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Choosing the right domain name for your website is vital to your success. Suppose you pick the wrong domain name;, you may find it challenging to switch it later on without hurting your brand and search rankings.
For this reason, selecting the right domain name from the get-go is important. When starting a new business, it can be challenging to come up with captivating business name ideas that form perfect domain names.
If you’re a business owner putting up your first website, this blog will help you learn how to check domains and select an ideal one for your website. It’s not a complicated process, but it involves making sound decisions based on what you hope to achieve.
List What You're Trying to Accomplish
The first step is to consider a name for your website. It may or may not be the same as your business or organization’s name. Picking the proper domain name is one of the most vital and long-term decisions you’ll make for your business and brand, as it serves as your business’s identity.
Names hold immense power, which is as true for domain names as anything else. Therefore, choosing a domain name should be a careful process that urges one to look at every angle before settling for a winner. Here is an outline of the best practices to heed when choosing a domain name:
- Include at least one keyword that represents your business: There are several ways to start generating ideas for your domain name. One of which is to base your website’s domain name on your name or business’s name. You can also try keywords based on the products or services you offer. A key ingredient for a good domain name is a relevant and strong keyword, and a keyword-rich domain name will ensure that your site ranks higher in search engine results.
- Use a domain generator to search for viable options: Once you have a couple of domain name ideas or keywords, putting them in a domain name generator can help you come up with ideas for the right domain name.
- Choose your domain name based on a simple criterion: Ensure that you pick a domain name that is short and simple, unique and memorable, and voice search-friendly.
If your business or organization name is too long, hard to spell or remember, then you might want to go with an easier name.
Choose a Few Names
There are two strategies for selecting a domain name for your website. They are:
- Brandable domain names: are often picked for their imaginative and catchy qualities. They typically don’t incorporate any descriptive keywords or inform searchers about the nature of the business. Apple is an example of one company that uses a brandable domain name. While Apple doesn’t sell apples, its name is recognizable globally.
- Descriptive brand names: are chosen because of their keywords. Descriptive domain names explain what your business does or offers, and they make it easier for searchers who already know what they want to identify you and what you offer. Some examples of descriptive domains are company names such as Investopedia and Mailboxes—these names provide an intuitive explanation of what those businesses offer.
After selecting a few names from using the above strategies, shorten the list and check which name(s) best represents your business. Picking the right name can help get your business in front of your target audience with much ease. That is why understanding the above strategies can help speed up the process of promoting your business.
Check Domain Availability
To check if a domain is available, just use the NameSilo domain search page, and you’ll find out immediately if someone already owns it. Suppose the name is taken, you can search for the domain name owner using WHOIS Lookup to inquire about purchasing the domain from them. Alternatively, you can check out what other domain names are available.
Should You Buy Up All the Popular Extensions?
Your domain extension is the part of your domain name that comes after the final dot. For instance, .com. The domain extension you opt to use will depend on the organization you’re running and which domain name extensions you’re looking at.
Recently, most individuals, businesses, and organizations have adopted domain parking. What is domain parking? Fundamentally, it’s a legitimate technique through which domain name owners earn revenue from their unused domain names. In the concept of domain parking, the “parking lot” serves as the homepage. Upon acquiring a given domain name, they modify it and place ads on it instead of creating a landing page with specific content.
This way, domain owners can create revenue from the number of visitors and clicks generated from the ads. Suppose you register a catchy domain, you can then buy up all the popular extensions, park the domain, place ads on the landing page, and thereby establish an automated revenue generation system in a matter of hours. In short, suppose you own a domain that you are currently not using; parking it can be an excellent way of making it pay for itself. Additionally, if you choose your domains correctly, you can gain excellent returns from them.
That said, owning all the obvious extensions makes sense as it can generate income, eliminate confusion, and allow you to own the messaging of a particular domain name. Decide which extensions you would like to own and add them to your domain “shopping list.”
Get Started on NameSilo
NameSilo prides itself on providing one of the most affordable everyday domain prices available on the internet. Regardless of whether your portfolio has 1 or 1,000,000 domains, registering and managing them is a quick, clean, easy process.
NameSilo also provides SSL, website builder, hosting, email, Premium DNS for a one-stop-shop! Whether you are a small business owner, reseller, domainer, or website designer, check out our reseller and affiliate programs. With our discount program and enhanced security options, we can help you grow your business. For any questions or feedback, you can contact us. We are here to help 24/7 with our world-class support team.