10 Things To Keep In Mind While Picking A Domain Name


If you’re planning to start your own e-commerce business, a unique and attractive domain name for your website is among the first things that you need to think through. A unique domain name can easily set you apart from the competition.

Enter your keywords and hit go. The slick online tool comes up with a list of the available names. They show you some detailed results - along with relevant information about the domains that are available for you to pick.

This is just an example of how e-commerce stores configured with a provider like Shopify could use their free online domain name generator to help launch quicker and consolidate all purchases to a single partner. Although the tools are great in the kind of options and suggestions that they give, they still need inputs from you. So how do you go about picking a domain name? Here are some of the important things to keep in mind:

Easy And Catchy

Products that tend to stick around for longer in the consumer's memory are the ones that are easy to remember, one of the basics of branding. Make sure that your domain name doesn’t have more than two or three words. Also, it is better to ensure that there are no confusing phonetics in the name.

Readability

It is also important to make sure that the name doesn’t sound too strange, or has a hidden, alternative meaning. Share the name with friends and family and ask them what they think about it when they first read or hear it. Note their comments down and work on them to create a better name.

Use Keywords

Your domain name should not only contribute to the branding of your business but also be able to describe or indicate what you have on offer. Does your domain name include the core keyword related to your business? For example, if you’re planning to sell pet products, include ‘pets’ in your domain name. An added benefit of this is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

Avoid Numbers And Special Characters

Adding numbers or characters like hyphens only adds to the complexity of your domain name. The idea is to simplify. In these cases, there are chances for potential customers to confuse the number 7 with the word seven or include the hyphen in the wrong position, making it difficult for them to find your website.

Name For The Future

Trends change frequently and so can the popularity of some domain names. Which is why you need to think of a good domain name that can stick with your brand for a long time. If you plan to stick to selling products under a single category, then consider a category-driven name for those products. However, if you plan on expanding into further product categories in the future, it's a good idea not to have a restrictive domain name.

Domain Name Extensions

The few letters that attach to the end of your domain name can cause a big difference in the popularity of your website, both through memory recall and SEO. In the early days, there were only a few extensions like .com, .net, and .org. But today you can find many different extensions that can possibly describe your business better. However, as people are more accustomed to using the .com, try to ensure you get this for your website in the first place.

Relevance

Everyone wants their domain names to pop up on the top few results of search engine pages. In case you have a domain name that doesn't directly indicate what your business really does, you will have to perform basic search engine optimization for it to show up in the relevant results. Posts on social media and visual branding of your website and business also helps increasing the chances of discovery by increasing relevance.

Check The Availability Of Your Domain Name

Most times it’s possible that the domain name you thought of has already been taken by another business. To avoid this, make a list of some good domain names for your website. After this, check whether these are available for you to use. You can do so with a domain lookup or also using a domain name generator.

Grab It Quick

Domain names tend to sell out quickly. Whenever you see that a domain name you like is available, ensure you buy it immediately. If you push this for later, it is possible that it may become unavailable or be a lot more expensive to buy at that time.

Protect Your Brand

To avoid copyright and trademark issues, make sure you buy some additional domain names for your websites with different extensions and incorrect spellings. This way, your customers can be redirected to your e-store even if they misspell the domain name. Safeguard your brand in the long term and save it from being 'hijacked' by anyone else.

These are the bare basics that you need to be mindful about before you get a domain name for your website.