Having a website is an important part of many businesses. A good online presence can boost your sales, get you more clients, and help spread your message around. There are, however, many different aspects that go into making a website work for you. Many businesses focus on their design and hosting, but not enough pay attention to how to choose a domain name for their website. A poor domain name could seriously harm your website’s SEO score, reducing your online presence instead of boosting it.
How to Choose a Domain Name
Choosing a domain name should be the first step you take when creating a website. After all, you’ll want to design your images and other visual elements around your domain name to maintain brand integrity. Here’s what you need to consider when picking out a domain name.
Keyword Usage
When people are looking for your business, they aren’t always going to be looking up your exact business name. The best way to get new customers or clients is to incorporate at least one, if not more, keywords related to your website in your domain name. Not only does this help new users find your website, but it also prevents uninterested users from accidentally stumbling into your site.
For example, take a dental office. When someone searches for a dentist, they’ll likely search for something like ‘dental office near me.’ The search algorithm will look for content and domain names that match those keywords. Therefore, if you have a domain name like ‘NYdentaloffice.com,’ you’re more likely to show up at the top of their search list. However, if you have a domain name like ‘teetharecool.com’ or something wild like ‘librariesforme.com,’ you aren’t going to find new customers as easily.
User-Friendly
The domain name ‘bestdentaloffice-intheareanearyou.com’ may come up more often in search results, but it’s not a very user-friendly domain. For starters, it’s much too long. Users who are looking specifically for your company prefer domain names that are shorter and easier to remember. It’s also important to try and make your domain name voice-search friendly. Special characters such as hyphens and numbers don’t always pick up on voice searches as often. Make sure your domain is easy to say so that someone searching with Alexa or Siri can still get to your website.
Availability
There’s nothing worse than settling on a good domain name only to find it’s already been taken. If you’re having trouble finding a domain name that you can use, input your keywords into a domain name generator. While this will often give you a list of domains already taken, it can also help you discover new ways to think about your domain, and you may even find a good one that’s still available.
When you’re ready to take your business to the next level and improve your online presence, you need to know how to choose a domain name. The right domain name can boost your business and help you find new clients and customers. So make sure you use the right keywords, keep it short and sweet, and find a unique domain ready for use.