When picking out your domain name today you must consider several things to get it right. Your domain name is a reflection of you, your business, and what you want to amplify to the world. Learn how to find the best domain name for your blog or business.
It isn’t something you should do without a little research. It is the foundation of your website or blog.
Choosing Your Domain Name
There are many things that come into play with choosing a name for your blog or website. It’s not only how the name sounds but will it survive with the billions of other domain names out there? As of last year, there were over 359,000,000 domain names registered. Imagine your website’s name is just one of over 359+ million names.
Here are some tips on picking a domain name, choosing a reputable hosting company for your site, and more technical things to consider:
1. Choose The Best Domain Name That Reflects You
Your domain name is your website’s unique address on the internet. It’s how your visitors will find you, and it’s an important part of your brand. So it’s important to choose a domain name that reflects you and your business.
The name should be simple and easy to remember so that your visitors can easily find you again. And it should be catchy so that they’ll remember you when they need your products or services.
So take some time to choose a domain name that reflects who you are and what you do. It’s an important part of building a successful website.
2. Pick a Domain Name Provider That Will Offer You Great Services and More
You want to be sure your domain name provider will offer you 24/7 support and other services too. I cannot stress enough how important this is! Imagine your domain expires and you received no warning. You want a company that will be around and that communicates with you.
When you do set up your domain name most companies will ask how you want to be reminded. Pick an email address you will not dissolve in the coming years.
Reminders are extremely important as you could lose your domain name if you don’t set up a reminder to renew it. Of course, if you pick a good hosting company they should be sending you plenty of emails to remind you and keeps your site up and running!
3. Find a Name That Had Great SEO Juice
If you find a domain name that was in use before and is now for sale check to be sure its ranking and authority are good or very good.
This step will be very helpful with the SEO efforts of your new website or blog.
If this is a new website try to use a keyword in your name too. (Wish I knew that one when I started here at Inspire to Thrive.)
4. Keep Your Name Short
People do not want to remember a long name today. Keep it short and simple. That makes it easy for them to remember your site and easily get back to anytime and from any device.
A longer name is harder to remember and harder to find online if one does a search.
5. Register A New Domain For Several Years – Google Will Love You For It
This step in getting a domain name is often overlooked. The longer you register your domain name the more Google will love you for it. They will know you are here to stay online.
You will be considered a fly-by-night website or blog if you only register for one year.
The longer you register your domain name the more Google will love you for it. #seotip
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6. Get a .Com First and Add Other Web Extensions
There are a lot of domain name extensions to choose from (.com, .net, .org, etc.), but .com is still the most popular and most recognizable. That said, if you’re targeting a specific country or audience, you may want to consider a different extension. For example, .co.uk is popular in the United Kingdom, and .com.au is popular in Australia.
When it comes to choosing a domain name, shorter is better. A long domain name with hyphens or numbers is going to be hard for people to remember, so try to keep it short and sweet. And make sure it’s easy to spell!
You don’t want people to get frustrated and give up trying to find your site.
7. Purchase The Best Hosting For Your Money
You get what you pay for is so true with purchasing a hosting company for a domain name. Cheap is not always the best. When I first started out I used a cheap reseller on the other side of the country.
I needed help but this person was not available 24/7. My site was down for days. No more, use a reputable hosting company that is available 24/7.
Today I use the most expensive one here to keep up with the blog’s traffic.
8. Consider Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting is a great way to ensure your site is never down. You may need extra space. You never know if your blog may become the most popular blog overnight and you will need that extra space for the servers to keep up with your increased web traffic.
Some cloud hosting companies include your choice of industry-leading control panels like VestaCP and cPanel. Most cloud hosting services offer 99.9 uptime. In today’s fast-paced world you don’t want your site down period. A 99.9% guarantee is awesome to have from a cloud hosting company.
9. Have A Service To Check Your Server Downtime
I’ve used Pingdom Service for years (for free) and they email me if my server ever goes down. Since I’ve been with a reputable company I’ve rarely had my site go down.
Again you can set it up so that they send you reports daily or hourly. If you are selling products you may want the hourly report.
Domain Name Conclusion
Once you have a domain name with a great hosting service you’ll be on your way to being found online today in the competitive marketplace. That is the foundation on which you are ready to build your successful blog or website.
There are many domain names out there that are not active websites. Some people like to park them until they are ready to use.
A bonus tip is to secure your full name if it is not already taken. Some people purchase their kids’ names for a domain name when they are born. It’s really something to consider today!
And if you change your name via a divorce, etc. here’s a guide on what you’ll need to consider and do.
Your Turn
I’d love to know in the comments if you know how to find your domain name and if you would pick another one today.
Have you reserved your full name as a domain name?