Thinking up a great domain name is easy. Of course, with the nearly 275 million existing domain names, finding one that hasn’t already been taken … well, that’s a lot harder. But good domain names are still out there. It just takes a little time and effort to find the right one.

In this first half of a two part article on finding your domain name, we’ll cover eight basic tips for selecting your perfect (or reasonably close to perfect) domain name.

Stick With .com
Whenever possible, choose a .com extension. There’s nothing wrong with a .net, .org, or other top level domain. However, there’s a lot more right with a .com extension. When someone hears your domain name, if they forget the extension, they’re automatically going to try adding .com to the name when they get home. Take advantage of that tendency.

Make it Easy to Type
If your business name is hard to spell, you might try an easier to spell version of the name. For example, if Jayne Mansfield had a website, she might want to go with JaneMansfield.com instead of or, better yet, in addition to JayneMansfield.com. For your website, consider registering all alternate spellings of your domain name.

Make it Easy to Remember
[Nike Domain Name Just Do It] As W.C. Fields said, “It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.” Or how you’re known. A well known slogan or catch phrase might make a better domain name (or, again, an additional domain name) for your business. Even though they have plenty of brand name recognition, Nike registered JustDoIt.com in addition to their regular Nike.com domain name. Actor Michael J. Fox might be known as Mike to family and friends, but to the world he’s Michael J. Fox and, therefore, his domain is MichaelJFox.com.

Shorter is Better
As of 2013, all of the four letter domain names were gone. The three letter domains were taken over a decade before. But that’s no reason to use the full sixty-three characters available in your domain name. Stick to fewer than four words and under twenty characters if at all possible.

Check for Appropriateness
Read, re-read, and have friends read your website to make sure no hidden messages exist in the name. Imagine your surprise if your domain for exchanging information with experts, www.ExpertsExcchange.com, turned out to also promote very knowledgeable gender transformations: www.ExpertSexChange.com.

Don’t Use Texting Slang
While texting slang can definitely keep your domain name short - following the tip above - it makes for a confusing mess that’s hard to remember for most people.

Build Your Brand
The most important tip is to keep your brand in mind and continue to build it. With every advertisement someone reads, every web search someone performs, and every email you send, you’re building your brand with a custom domain name.

The Quick Takeaway
Finding a great domain name can be challenging but it can also be rewarding and a lot of fun. Follow these tips and you’ll be well on your way to your own great domain.


Drop your comments below:

We love to hear from you, we are willing to answer any of your questions.

Nice write up... FTC... Hehehe.. Feels so good.. ... I need a job tho...

and .gov

Ok

Abduletudaye:
Nicr

Since you said nice, kindly give me the summary.

Thanks for d Info but sincerely everyone seems to know this tips.

irunoobo:
[size=18pt]KILONJE DOMAIN NAME[/size]

bere lowo google...

irunoobo:
[size=18pt]KILONJE DOMAIN NAME[/size]

irunoobo:
[size=18pt]KILONJE DOMAIN NAME[/size]

Is it a MUST to comment

Nice one. Well those are mainly for domain developers. For domain flippers, you need to read the whole google about domain, u need to check its markatability potential, you need to .....

mzlizabelle:


Since you said nice, kindly give me the summary.

You dont have to copy. Just make your domain name short and unique.

Good… Seriously planning to go into this business

nice article, additionally domaining is another great avenue to make money online. there's a lot of money in the domain industry like domain parking, domain buying and selling and domain renting. october last year ebola.com was sold for a whooping $200,000 by it's owner. and come to think of it domain name cost just less than $10 to register. to learn more about making money with domain names go to www.julanky.com You're welcome

Very informative write up, this are the types of articles we need.....not those about a celebrity eating garri or those absurd front page topics

nice

Good one for the IT novice

Nice... Learnt something today

Iyke,I will be glad to talk to u in camera.Could u give me your BBM?

iykepromotions:
nice article, additionally domaining is another great avenue to make money online. there's a lot of money in the domain industry like domain parking, domain buying and selling and domain renting. october last year ebola.com was sold for a whooping $200,000 by it's owner. and come to think of it domain name cost just less than $10 to register. to learn more about making money with domain names go to www.julanky.com You're welcome

SpringWebHost:
Thinking up a great domain name is easy. Of course, with the nearly 275 million existing domain names, finding one that hasn’t already been taken … well, that’s a lot harder. But good domain names are still out there. It just takes a little time and effort to find the right one.

