ABOUT DOMAIN NAMES

A domain name is your website's address and it's what leads people to your site, whereas the universal resource locator, or URL, includes more specific information, like the location of documents or pages on your website.

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Choosing the right domain name is an important factor to your business, although choice maybe limited and you may not be able to have your first choice if someone else has already grabbed it.  You may find if you grow and sell apples www.apple.com is no longer available.

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If required I will guide and help you select the best available domain name for your business and your new affordable, low cost website.

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This to bear in mind...

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1. USE THE RIGHT DOMAIN NAME EXTENSION

When you choose your domain name extension, you can be sure of one thing, ".com" is still the best.

 

According to research from W3Techs, over 50% of all domains have the .com extension. 

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Why? Well ".com" is the most familiar and easiest to remember.

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While there are many successful websites with a ".net" and ".org", your website will probably so better if it has a ".com" extension, it's the safest bet.

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My advice is to go with .com, if that's taken try and rework the domain name, consider what else would work, if you can't make that change then try a .net, .org or .co.uk

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2. BRANDABLE OVER GENERIC

Creative and brandable are always better than generic.

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A brandable domain name is unique and stands out from the competition, while a generic domain name is usually stuffed with keywords and unmemorable.

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Look at Healthinsurance.net and Newhealthinsurance.com, these are generic. They don't have any meaning. You won't hear anyone talking about how awesome "insurance.com" is. Variations of the word "insurance" will increase the competition and make is blend even more.

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Sites like Unitedhealthcareonline.com stand out because they stand for something, when people hear their domain names there's a trust factor.

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Take the main keywords for my website, affordable, low cost, websites. But my domain name doesn't contain affordable or low cost as the market will be swamped with these, I have instead chosen a domain name the contains a trust element by using my name.

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Remember: Your domain name is how your visitors will find, remember and share your company on the web. It is the foundation of your brand and you should take time to decide on the right domain name for your new affordable, low cost website.

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3. SHORT IS BETTER THAN LONG

In general, when it comes to the length of your domain, shorter is better.

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According to research from DataGenetics.com, a blog by Nick Berry, the most common name length is approximately 12 characters. (Popularity, in this case, refers to the amount of web traffic the site receives)

 

All of this data shows that you should keep your domain name concise. Aim for 6 - 14 character, but remember the shorter the better. If you can;t make is short make it brandable!

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4. MAKE SURE ITS EASY TO TYPE

Think of some of the most popular websites in the world, what comes to mind.

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Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Instagram...

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One big thing they have in common is that they're all easy to spell.

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Your visitors should be able to type your domain name without a problem. If you have to explain the spelling more than once for it to be understood, its too complicated!

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The last thing you want is for the potential visitors to mistype your domain and end up on a different website instead of your new affordable, low cost website.

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Here's an easy way to test this...

Tell 10 people your potential domain name and ask them to spell it. If more than a few people struggle to spell it, you need to simplify it.

 

5. MAKE SURE ITS EASY TO PRONOUNCE

As easily as your domain name rolls of the tips of your fingers, it should roll off the tip of your tongue.

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This makes it easier for visitors to share your domain name by word-of-mouth and makes it easier for you to share your site with friends and potential customers.

 

You can test this the same way as with the "spelling".

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Write your domain name on a piece of paper and ask 10 people to pronounce it. If more than a few people struggle to pronounce it, you should simplify it.

Here's what to keep in mind. You want your domain name to be passed along easily by you and others. The only way to that to be possible is if it's 1) easy to spell and 2) easy to pronounce. 

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6. AVOID HYPHENS AND NUMBERS

As discussed, your domain name should be easy to spell and pronounce, hyphens and numbers make it more difficult.

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Think about explaining Facebook if it had a hyphen in there.  "Have you seen that new site Face-book, by the way there's a hyphen between the Face and the Book"

 

Facebook might not have spread so quickly if that was the case.

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The bottom line is, your domain name should be smooth and punchy, hyphens and numbers get in the way of that.

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