10 Tips for Selecting a Domain Name

So you’ve decided to get serious by promoting your business with a website?

Domain name registrations are made on a first come first served basis so before you even think about your website it’s worth registering a domain name to secure it for the future.

As well as building your brand with a good domain name, search engines tend to give weight to keywords in a domain name. This increases the importance of considering some SEO strategies when selecting a good domain to promote your business. Google values keywords within a domain name when ranking your business in search engine results.

The key in selecting a domain name is to arrive at the best medium between branding your domain and choosing for SEO alone. To help you, I’ve come up with my top 10 tips:

1. When coming up with your name, start by listing as many words that relate to your preferred domain name or to the content of your website and industry.
2. Take your chosen keyword search term for your industry and add another word, for example AlertTaxis, FlightCentre, CheekyMonkeyHosting, MuffinBreak, WarehouseStationery, BurgerKing, etc. These words have excellent SEO rankability because people must use the keyword search term when linking to your domain name. You’ve also managed to retain an element of unique branding in the process!
3. It’s a good idea to choose a name that reflects your site or business. This will make it easier for people to remember and also to find you.
4. Brainstorm and come up with several options, as your first choice may not always be available. You can check on the availability of any domain name by carrying out a WHOIS search or by visiting a domain name registrar.
5. Avoid the use of hyphens in your domain name (or no more than one if you really have to) as they have no branding value.
6. Choose something descriptive – you want it to describe exactly what you do and relate it to the core of your business.
7. Make it something memorable.
8. Try and keep it short if possible, not too hard to spell and easy to pronounce on the phone!
9. Use a popular domain extension and one that suits your market. For example, .com for international, .co.nz for New Zealand.
10. Remember to always check your spelling before completing any registration!