In a conversation I recently had, I found myself in a discussion on what's the best method to use when chosing your domain name for your new website. What rapidly became apparent is that there were two distinct issues being debated - naming and branding your website, and search engine optimization (SEO).
So, as you concentrate on chosing your domain I've got a couple thoughts to give. I have discussed previously in other blog posts that you've got to think through what it is that you're making an attempt to do with your website. Is it a blog? Is it an ecommerce store? Is it a new company site? As you build your ideas on how you want to build your website your ideas concerning how to name it should become clearer.
Bear in mind that this is the place where the those who live in the internet world will come to find your business. You would like it to communicate the culture and professionalism of your organization. There's nothing wrong at all with having a laid-back casual site if that is the way in which you or your company operate. Remember that when you're printing your business cards the internet site address will be on there and it has to be consistent with who you are.
Creative or Generic?
Now, that being said, I suggest that domain names are related to your company. I don't like generic. To me, it says, "not creative" and I do not believe it does you or your blog/business any good to pile yourself in with all those who also chose not to be creative. So be imaginative when chosing your domain and make it reflect your character - search engine optimization comes later and is a completely different story.
Long or short?
Long domains are just a pain to type in to a browser, so keep it short, but understandable and where it can make sense. If your company is known as "Emerald Coast Outfitters" then a domain that is EmeraldCoastOutfitters.com is perfectly fine because it's descriptive and is simply spelled. However if you're Johann Sebastian Bonhoeffer, I might suggest finding something that's more user friendly like JohannOnline.com. You may also want to use more popular possessive pronouns - my, or our or a definite article (the) as a prefix to your name.
To hyphen or not to hyphen - that is the question...
Don't use hyphens if you do not have to. Why? Simply put , they're hard to remember, clumsy to verbalize and are awkward. I've met a few folk who have used them, and they've regretted ever registering domains with dashes. They are difficult to type, "John DASH Smith DASH Services...." and people will tend to forget them when they're attempting to find you via direct url input, and could quite possibly send them someplace else which you do NOT want to do.
.COM?
Ultimately, if you can get the .com for your preferred name - do it NOW! Do not pass go, don't collect $200. If that fails, grab the .net version, and/or the dot .us version. There are countless top-level domains, but these are among the most popular and notable. I personally don't care for .info, .cc or .biz names and I think that employing a little creativeness you'll be able to find a top-level domain name that's available.
About the Author:
Rob Orr is a pro 1 that creates web sites that totally rock. He does small company website hosting for blog owners, small enterprises, entrepreneurs, e-business merchants and more at Orracle Hosting and does a podcast for site managers on all things web.
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