The Dos and Don'ts of Selecting a Domain Name

No business can achieve commercial success until it has its own website. Consumers no longer turn to their high streets and city centers in search of products and services. The average person’s first instinct upon developing a need is to use the internet. Search engines make it possible for people to find millions of products with a single search. The first step in building a website is selecting a domain name. However, selecting a domain name can be challenging. If you have never had to before, this post has you covered. In it, you will learn the dos and don’ts of selecting one.

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The Dos

Educating yourself about the dos of selecting a domain name can make your search for one much easier. It’ll also help you to get value for money. Some domain names can be very expensive. If you know what makes a good domain, you can hopefully get one without spending a fortune. Whether you choose to purchase a domain from the cheapest Singapore domain provider or from somewhere else, make sure the domain you get is relevant to your niche and catchy. Here are some dos you need to know about:

Research Competitors

The first thing you need to do if you want to start a website is research your industry competitors. It’s important for you to know who your competitors are and what their websites are called. If you do not know what their websites are called, you could end up choosing a name that’s similar. Choosing a domain name that’s similar to a competing website’s domain name is one of the worst things that you can do. Not only will it confuse customers, but it could actually get you into legal trouble.

Insert Keywords

A good way to ensure that your site’s domain name is memorable and easy to market is to insert a keyword into it. Keywords are words or phrases that are used to describe the content on a business’s website. They are often search terms used by consumers to find products or services in a specific niche. Inserting a keyword into your domain name can make customers’ lives much easier because it will be obvious what your site is offering. Any ambiguity about what your site does can reduce sales.

Catchy Name

A catchy name is very important. Nobody is going to want to do business with you if your domain name is not memorable or catchy. Unfortunately, most people are not creative enough to come up with a catchy domain name themselves. If you are a business owner and need a memorable domain name, you might want to consider enlisting the help of a consultancy firm. Consultancy firms are available all over the internet and make it easy for business owners to come up with catchy domain names. Ensure that if you do hire one, you hire one with good reviews.

Ensure Availability

Availability is something you need to check before you select a domain name. A lot of people devote hours of their time to thinking up domain names, and then end up choosing ones that have been taken. When they go to buy them, they realize they are unavailable. This can be very disheartening. Come up with a list of domain names, then check to see if they are available. Mark the ones that are available with an asterisk, then add them all to a second document. You can then go through this second document and choose one that stands out to you more than the others do.

The Don’ts

Knowing what the don’ts of choosing a domain name are can help you to avoid making mistakes. When you know what they are, you can watch out for and avoid them. There are many don’ts beyond those mentioned here, though. Conduct extensive research elsewhere to find out what the rest are. If you do end up working with a consultancy service, they will be able to help you choose a domain name and avoid making mistakes. Here are some of the don’ts that you need to know about and watch out for:

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Rushing Selection

The first thing you need to know about is rushing selection. You need to avoid doing this. Make sure that you devote lots of time to choosing a domain name. Your site’s name is going to stick with it for the entire time it’s live and your business is open. It’s therefore just as important as your business’s name. You need to make sure you choose one that’s relevant to your business and attracts customers.

Lengthy Name

Try to avoid choosing a lengthy name. A name that’s too long can be confusing and hard to remember. Your website’s name needs to be one that consumers can easily recall whenever they want to visit your store and buy your products or services. If your site’s name is too long for them to remember, they are going to have to use an internet search to find you when they want to work with you, which means they could end up finding and working with rival businesses that have a higher search engine ranking than your store.

Infringing Trademarks

Earlier in this post, reference was made to the undeniable fact that prior to selecting a domain name, you need to make sure it bears no similarities to the domain names of any rival businesses. If you choose a domain name that’s the same as or similar to somebody else’s domain, you could get into a lot of trouble and could end up infringing a trademark. Infringing a trademark could lead to a lawsuit.

Limiting Growth

Finally, make sure the domain name you choose doesn’t limit your business’s growth. You need to make sure that the name you choose isn’t specific to one type of product. For example, if you want to sell shoes, you shouldn’t specify that your store sells one type of shoe, because this prevents you from being able to sell others in the future.

When it comes to selecting a domain name, you need to make sure you do your research and learn about the do’s and don’ts. Learning the do’s and the don’ts can help you to avoid making mistakes. Give consideration to the points made here so you can choose a good name for your site.

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