How To Choose A Great Domain Name for Your Blog

How To Choose a Great Domain Name

If you jumped on the Internet in the early days (before 2000), chances are good that you managed to get a really great domain name that describes what your business is about. It may even includes some of the key search terms your prospects might type into Google to find your website. Awesome!

If you’re starting a new business today, however, you might find it a lot harder to snag a really great domain name that fits your needs because the domains you’re considering are simply no longer available.

Here Are Our Top 7 Tips for Choosing a Great Domain Name:

1. Use InstantDomainSearch.com to find a domain name so your search won’t be ‘recorded’.  This is important, because there are some mean people out there who will snag the domains you’re interested in and then try to sell them back to you at an inflated price.  Annoying, but avoidable.
2. Try to get a domain name that’s easy to remember and simple to spell.  And example of this might be connectupmarketing.com, or PayPal.com or Yahoo.com or fishingpolesalaska.com – you can find lots of examples of this.
3. Use a domain name that describes what you do.  www.TheVibrantCrafter.com gives you an idea of what that website is about.  Other examples are treesurgeonasheville.com, waynesvilleacupuncture.com, or exteriorlightingasheville.com.  Location-specific domain names are great if you serve a specific area.
4. Confusing domain names are a waste of time.  BofA.com is only meaningful because that institution has a bazillion dollars to spend on advertising and has been around for decades, so they are well-known. If you don’t have those kinds of resources then you need to name your business – and your domain – intuitively, so that people have a chance to guess at what you do.  www.yourchesscoach.com is a perfect example.
5. Get a ‘dot com’ (.com) domain name whenever possible.  A .com domain will inspire confidence and credibility like no other ‘dot anything’ will.
6. Don’t use hyphens or any other special characters in your domain name. It just confuses the issue.
7. Keep your domain name short and sweet. Again, you want people to remember your business name and your website address.

We highly recommend that before you make a decision about your new business name, get some serious advice about choosing a good business and domain name from an internet marketing professional.  It will probably be worth whatever you pay a consultant or coach to get your business name right to begin with.

If you’re having trouble choosing a great domain name, comment below and we’ll give you some feedback. Happy domain-hunting!

Hugs,

Mandy (and Wayne says “Hi”)

P.S. If you’ve already picked out a domain name and now you’re looking for a really great hosting company, we’ve been using the same company for ourselves and our clients for over 10 years.  Click on the ad below to get really great pricing.  (Disclosure – we have an affiliate relationship with GoDaddy – because GoDaddy has awesomely helpful support 24/7!)