Choose a Domain Name Wisely

When choosing the name for your website, you need to give some thought to it. Your website is your product. What you choose to name it is it’s brand name. As with real, tangible products, the name is supremely important. When choosing a site name, it should meet the following criteria:

• The domain name should be as short as possible
• It should be catchy and memorable
• It should be spelled correctly
• It should be able to be advertised by word-of-mouth
• It should be created with SEO (search engine optimization) in mind

The length of your domain name is important, because readers want to reach your site as quickly as possible.  SeeMomSave.com is quicker to type than SeeMomSaveMoneyOnGroceriesAndOtherThings.com.   Your domain name should be as short and to the point as you can make it. Of course, with the huge number of websites on the web, “good” domain names can be hard to come by.  Most single-word domain names have been taken.  Make a list of all of the words your site will be about, and then find ways to use or combine a few of those words to create your domain name.

Make your domain name catchy, so that your readers will remember it.  Online, you can’t rely on catchy jingles to make your domain name stick with your readers, so you need to rely on catchy wording.

Spell all of your words correctly.  I can’t stress how important this is.   First of all, you want your readers to be able to remember how to spell your site’s name, so that they can tell their friends about it.   If your domain name is OldeTymeGames.com, you’ll have your readers sending friends to all variety of spelling variations (OldTime, OldeThyme, etc.).   Also, you want your readers to be able to convey the name of your site to their friends verbally.  You don’t want your readers having to tell their friends, “It’s OldeTymeGames, but the ‘Old” is spelled with an ‘E,” and ‘Time’ is spelled with a ‘Y.’”   Not only is this difficult for the reader to convey, but chances are the person they tell will forget how to spell it by the time they get to their computer.

Your domain name should hint at what your site is about.  Remember that before your readers can find  your site, the search engines must find it first.  Search engines don’t have brains, and aren’t able to understand irony or cuteness.  Search bots only understand clear, direct wording.  If you have an idea about giving your site a “symbolic” sort of name, you should go back and give it some more thought.  If the words “Gold Dress” is your way of trying to convey, “This site is about making money, which is what the word ‘gold’ symbolizes,” then you might be on the wrong track.   Search engines and targeted ads might mistake your site for a blog about parties or nightlife.  SEO and search engines aside, you also want your readers to know, at first glance, what your site is about.   Like the title of a book, let them know without a doubt, what your brand is all about.

Ready to purchase your domain name?  Go there now.