When preparing to launch your brand new website, one of the first things you have to consider is your website's domain name. What's a domain name? Glad you asked.
Your website's domain name is the sequence of words that you type into your browser's URL to navigate to a desired web address.
As easy as it might sound to select a domain that reflects your business's name, it's not always as simple as that. With the thousands of website that have popped up over the last decade or so since the '90s Internet boom, unique domain names are becoming more and more scarce.
To make the job of selecting that all-important domain name, check out these handy tips!
You don't want to overwhelm your customers right off the bat with a long and confusing domain name. Make sure to keep it short, but concise, and use abbreviations where appropriate. For example, www.pscnewyork.com looks much better than www.petsupplycompanynewyork.com.
Customers are also more likely to remember your website domain if it's short. Long domain names mean more words for customers to remember, and more chances that they'll navigate somewhere else out of frustration when trying to find your site.
You also have to consider your brand when constructing a domain name. Are you going to have your logo abbreviated on all of your branding material? If not, shortening your domain name might not be the best option.
Keep in mind that your domain name is what people are going to associate with your brand, so make it something relevant!
Keywords can be utilized in your domain name as well. By using keywords, you'll clue your customers in on your website's purpose, and also what kinds of services you offer.
Using keywords also helps your rankings in search engines. For example, if you use the domain name www.glassrepairnow.com, people who are searching “glass repair" in Google are more likely to find your website because of your keywords. Always keep your keywords relevant to your business.
Along with keeping your domain name short, you also need to make it easy to type. Avoid using strange symbols or numbers in your domain name, as these can confuse customers and prevent them from successfully visiting your site. If you tell a customer your website is “five crazy sisters dot com," they have no way of knowing if the five should be spelled out, or if the number symbol for five needs to be used.
Also avoid using hyphens to separate words in your domain. Even though this might make your domain easier to read, it's also an unnecessary option, and should only be used as a last resort.
If you're having trouble deciding on the proper domain name, there are a couple of helpful tools available that make it easy to grab a relevant name. Check out these two sites:
Remember these simple tips, and you'll be on your way to managing the perfect website for your business in no time!
Contributor Caleb Hennington is a 23-year-old writer, who manages the Atwill Media and FGmarket blogs. He graduated from Arkansas State University in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in journalism.
When not writing, Caleb enjoys camping, running, collecting comic books, and binge-watching shows on Netflix.
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