How To Choose a Domain Name

Before you can take your business online, you must first choose a domain name. There are a number of factors that go into picking the perfect domain name for your website. Here are some things to consider:

Should You Pick a Branded or a Keyword Rich Domain Name?

When it comes to picking a domain name, you basically have three choices: a generic name made up of keywords (ie PhiladelphiaRealEstate.com), a branded name (ie Google.com), or an obscurely branded name like del.icio.us. (If you haven’t heard of http://del.icio.us, it’s a website where you can store your bookmarks for others to see.) In most cases, you’ll probably go with either a generic or a branded name, though if you come up with something creative, perhaps the third type is right for you.

There are several advantages to generic keyword domains. They tell people what your site is about and are easy to remember. They can also help you in search engines because they contain the keywords you’d like to rank for, so people link back to your site using those keywords.

Many real estate agents use their name (like JaneDoeRealEstate.com) to brand their website so that their customers will easily find their website when they search for their name. This is great for people who are already familiar with you but not so good for prospects who may have a difficult time remembering your name.

That said, registering a domain is relatively cheap at about $10 per year through GoDaddy.com, so I’d recommend you register two domain names - one that is keyword rich and one that uses your name (or your company’s).

Should You Choose a .Com Suffix?

If your preferred domain name is available as a .com, then that should be your first choice. Dotcom domain names have been around the longest, so people naturally assume that your domain will end in a .com unless you heavily promote it otherwise. Also, in many browsers, if you type in a word (like “Yahoo”) and leave off a suffix the browser will assume you meant to add the .com and go there.

That said, sometimes it’s not possible to register the .com domain name you have your heart set on. I suggest that you brainstorm for similar keywords, plurals, or word combinations before you give up on it - often, you’ll find something that will work almost as well. For instance, if your company is named Acme but www.acme.com is already taken, try other combinations like www.acmerealestate.com or www.acmerealtycorp.com. I’d advise against using hyphens like www.acme-real-estate.com unless you absolutely have to because people are less likely to remember hyphenated domains than non-hyphenated domains.

If a competitor already has registered the .com domain name, you should probably consider coming up with a different name rather than registering the .net domain. Otherwise, you’ll inadvertently drive a lot of your traffic to their website. On the other hand, if you believe they are violating your trademark, you may want to check out the ICANN dispute-resolution policy.

Finally, if you want the domain badly enough, you can always perform a whois search to learn the contact information of the domain’s owner, contact them, and make an offer.

Should You Choose a Long or Short Domain Name?

You can register domain names up to 67 characters long, but that doesn’t mean that is a good idea. As of March 2006, all the 2 and 3 character domain names and almost 80% of 4 character domain names have been taken, so if you were looking to register your initials, you’re out of luck.

As a general rule of thumb, words (PhillyRealEstate.com) are easier to remember than alphanumeric strings I think words are much easier to remember than random alphanumeric strings (8fw5.com). Shorter names are generally easier to remember than longer names. That said, pick a domain you like, makes sense for your business, and is easy to remember.

Registering Your Domain Name

How do you find out if your domain name is available? Fortunately, domain name registrars make it pretty easy to do research. A domain name registrar is a company that is accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to sell internet domains. Examples include GoDaddy.com (who I use, though their registration process is a bit tedious. If you use them, check out a a step by step tutorial I wrote on on how to register a domain name with GoDaddy), NetworkSolutions.com, and Register.com.