Nowadays more and more users and small businesses make the decision to make themselves known to the world thanks to the creation of a website or online store. One of the most important tasks is the purchase of the domain name. Although it may seem simple, it can be a really complex task. In this article we reveal the best way to acquire a domain and certain tricks to decide your name.
When we start with a new online project, one of the most important factors and decisions is the purchase of your web domain. Although it seems a very simple task, it really is not, since you have to make a series of very important decisions.
One of these decisions is to choose the domain name. It is not advisable to choose the first one that comes to mind, you have to think calmly and assess the pros and cons of the name we have thought.
We have to ask ourselves if that name defines who we are, and what we want to sell or make known. Keep in mind that the name is part of the image of our image and our business.
Why is it important to choose a domain name?
In addition to the above, when we are going to register and buy a domain, it is very important to consider the following factors:
- Analyze the name we choose, as this will be associated with our business for many years. Although web domains are usually contracted from year to year, it is very difficult that once we have a year with him, we decide to change the name of it, since many customers will know us by that name.
- Positioning: Depending on the name chosen, we have to know that search engines can position us better or worse.
- It will be our identity on the internet, and so you will know us by it. To think that we have to be careful with the union of different words and also their pronunciation and meaning worldwide.
- Determine what type of audience the website will be directed to use specific words or names in the domain name.
It is for all these reasons that, when we are thinking what domain name to buy, we have to ask ourselves the following questions:
- Is the domain name I have thought directed and defines my business and customers?
- Who is the web aimed at?
- It is a business?
- Is it a personal website?
- Is the website of a known brand or is it a brand that has to be known?
- What will be the purpose of our website?
- Will it have publicity?
- How am I going to differentiate myself from other websites?
All these questions are basic questions that we have to ask ourselves if we want to correctly choose the name of our web domain. If it is a known brand, we will surely have much easier to choose the name of the web domain, however, if it is a new website to launch, it will cost us much more to choose the correct name.
Several examples that can serve us are, for example, if we want to set up a caravan sales shop, a good name could be with this name you can see that we identify the business, it is easy to position in search engines, and simple of finding. Someone who sees or looks for caravans, will know that this business is caravan.
Another example could be that we want to make a personal website. In these cases it is best to register the domain using the name by which we want to be known. We have to keep in mind that, if one day we want to sell our website, it will be much more difficult if it has a personal name. For this reason, it is always better to choose a name that has nothing to do with our real name.
One issue that we have to keep in mind is that, once the name has been chosen, it may be the case that it is busy. In these cases, many users usually add a hyphen, numbers or special characters. It is highly recommended to avoid doing this, as it can cause a search engine penalty when it appears, and also makes it difficult to memorize the domain name.
If you see this situation, it is always better to try to find another name or try another TLD, always using the “.com, .es, .net” as the main ones. If all of those are busy, then better look for another name that defines our website.
Different possibilities
Once we have made the final decision of what name we are going to register we have different options that we can do:
- Register a new domain with the chosen name.
- Register a domain of a trademark.
- Register a domain that contains several words to use them in search engine positioning.
- Buy an existing domain.
- Buy a domain of a trademark.
If we are thinking of registering or buying a domain of a trademark, this can be an excellent solution in terms of customer searches in search engines, since it is easier for a customer to search for a brand name than a generic name. This is known as registering a web domain betting on branding.
This also has disadvantages, the first is that if it is not a known brand, the name of the website will not provide information on what products or services it offers. The second drawback is that it requires more time and money invested in being able to position the brand well in search engines and make it known.
Domain names using keywords
For cases where the brand name is not known and we cannot invest time and money in positioning, the best solution is to opt for a domain known as “exact match domain” which consists of registering a domain using the keywords in the same, so that search engines get better results thanks to their own name. A simple example of this would be where you can see that the name already indicates the type of business it is.
This is why, if we opt for this type of domains, the first thing we have to do is keep in mind what words we should include in the name to make a proper SEO positioning. One trick would be to use terms linked to what we offer, as we have seen in the previous domain name.
These types of domains formed by keywords are very useful to publicize our business in a simple and concrete way. However, more and more such domain names are used. Due to the increase in competition, it is increasingly difficult to position oneself.
In this type of domain names, not everything will be advantages, and it presents a series of drawbacks that we will see below:
- If we choose the name of a very specific domain, linked to a very specific activity, it can be a big problem if one day we decide to change business or expand it to another type of business that does not match the domain name.
- It can take credibility away from the business, since, if one day the name does not match what we offer, it can generate distrust with users.
In summary
When registering a domain, and we will not tire of repeating it, it is very important to be clear and have reviewed the following issues:
- The domain name has to be easy to memorize: if we choose a long name or with rare characters it will be more difficult for visitors to remember the name and therefore access.
- The domain name has to be easy to pronounce: if we choose a name that is difficult to pronounce, it will be more difficult for users to talk about our website.
- The domain name has to be easy to read: if we choose a hard-to-read name, users will not share the website with others, not knowing how to read it.
- The name of the domain has to identify us with what we offer: this is undoubtedly one of the most important points, it is useless to choose a good domain complying with the previous points, if it turns out that the name has nothing to do with what we offer on the website.
- Do not use hyphens, double consonants, abbreviations, or special characters.
- To choose a suitable TLD, it is preferable to use a “.com” or a “.es”.
- It is very important that you register the domain with your authentic data, since in case of any problem they will be necessary.
- Do not use names or trademarks, you may have legal problems.
Keep in mind that unlike what happens with people, on websites, the first impression is key, because if you do not like what they see, they will go to other competing websites. As you can see, these tips are very simple to follow and will help you find the best domain name that best suits your needs.
