What makes a good domain name? Choosing the best website name is one of the most important first steps to getting your business online, so here are a few things to consider before you begin:
1. Think about the bit after the dot – the suffix
This is one of the biggest and most important decisions you’ll make so consider it carefully.
The most popular…
.com is the most popular and most recognised domain suffix in the world. Many people automatically type it to find what they are looking for so if your domain name is available in a .com, it’s a great idea to grab it! Even if you don’t want to use it as your main suffix, you can always set it up to forward to the domain of your choice.
How many .coms are registered?
Verisign, the registry of all .com and .net domains, announced that in the 3rd quarter of 2019 there was a whopping 144million .com domain names registered and 13.4 million .net domains registered worldwide. Read the Verisign 2019 report to find out more.
The local suffix…
If your target market is your local area or the country you live in, choosing your local country code domain is the ideal option. For example, if you live in the UK you could choose a .co.uk or .uk domain name, or in Germany you could choose a .de or in Ireland you could go for a .ie. Check out the whole range of country code domain names. By choosing your local domain suffix your visitors will feel at home and it also helps build credibility and trust in your business.
How many .co.uk domains are registered?
Nominet, the .co.uk and .uk domain registry, reported that by the end of December 2019, there were 9,497,458 .co.uk domains and 3,549,140 .uk domains registered. In December alone, 96,018 of those were new .co.uk registrations and 11,192 were new .uk registrations. For more information, read Nominet’s reports and statistics.
New domain extensions…
If you’d prefer a more descriptive domain extension, there are hundreds to choose from for example .football, .online, .photography, .party and .ninja. There are even geo-location domains like .berlin and .london. Its easy to showcase your business or project, so whether you’re a lawyer, a yoga teacher, you sell diamonds or love dogs – there is definitely a suffix for you. Why not dive in and explore now?
2. Check for spelling issues
Here are a few examples of some innocent mistakes made when registering a domain name – what do you see when you read these?
- Thenewstalkers.suffix – The news talkers or The new stalkers?
- Speedofart.suffix – We don’t see Speed of Art at first glance…
- Choosespain.suffix – Chooses pain?
- Childrenswear.suffix – Children swear?
It’s easy to get so focused on finding a good name that you may not notice spelling mishaps so it’s always worth asking a friend to have a look before you register your domain name.
3. Consider your email address
Before you register a long domain name, think about your email address. Is it going to be easy for customers to remember if you call it out over the phone? Is it difficult to spell? If you register a domain like mygorgeousblackdress.suffix, would it also be worth considering registering mgbd.suffix so you have the option of a shorter email address?
4. Is it a memorable name?
If your visitors can recall your domain name, they will often type it directly into the search bar and go straight to your website. This is a big win for you as they don’t see any of your competitors along the way!
Ready to find your ideal domain name? Use our handy domain search below to get started!