In this first half of a two part article on finding your domain name, we’ll cover eight basic tips for selecting your perfect (or reasonably close to perfect) domain name.

Stick With .com
Whenever possible, choose a .com extension. There’s nothing wrong with a .net, .org, or other top level domain. However, there’s a lot more right with a .com extension. When someone hears your domain name, if they forget the extension, they’re automatically going to try adding .com to the name when they get home. Take advantage of that tendency.

Make it Easy to Type
If your business name is hard to spell, you might try an easier to spell version of the name. For example, if Jayne Mansfield had a website, she might want to go with JaneMansfield.com instead of or, better yet, in addition to JayneMansfield.com. For your website, consider registering all alternate spellings of your domain name.

Make it Easy to Remember
[Nike Domain Name Just Do It] As W.C. Fields said, “It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.” Or how you’re known. A well known slogan or catch phrase might make a better domain name (or, again, an additional domain name) for your business. Even though they have plenty of brand name recognition, Nike registered JustDoIt.com in addition to their regular Nike.com domain name. Actor Michael J. Fox might be known as Mike to family and friends, but to the world he’s Michael J. Fox and, therefore, his domain is MichaelJFox.com.

Shorter is Better
As of 2013, all of the four letter domain names were gone. The three letter domains were taken over a decade before. But that’s no reason to use the full sixty-three characters available in your domain name. Stick to fewer than four words and under twenty characters if at all possible.

Check for Appropriateness
Read, re-read, and have friends read your website to make sure no hidden messages exist in the name. Imagine your surprise if your domain for exchanging information with experts, www.ExpertsExcchange.com, turned out to also promote very knowledgeable gender transformations: www.ExpertSexChange.com.

Don’t Use Texting Slang
While texting slang can definitely keep your domain name short - following the tip above - it makes for a confusing mess that’s hard to remember for most people.

Build Your Brand
The most important tip is to keep your brand in mind and continue to build it. With every advertisement someone reads, every web search someone performs, and every email you send, you’re building your brand with a custom domain name.

The Quick Takeaway
Finding a great domain name can be challenging but it can also be rewarding and a lot of fun. Follow these tips and you’ll be well on your way to your own great domain.


Drop your comments below:

We love to hear from you, we are willing to answer any of your questions.

I know most are put of by the highway robbery price of .NG but if you're a serious Nigerian company then a .NG is a primary domain extension for you to have. It grinds and easily identifies your business as Nigerian serious. IMHO.

Take [url]City.NG[/url] for example , astute travelers will immidiately know that it has to do with Nigerian cities, yes?

Honestly speaking I don't knw d rigors of having a 'domain name'.. I'd like one tho

very easy E.g
www.nscdc. Thats all.

Good one here

Cool

akinboyepelumi9:
Thanks for d Info but sincerely everyone seems to know this tips.

But not everyone knows How to apply these guides.

And to the new comers in domain registration, it'll be useful.

To a core professional, it may not be new.

Thanks for sharing, all the same

kindainteresting.com

Very true,but unfortunately 90% of Nigerian do not like this,what they like are those stupid topics.Just watch it if this article that made it to FP will get byond page 2

Ojisik:
Very informative write up, this are the types of articles we need.....not those about a celebrity eating garri or those absurd front page topics

Dhamstar was here





I'm out of here........................

SerialMan:
Very true,but unfortunately 90% of Nigerian do not like this,what they like are those stupid topics.Just watch it if this article that made it to FP will get byond page 2

True talk bro. Thinking can be very hard work for some.