Choosing the right domain name

If your name is Darth Vader then buying the domain name darthvader.com is probably a good move. Buying evilsithlord.com isn’t so clever. It’s not because it’s a bad domain name, it’s because you are stuck with a domain name that no longer reflectes who you are. There will be those SEO experts who tell you to make sure your keywords are in the domain name but what happens if your business changes or evolves.

Arkansas-dog-walkers.com might have been a good name last year but if you now do pet sitting it’s not such a good choice.

So here’s some thoughts on choosing a decent domain name.

Be yourself

Buy a domian name that matches your name or the name of your business.  Sounds really obvious but so many people loose sight of the branding opportunities a simple domain name can have. A name or business that is easy to remember is also easy to search for using a search engine. You can put it on your stationery, the side of your car and so on. People will remember hank-catflap.com but they may struggle with patagonia-hair-nails-and- beauty.com.

The other big advantage of a simple business domain name is that you can re-invent yourself and keep the same domain name. Unless of course your business name  is Marseille Electric Shaver Repairs. But nobody would limit themselves so much would they.

Be generic

Amazon. Maceys. Tesco. Arrmani. Chanel. All very generic brand names that don’t limit themselves to a single business area.  Basildon Taxis pigeonholes the business and doesn’t associate them with Coaches or Valeting or other business opportunities. So buy a domain name that is bland and generic but very memorable.

The other advantage to a generic or made up name is that you can use it for whatever you like. You can change your trade, your business model or your products and still use the same domain name. There is  no point in being known as thewheeliebincleaner.com if you are now washing windows.

As suggested above, buying your own name as a domain can be a good long term investment.

Keep it simple

Mississippi-one might sound like a great name but try to spell it out over the phone to someone. There are people out there who don’t know what a hyphen is, will use a numeral instead of the word and lets not even try to get them to spell Mississippi right.

I made a mistake when I brought this domain, I have to be very careful with pronunciation to get them to spell it right. But I’m now stuck with it so don’t do as I do, just do as I say.

Of course you can get it wrong with even simple domain names.  Here are some examples.

Don’t try to be funny

Yes OK a pun can be funny for about a nanosecond or a quirky name might look cute  to your family but do you really think poodle-pimping.com is going to be taken seriously. Or ‘Pain in the Glass’. Ho ho. Not. The problem is that what you think it funny, cute or zany everyone else may think is just plain weird.  If you go for plain and boring then you won’t offend anyone and not feel embarrassed when you tell people you run the ‘fat-beaters’ diet club. If you want to use your punning skills then save it for your marketing.

Make sure you own the thing

I posted about this many years ago and the advice is still valid.  Buy it yourself. Don’t allow your website developer of anyone else register the domain name for you.  If you do, their name may end up above the door not yours.

Some will advise that you to buy every possible variant of your domain name: the .com .net. org .me .tel and the versions for your own country. If you are that worried about branding then go ahead but it’s really not necessary. If your potential clients and customers are that thick they can’t work out which site is yours then do you really want their business?  If I do a Google search for a business name I can easily see which one I need. I’m not likely to visit the Chinese site (.cn)  if the business is in New Zealand (.co.nz).

Don’t worry about SEO

For a short while using keywords in your domain name had a ranking benefit. Everyone and their dog jumped on the SEO bandwagon and brought loads of EMDs (exact match domains). Google and the other search engines soon got wind of this and tweaked their ranking machines to reduce the benefit. So if an SEO expert says you need keywords on your domain name ask them for evidence.

A quick google search for EMD SEO myth will turn up a whole bunch of articles suggesting it’s a load of codswallop.