Websites names (often called domains or web addresses) are the easiest way of getting people to your site. Memorable and descriptive names are not only memorable, but help your search engine listings too.
There are some basic guidelines which you should consider when choosing a domain. Using these guidelines and also seeing what names are available is a great way to create your shortlist.
Long Vs Short
There is no right or wrong, but think about websites you remember and most will be business names, brand names or product descriptions. Abbreviations are ok, but sometimes hard to remember. For example, UnderWaterBasketWeaving.com is much easier to remember than uwbw.com because the name perfectly describes the service. Where possible it is best to register the business or product name, unless the initials create an easy to remember acronym.
Keywords
Keywords are words which identify your websites content, so if your business offers an Under Water Basket Weaving service, these are all keywords. The company infact may be called 'Billys Baskets' but he will do much better with the search engines if he includes more keywords in his domain. it also increases the chance of people 'guessing' the website address when looking for such a service. It is usually reccommended that atleast 1 keyword is in your domain.
Spellings
Some words can be spelt differently on different parts of the globe (eg. Color and Colour). In such a situation consider your primary audience. Alternitivly order both domains. If your website name has a common missspelling, you might want to register that name too, it will increase the chance of people finding your site...
TLD's
A TLD (Top Level Domain) is the .com / .net / .co.uk element of your domain. This is very important to consider. If possible why not order many different TLD's of the same domain and point them all at the same site. TLD's might be country specific (eg. .fr for France, .co.uk for United Kingdom), consider your target audience.
.com - Companies (global audience)
.net - Network Suppliers (global audience)
.org - Organisations (gloabal audience)
.co.uk - United Kingdom Content
.name - Personal Websites (global)
.eu - European Websites
Some TLD's can only be registerred by certain people / organisations. However often you can register the TLD's above for any reason. Note though, if you have a .com you are potentially stating that your site's content is relative to an international audience.
Trademarks
If you have trademarks, buy the domains now! Even if they are not used you should make the small investment.
On the same note, avoid using other peoples trademarks. if you were to register microsoftwebdesign.com you can expect problems when Mr gates and his lawyers find out. It is best to avoid other trademarks where possible, you are asking for trouble, and risk confusing your visitors.
Own Your Domain
Ok so this sounds obvious, but if you are using a designer or a design service, make sure they register the domain in YOUR NAME. So many designers cut corners and register domains in their name (usually to save time) and then one day you need to change something and you are denied access. or worst - your business becomes hugely successful and they claim ownership (rightfully) and you are forced to buy the domain from them. Not everyone on the planet are as wonderful as Floppynet - be aware!
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