Picking a good domain name is one of the first steps of getting your website found on the Internet.
Here are some tips to help you pick the right one.
Don’t pay too much at the beginning
You can buy domain names from a registrar for less than $20.
I currently recommend buying from Namecheap and then transferring to Cloudflare before the 1 year renewal date.
Once you have a domain you can create unlimited subdomains for free.
Examples of subdomains..
shop.mynewdomain.com
www.mynewdomain.com
mail.mynewdomain.com
stage.mynewdomain.com
whatever.mynewdomain.com
Get the .COM version of your domain (if you can)
.COM is the most popular domain extension and will be the default that someones types in when they try to guess your domain name.
If you can’t get a domain with .COM, that’s okay.
What you really need is just a domain that looks good on a business card or a billboard.
Choose one that’s easy to remember and easy to spell.
Namecheap has a domain name generator tool that will let you put in some keywords and then it creates a list of domains that are available.
You can buy multiple versions of your domain name and forward them to just one of those domain names.
But just know that having multiple domains for your website will not help you get to the top of search results.
It’s just a way to protect yourself from others buying those domains and putting websites on them that confuse people.
What really matters is your brand
Can someone type your brand name into Google and find you?
If people can’t remember your domain name, they will search for you.
Having a bunch of keywords in your domain name will not help you get to the top of search results.
It’s better to have your website content set up with good SEO so that Google knows to send people to your site when they search for your brand.
Hyphens can help (and hurt)
Use hyphens if your name is confusing with all the words together.
expertsexchange.com (nope)
experts-exchange.com (better)
Don’t use hyphens if you’re trying to trick Google.
the-best-place-to-buy-what-you-are-looking-for.com
Google can see right through this and will not send people to your site.
Keep your private information private
When you buy a domain name your contact information is made public to the world through a WHOIS record.
Some registrars let you pay to make that information private.
Namecheap offers privacy for free.
Just know that whoever has their contact information on the WHOIS record or with the registrar that’s keeping it private is the one who owns the domain name.
If it’s not yours, then you don’t own the domain name.