Welcome to episode 4 of the Maximum Web Success podcast. In this episode we’ll be discussing the importance of choosing the right domain name for your website or blog, and the key points you should consider BEFORE choosing the perfect name.
Stick around….
Thanks everyone for joining me today for episode #4 of the MWS podcast.
But before we dive in, make sure you hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss out on the daily podcast episodes when they drop, and of course, if there is anything you’d like me to discuss on the show, drop me a line at chrisbourke.com/podcast
As someone that has built countless websites for businesses here in Australia and around the world, as well as many for my own businesses, over the years I have been able to gauge the success of a site and the impact the right domain name has had on that business. I have also bought and sold a number of domain names myself which has been a quite lucrative venture, which we’ll talk about in an upcoming episode of the MWS podcast.
Today on the show we are talking about choosing the right domain name.
Choosing the right domain name will often play a major role in determining how successful your site and blog might be, so it’s important to take some time to research this before you make any decisions on what that perfect match should look like for your business or personal project.
There are a number of primary factors that you need to think about when choosing the domain name, and we’re going to go through each of these today, so that hopefully you’ll grab the right name to start a successful online business.
These days there are plenty of new domain extensions to choose from, including country specific (.uk) and those that are very descriptive about what you offer.
Choosing the right domain name is a decision that needs to be made with care – it’s not just for how your business will look online, but also because of its impact on SEO too.
Many business owners don’t take this into consideration seriously enough when choosing their business name. Many just assume that if they have registered or trademarked the business name, that the domain name relating to that business will be available exclusively to them! This is not the case.
It can be confusing and frustrating knowing what to choose if your ideal domain name, particularly if your ideal domain name is not available, so I always recommended before registering your business to check the domain name, and social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and possibly even TikTok are available. It’s very easy to check if your domain name of choice is available or not online before you go ahead and register it, so that you don’t waste time checking every other extension for availability. There are over 600 possible domain extensions, which would obviously take a lot of checking.
Extensions like .shop or .pizza might sound great if that is the business you are in, however think about the last time you saw one of these random extensions appear on the Google., and most likely you’ll say NEVER!
And that is because they just don’t have the same value to Google as a .com domain name does, and also, most people are more familiar with the .com domains.
.Com domain names are short for ‘commercial’ and this means that they are designed to rank well for business. There are also other top level domain names, such as .net, which are for networks, or .org, for organisations, tend not to fare as well either.
My advice would be to always stick to a .com domain name, or if you are only planning on having a more localised service just for your country, than select the appropriate commercial extension for your region. Here in Australia that would be a .com.au domain name.
Dot Com Domains are also much easier to remember, and many less tech-savvy users will just automatically type .com at the end of a domain name without even considering other options.
Dot com domains have many advantages – they are well-established, and still the most credible domain extension, and that is unlikely to change any time soon .
Therefore, with a .com domain name you will always be ahead of the game.
Also consider that for those using a Smartphone to find you will often use the .com button as a shortcut.
Where possible, try and keep your domain name short.
It’s not always easy finding good short domain names these days that suit your business or blog, however it is worth the effort to try and ensure your domain name is under 15 characters, as longer domain names can be harder for users to remember, and adding them to marketing material could be a tight squeeze.
In addition to that, the longer the domain name the more prone it is to spelling errors.
It is not as important to have a keyword rich domain name as much as it once used to be, as these days a site is more likely to rank for the value of its content, not the domain name itself.
However saying that, keywords can still play an important role sometimes as it helps tell the search engines about your website, and when combined with the quality content it can assist with faster ranking time.
Now, you may find it quite hard to find a good domain name that contains your target keywords that is not already taken or in use, but there are other options available to finding a great domain name.
If a domain you really want is not available, check to see if it currently being used. You can also check the historical use of the domain name by visiting Waybackmachine.com and then click on previous activity of the site to view screenshots of major activity on the site. If the domain appear to have been sitting idle for some time you can also try contacting the owner of that domain name and see if they are willing to sell it or trade for another one.
I actually recommend to anyone purchasing a domain name that they review the history of the domain name this way, and also bu google searching it. You want to be sure that the domain has not have any past bad reputation with it that could bring a case of mistaken identify to your business.
You can also try websites like drop.com or dan.com to search out pre-owned domain names which can also be a benefit as they are aged domain names. Providing they have been used in a similar niche as yours, you may find you already have that initial authority value from the previous site owner, so that when you upload your new site, it may rank much quicker than starting out with a brand new domain name.
If you can’t find that ideal domain name, maybe its time to get creative!
Try brainstorming a keyword and then append words onto it in order to make that domain name unique. For instance, if your niche was animal rescue or dog training for example, you may consider alternative domains such as “dogtrainingschoolsnearme” or “animalrescuewebsite”. These are just examples of course.
Combine a few keywords together to create a brand new word. If Google can do it, so can you!.
But before doing this, if you are planning on using it as a business name, I highly recommend first checking with the IP Trademark websites and business registrars to make sure someone else isn’t already trading with it.
If you have created a new unique name, I would recommend then trademarking it as soon as possible to secure it. In Australia a 10 year trademark only costs around $250, and well worth it for piece of mind. You don’t want someone else coming in and forcing you to give up your business and domain name!
An additional quick tip on selecting the domain name, is try and not choose something too generic, which might not be trademark-able. I encountered this issue myself with a domain name I have owned for almost two decades and tried to trademark it to use on a directory website. The trademark was rejected as the words were too common!
So ensuring your domain name is easy to pronounce and spell, and is also brandable are essential if you are using it for a business venture.
If people can’t pronounce it easily it won’t be memorable and you will lose the word of mouth value from it.
Never use a hyphen in a domain name
I have known many business owners that in desperation to try and find a domain name that suits their current business name, they have settled on a domain with a hyphen between it. This is something you definitely should avoid, as hyphen domains are often used by spammers, so you may automatically end up on many email spam filters. It also makes your domain longer, and more prone to typos.
And you’ll find the shorter domain without the hyphen that might be similar to your domain will rank higher than you, causing confusion for users.
We often see well known companies, such as JustJeans that don’t sell ‘only jeans’. If you didn’t know the brand well you would not even consider shopping there unless you were only looking for jeans.
Don’t choose a domain name that locks you into one particular service area if you have a vision for possibly expanding beyond your initial sector or location. Consider brands like Apple or Amazon for example. They could be selling anything as they just use a word as their brand name. If for instance Apple were still Apple Computers, it could be much harder for them to sell their Apple TV or Smartphones.
So if possible try and plan a 5 year or even 10 year plan before choosing your domain name, and consider where your business might be positioned later on, and try and find the right domain name that will suit that direction.
The most important take away from todays podcast is be patient and do the research when finding the right domain name.
It is easy to get excited starting a new website or business, and frustrating when you can’t find the one that suits, but hang in there and don’t rush it. It could take hours, even days or months to settle on the domain name. Ask friends for their input and ideas as well.
Eventually you’ll find the right domain name that will be perfect for your business.
You can also download my handy domain name checklist and other helpful resources and links online at www.chrisbourke.com/podcast
I hope to share more helpful tips with you on the next show, when we talk about the importance of branding your business and website, so make sure you hit that subscribe button to be notified when it drops, and if you find value in the Maximum Web Success Podcast or even just one single episode, please share with your friends.
