when you create your domain name for your website, you are creating the one thing that has the most long-term impact on your final site traffic. Choose well! Whichever name you choose will reside not only on the web, but also on your business cards, letterheads, invoices, and any other PR material you decide to generate. It should be easy to give verbally on the phone and in conversation, so make sure it is easy to write and say intelligibly. Select a domain name that makes sense and is easy to remember.
In the days of strictly physical companies, your company naming depended heavily on originality. You had to make sure that your company name did not look anything like the competition in order for your company to stand out. It is not so different today! Now you want to make sure that your domain name communicates who and what it is about, is “branded” and also works as a strong email address. That way, you will be marketing even when you send emails.
According to Ries and Trout in their books, “Positioning: Your Mind’s Battle” and “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing”, domain name selection is a form of positioning. It is often the first point of contact consumers have with you and your marketing messages. It’s subliminally critical, according to Ries, to make a positive first contact with your target audience. Your name should convey specific information categorized from the consumer’s perspective. For example, when people search for auto repair shops, do they search under the word “auto” or “automotive”? Looking for a “dentist” or a “dentist”? Think like a consumer and how they will search for your business and how they will remember your name over and over again when selecting your domain name.
How do you make your name easily located, remembered and differentiated from the hundreds of thousands of others on the Internet? Differentiation is important, but the real goal is to attract the most potential customers to your site. By incorporating the right balance of keywords, geographic targeting, and brand, you can potentially dominate your market with just a little effort.
Keywords are the trigger words that local search engines use in combination with some other SEO tricks to get your site “ranked” in web directory listings. Keywords are similar to categories in that they are the words and phrases used by consumers searching for information on the Internet. Geographic targeting is a physical location associated with your business. Search engines know where you are, and through the IP address of the consumer you are using to search for a directory on the Internet, the Internet knows where they are geographically. Many Google searches will yield a search result that has a map with local listings followed by “normal” search engine listings related to the search phrases used. All businesses displayed in the map list are geographically relevant to the search. All of these things tie into the naming conventions that you use when creating your domain name. For example, if you own a The Pizza Palace in Seattle and sell gourmet pizzas, you should seriously consider selecting a domain name that incorporates keywords, geographic targeting, and branding elements: GourmetPizzaPalaceSeattle.com or Seattlegourmetpizzapalace.com
The name is somewhat alliterative (Pizza Palace) so it is easy to remember, it has a geographic target (Seattle) and keywords (Seattle, gourmet pizza, pizza). It is also not too long and easy to read. Trying to strike a balance when trying to incorporate these three elements when selecting a domain name is critical. As long as it’s catchy and memorable and strikes that balance, you can’t help but have a winner on your hands. The correct domain name is worth its weight in gold.
Now hurry up and buy your domain name before someone else does!
