If we talk about Internet, domain names are like the real estate of the internet. A domain name is like a backbone of a website. Hence, the better the domain name, the more good will a business web design do. It determines the success of a site. However, the question that troubles many is- How to identify a good domain name? In order to help you out, discussed below are some of the characteristics of a good domain name.
• First of all, a good domain name is short. Although there is no definite number of characters one should aim for, but you need to remember- the shorter, the better. This is the reason why all the three letter and four letter .com domains are already gone. In fact, the five letter ones are also disappearing fast. Always try to keep the domain name below 10 characters. Never let it exceed beyond 20. Also, remember that one-word domains are like gold, two word ones are good, three word domains are average. And does it even need to be told that above three is really a bad idea?
• Secondly good domain names are easy to remember. Most of the internet users do not make use of bookmarks. They simply memorize the domains of their preferred websites and type it when they want to visit. Now, if you have a very complex and hard to memorize domain name, you are bound to lose on visitors. A short domain name is useless if it is hard to remember. For example- apjcg.com is a short but hard to remember domain name.
• Good domain names are easy to spell. Image a scenario where your visitors lands on a different page just because your domain name was difficult to spell. Do not include foreign language words, words with difficult pronunciation, strange combination of letters or anything that may make the visitor misspell your domain name. For example- a domain name like tortillayvino may be difficult to spell for non-Spanish speakers.
• Good domain names have a .com extension. It is always the best way to go. Although organizations prefer to register a .org domain, but this is the most popular extension and quite well etched in people’s mind. When visitors come to a website via a search engine, they pay attention mostly to the name and not the URL. However, the next time they want to visit your site, they are more likely to type the name with .com extension. And if you are not there, they will land somewhere else.
• They are descriptive. Most of the visitors come via search engines. They come only if they find the domain appealing. If you have a descriptive domain name, it will give your visitors an idea of what your site is about even before they enter it. In fact, the presence of related keywords in the domain name also helps to improve your search engine rankings.
• They are brandable. A brandable domain name has a nice pronunciation, an interesting combination of letters. They make visitors associate the name with your website and its content. Even a non descriptive domain name can be brandable.
• They do not contain hyphens or numbers. Domain names with hyphens and numbers are cheaper. They suffer the same problem of domains not using a .com extension. Numbers can confuse people with the spelling. For example- people may type fivestar.com in place of 5star.com
These are some of the characteristics of a good domain name. Keep these in mind while you are looking for a good domain name for your website. These factors will definitely help you to find a good and suitable one. A good domain will further strengthen your custom web design.
(Have been liking our posts for a while? Subscribe now! We’ll make sure that you never miss an update.)
“Say, you got a nice blog article.Really thank you! Really Cool.”
Hi. Thank you for this great post. I searched this all day and finally I found it through your site. Also I’m a spanish teacher. Thanks again 🙂