How to Select a Domain Name for Your New Business | LSEO Digital Marketing Services

• Updated on: 2017-09-13
• Read original article here

As Shakespeare said, “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Yet I often think of Marlow Stanfield’s character onThe Wirewho made the phrase “My name is my name” infamous. In a highly competitive online marketplace, your name is all the separates you from the noise.

Your domain name should be viewed as a long term investment, as it will establish your online identity for years to come. Having a recognizable domain name will also open up a major direct traffic source for your website.

Picking the right domain name is a strategic marketing investment that will affect your online brand’s presence and ultimately your bottom line. Unfortunately, picking a domain name isn’t as easy as picking a new username.

If you’re stuck trying to create a new domain name for your website, don’t just purchase one that’s for sale. If the name you are trying to acquire has been purchased from a reseller and they are charging a premium price, it’s best to see what other options you have before you cash out on a big ticket purchase.

A premium domain name might be that perfect name for your business but it doesn’t mean you should pay the suggested asking price. Kick the tires for a bit. Our domain name,lseo.com, was a premium domain name. Our CEO, Kris Jones, negotiated with the reseller and got it for a much more reasonable price than what the initial asking price was by the reseller.

In today’s age, a domain name is the keystone to your branding. Sure, a domain can be relatively inexpensive, if it’s available and not being sold at a premium price, but think about how much you might be spending in SEO to get that domain authority (DA) to where it needs to be.

You can recreate a website, marketing collateral, etc., but you can’t recreate your domain name if it expires. Also, keep in mind that if it does expire, your email that’s attached to that domain name will go down as well, which will bring your business to a grinding halt.

Most of the time your registrar will hold that domain for you for a period of time, but might charge you some significant fees to reclaim it or, worse yet, someone might snatch your domain and try to sell it back to you for an absurd amount of money, if at all.

Always know when your domain name is coming up for expiration and, if possible, try to keep all of your domains under one roof to make the managing of your portfolio much easier.

Brandable means memorable. A domain name should be similar or relevant to your brand or business. By creating a memorable domain name, your name will differentiate itself from the competition and make your website easier to find.

A brandable domain name should not include keyword stuffing, abbreviations, numbers, or hyphens. You don’t want your domain name to be trapped in a box by inserting niche specific keywords in it. If a website with the word “recipies” in it was looking to include car services on their site, it would be difficult to get people to associate that website with maintaining vehicles.

A brandable domain name should also be unique. A generic domain name won’t differentiate your website from the competition. It would be a marketing nightmare to promote a website that even sounded vaguely similar to another brand. This could also represent an ethical violation, which can spiral into legal issues.

Once you do reach a new domain name, it’s key to research its availability. You have to wonder how many domain names and brand names have run intomultiple discovery.

A domain name should be as short and as concise as possible. Make sure you use simple phrases that won’t be misspelled during a direct search. This could result in a huge traffic drop off.

Expanding on this notion, a domain name should also be easily recited. One survey found that 74% of customers stated thatword-of-mouth advertisingprimarily influences their purchasing decision. This will also be the anchor text other publications use to cite your business.

Keep your domain name to a short character count and avoid strings of words. There’s no reason to include modifiers in your domain name as this will just make your domain name difficult to type in a web browser.

Avoid combining adjectives with nouns, such as TechnoSEO.com or something along those lines. While you want your domain name to be catchy, seek clarity first. 

Including keywords in your domain name no longer serves any SEO purpose and could potentially pigeonhole your website from expansion. It’s still important to conduct keyword research to discover what users are looking for. You could also use broad match keyword ideas to formulate a relevant domain name that will communicate the content and objectives or your business.

While you could take advantage of your brand name, smaller businesses will benefit from initially using broad match keywords for their domain name until they scale or go through aredesign.