09/04/2013 20:16
Buying a domain name is no simple task. You may have to spend hours to find just the right domain name that is great. Before you register that domain name, make sure that it satisfies everything that is listed below.
1) Simple
Your domain name should obviously be simple and short. There is no point in going for long domain names when are thinking about setting up a brand. How many branded domain names have you see that contains more than three words in their domain name? Most well known brands wont even go beyond a single word. Google, Facebook, and Twitter among others are perfect examples of this. They always keep it simple and restricted to just a single word.
2) Memorable
When you start a branded website, you are not looking to gain new visitors alone. You need new visitors, but at the same time, you need returning visitors too. You need visitors who had already visited to visit your website again. A visitor may visit your website the first time. But he doesn't come back the next time, what's the point of such a visitor? To get returning visitors, you need to make sure that they are able to remember your domain name. You obviously need the domain name to be memorable.
3) Avoid Hyphens
You need to avoid hyphens in your domain name at all cost. Hyphens bring about an unprofessional conduct on to your domain name. A domain name with more than one hyphens is considered as a ground for people to get confused. They may get confused on the number of hyphens and may land on some other website. It may even be a website of one of your competitors. Hyphens break the typical flow of your visitors, and it should be avoided at all cost.
4) Usage of " My " and " The "
When you search for your domain name, there may arises situation where your domain name shall already be registered to some other party. Your domain name registrar shall then provide you with alternate choices like thebrandname.com or mybrandname.com or brandnamethe.com or brandnamemy.com. It shall not be limited to just the COM domain name extension. They may lure you with other domain name extensions like NET, ORG or even a country specific domain name extension.
But the question here is whether you should take such a domain name. In case your brand name do come with the " The ", then its recommended that you opt for such a domain name. When Facebook started, it was called the " The Facebook ", and it did use the same as its domain name. When it dropped the " The " from its brand name, it did the same thing with its domain name too. So unless the word " the " is already present in your brand name, avoid using such a domain name. Otherwise people may soon start to associate your brand name with such a phrase. It may not do well for your reputation and brand name. Hence avoid using such an approach when it comes to buying a domain name.
