10 Tips To Keep In Mind When Registering A Domain Name

Posted in Domain Names, Starting Out by DB

So you’ve decided to register a domain name or planning to. Great !! There are tons of articles out there with tips on the do’s and don’ts of choosing a domain name.

Below is my checklist that I always keep in the back of my mind when I search for a domain name.

  1. Give more preference to brandable names vs keyword names.

    2. There used to be a time when keyword in your domain name was the way to go. Now it’s all about branding. A domain name does not have to be a dictionary word, misspellings are fine, a domain name does not even have to be from the English language. Anything goes as long as it is brandable.

  2. Keep it related to the content.

    3. No rocket science this one. If I’m going to build a website about cars, I’m gonna try my best to find a domain name that has some reference to automobiles. This, mind you is if I’m looking for a Keyword domain name.

  3. Make sure I get the .com extension.

    4. This is more of a personal preference. I always try to get the .com as I believe it is intrinsically more accepted and would save some marketing dollars in the long run.

  4. At the very least, register all the top level domain extensions.

    5. This would depend on the domain name and ofcourse the plan for the domain. If I am looking to protect an asset, I would register very similar domain names (only the .coms) and ignore the rest. But for the asset itself, I would definitely register all the available top level extensions.

  5. Avoid trademarked names.

    6. Simply not worth the trouble and the expense. Why build and market a domain when you can expect a trademark infringement suit in the near future.

  6. Must be easy to remember.

    7. Cant really say anything more …..

  7. Must be easy to spell.

    8. Good domain names are generally easily remembered and more importantly easy to spell. What’s the point in remembering a name if you cannot spell it. Also it is important to find a domain name where there is no ambiguity in the spelling or you would end up buying all possible variations adding to your initial cost. Case in point is truemors.com, Guy Kawasaki by his own admission spent in excess of a thousand dollars buying all possible variations of the domain name.

  8. Avoid combining more than 3 words.

    9. 3 words !!!, I was thinking more of 3 letters you might say. Good luck with that. Trust me, the market is crowded. You would be hard pressed finding a good single word domain. Again, keeping it to 3 words is a personal preference, while you have 63 letters (omitting the .com, .net etc) to choose from, the goal is to keep it short as possible to avoid the fat finger syndrome (typo errors)

  9. Avoid hyphens and numbers in the domain name.

    10. While there are certain perceived SEO benefits in the use of hyphens in a domain, it is best avoided. Can you imagine trying to market or even tell someone your domain that has hyphens in it. That would make interesting conversation. As far as numbers go, the only exception I have made to this rule is for domain names starting with ‘w3′.

  10. Give more preference to aged domain names vs new.

    11. Not a must have, simply has the added benefit of bypassing the Google sandbox or rules that prevent new domains from ranking. As a bonus, you could find that your aged domain has several backlinks already.

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