How to pick a great Domain name

Domain names are the backbone of any website. They are the key to how users visit your site, and they should tell them what to expect when they see you popping up in search results. Getting your domain name wrong could have a serious impact on your visibility, so make sure to get a good one. Use these tips to pick a domain name that will inspire clicks!

Do what you say on the tin

Your domain name should be easily identifiable and connected to your business. In fact, there are very few circumstances in which your domain name should not simply be your business name written all as one word, and they are the following:

• When your business name is long and complicated
• When your business name is hard to spell
• When your business name is already taken as a domain
• When you are not running a business, but rather an individual site about a certain topic, such as a blog
• When you can get access to a top domain name which says exactly what you do, for example, eggs.co.za if you sell eggs

For the first three options, if you are newly-established, you might want to give serious thought to changing your business name to something that fits!

Generally speaking, if someone wants to visit your site, they should be able to simply write out your business name and then add .com or so on to the end.

Keep it short

A long domain name is not an attractive prospect. Potential customers will be put off at the idea of having to type it all in letter by letter, so you aren’t as likely to get direct traffic from people who say a TV advert, saw you in person or picked up your business card. Yes, they won’t form the bulk of your traffic anyway, but you still want those warm leads to be able to find you.

A long domain name is also hard to remember. If you picked the name jonesballbearingsandmachinerysupplies.co.za, then wow, what a lot to take in! Customers will be sitting in front of their computers, wondering: “Was it Jones ball bearings and building supplies? Jones machinery supplies? Jones ball machinery bearings? What was that name?”

Again, it’s just not going to win you any direct traffic.

Make sure it’s free

One of the most important aspects of the domain that you choose is that it is actually available. Whenever you think of a name you would like to consider, it’s a good idea to use a domain checker tool to search for it to see if it has been taken. If it has, then you can take it out of consideration and forget about it. There’s no use in narrowing your choices down over the course of hours only to discover that your top pick is taken.

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A great domain name is memorable, easy to type, and tells users what to expect. If you don’t do what you say on the tin, consider changing to something more suitable.