5 Steps to Choosing the Best Domain Name

Choosing a good domain name is very important for your online business. Without the a good name, prospective visitors may have a hard time remembering what your domain is or misspell it. Each of these cases result in the loss of a visitor interested in what you have to offer for absolutely no good reason. The bright side is that if you follow a few simple tips you can be on your way to selecting a domain name that is easy to remember and bolsters your online presence.

.Com is King

The first rule you will want to remember is that .COM rules the web. Everyone thinks in terms of .com this and .com that. If you choose a .net or a .org you risk not being found. This concept becomes more and more important as your client base becomes less and less technically savvy. I personally know of people that thought .com is for web sites and .net is exclusively for email. In case you did not know, this is totally not the case! There are plenty of other users out there with the same lack of understanding. Cover yourself by having a .com. Take it a step further and buy a .net for only a few dollars extra. You want to do this in case your .com becomes very popular. You will not want to pay someone hundreds of dollars to get the .net they swooped in on after seeing you rise in popularity. You may also want to think about purchasing the .biz, .info, .tv, and other domain extensions to fully protect yourself. The main point is that you want to promote your .com upfront because that is the most likely extension to stick in peoples' heads.

Misspelling Spells Failure

Another aspect to be aware of is taking consideration of domain misspellings. HandsomeHair.com is an example where someone might type in handsomeHARE.com on accident. You do not want to lose this visitor due to this simple mistake. Register common misspellings to prevent this problem and to also keep profiteers from swooping in on your success.

Do Dash or Not to Dash, That is the Keyword Question

Some online businesses elect to purchase domains such as best-online-money-making-tips.com. In general, I do not like these that much if you are using it as your brand. I find them hard to type and hard to communicate orally. The logic behind picking a domain name like this is that search engines like Google will give you a ranking boost for having keywords in your domain name. Some people have reported seeing boosts while others report little to no effect. Instead, I recommend choosing a domain name that follows certain linguistic guidelines in order to get the most out of it.

Burn the Word into their Head

There are a few ways you increase the chance that a person will remember your domain name. Your two new best friends rhyme schemes and alliteration. The best brands in the world use these techniques. One of the most valuable brands today is CocaCola. Is it no surprise that both of the techniques are present in the name?

• Coca
• Cola

They do not rhyme exactly due to the letter L, but they are close enough to be catchy and easily remembered.

The next part is the repetitive use of constants (also known a consonance (alliteration). Here is a breakdown of the name:

(C)o(c)a(C)ola.

The next part is assonance. This is a form of alliteration using the repetition of vowels:

C(o)c[a] C(o)l[a]

Two things are going on here. You have two different vowels being repeated: the "o" and the "a". For whatever reason, human brains respond to this sort of repetition of sounds. This is one of those reasons why some names just sound "good" and others do not. Here are a few other names use these tactics well:

• Krispy Kreme
• Blackberry
• Palm Pilot

Some companies may not use these tactics when choosing their name. That is perfectly fine as different situations require different solutions. The last linguistic tactic you will want to be aware of is using words that are simply powerful, significant, and attention grabbing. Here are a few examples:

• IgorA branding and naming company.
• CenturionA software company that protects your PC from viruses.
• MagellanCompany that produces GPS units to help you navigate the world.

Putting It All Together

You have been primed with some good foundational information to help you choose your domain name (or even a company name). When you get down to choosing your name, you will want to brainstorm as many different names as you can. After you find some names you like, you will want to test them. The worst way you can test them is to simply ask people if they like them. That gives you no objective data. The better way to go about it is to make a numerous copies of your list and give it to different people. Have them choose the one they think is most memorable. Ask them which one they think represents your company best. After you have received this information, follow up with these people again in a couple of days and see which names they actually remember!