A domain or website name is a pivotal part of your brand’s identity and it’s the portal through which your customers will interact with you online. It’s a decision not to be taken lightly, so we’ve put together some top tips to make the best pick.
Make It Distinctive
You want your website address to be memorable, distinctive and brandable. Some of the biggest brands out there use pretty much nonsense words, like Google, Hotmail, eBay, Netflix and YouTube. They work because they’re unique but simple, easy to pronounce and spell, and convenient to remember. You can try mixing real words with random nonsense suffixes, playing around with combinations.
But Keep It Simple
Keep your domain uncomplicated so that it’s not going to be too complex to spell or remember. Stick to words without numbers or punctuation, predictable spellings and nothing too lengthy.
Seek Inspiration
Try the dictionary, thesaurus or some online name generators to get a little inspiration. Before you settle on a domain, check the search engines to ensure nobody else has the same or similar so that you can legally own your choice.
A Relevant Domain Extension
When it comes to the domain name extension (TLD), .com is usually the way to go. It’s the obvious choice, being universally recognised and the first thing to happen automatically if you type a URL and hit enter. There are some exceptions to the rule, such as if you’re appealing to specific local markets, so you might want to consider .co.uk for the UK or .de for Germany, or even .org a for not-for-profit company. If you want something more original and distinctive, you could opt for a non-traditional extension like .xyz, .io or .store. You might be able to creatively work the extension into the domain title, taking something like Pink Store and making it www.pink.store. Browse some of the extensions that providers like https://www.names.co.uk/domain-names offer and see what you think most relevant.
Buy Up Other Domains & Extensions
Buying up similar domains is a tactic designed to fend off possible future competition and help in redirecting traffic to your site if people have mistakenly entered the wrong address. For instance, if your URL is healthyhome.com, you might want to buy healthyhomely.com, healthyhome.co.uk and so on. It adds to the expense but include misspellings of your domain to reduce lost users.