Choosing a domain seems like the easiest thing before building your website, but it’s actually one of the most difficult steps in creating a brand. More than a technical term, domain names are a representation of the business that you want to provide your audience.

Two Elements

When coming up with domain names, we’re talking about two parts: Top Level Domain (TLD) and Second Level Domains (SLD). Technically, there are three parts but only two of it are customized by owners more freely; the Third Level Domain is determined by your host server.

The Top Level Domain or TLD is your .com, .net, .auto or country-based generic domain.

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Like so: www.example.com, where dot com is your TLD

Most domain registrars will recommend that you use a generic TLD such as .com because it is the most established and credible. In addition, it is widely known, which in this case is very important.

The Second Level Domain or SLD is your focus most of the time because this is where your brand appears.

Like so: www.secondleveldomain.com, the second part is your SLD.

You have the freedom of choosing anything for your SLD, but choosing in itself is another story.

Choosing the Perfect Domain Name

Taking the time to consider before registering your domain name is a prudent move. A perfect domain name has two basic objectives: branding and SEO. While brainstorming, check out these tips to help you out.

Brand-ability

When someone mentions your website, it has to establish a particular impression. This means associating your domain name to what you want your audience to think about your company or your brand for this matter.  When thinking whether your domain name has brand recall, ask yourself these questions:

  • Does it help the reader understand my business?
  • Does it help the reader associate it with what you stand for?

Make it easy to pronounce

This is easily explained by processing fluency and cognitive fluency. Processing fluency is the ease by which an idea is processed. When talking about your business name, domain name and brand, helping your readers easily process it in their minds mean you have succeeded in naming your brand, hence your domain name too. On the other hand, cognitive fluency is signalling familiarity. It isn’t enough that your brand and domain name rolls out easily, but it should help create a short cut of some sort. This is what happens when there is familiarity of your brand name.

Short and sweet

Length is important. As we mentioned, this is due to processing fluency. Short names help in easily remembering a domain name and brand, making it top of mind with your audience.

Help audience immediately understand what you are offering

Sometimes clarity will trump creativity. Clarity in your domain name will always help your audience understand what you are selling. This saves them time in trying to find out what your business is all about.

Broad keywords help in SEO

If you think about searchability, then a broad keyword will help you with that. Although Google has been veering away from exact match or partial match search, a broad name in your domain name still has plus points for understanding your business.

Avoid symbols

Hyphens, numbers, exclamation points are just some of the favourite symbols that owners include in their company names. But when thinking about your domain name, leave these out because some of the symbols are associated with spam domains.

Registering with New Domain Suffixes

2017 ushers in the ability to utilize new domain suffixes that you can use to make your web property stand out. LCN for example, offers the option to register a .london domain name and other UK domain names. These days, if you open a local business, say a gallery – you can even register an appropriate .gallery domain suffix!

So make sure to utilize the new options available for you to make your business stand out.

Don’t Rush

Although domain names can be taken quickly, carefully processing this with these tips in mind is still the most logical move you can do for your brand. Your domain name matters a lot to your business. It may influence your bottomline, especially if you have an eCommerce business. On the other hand, your branding is as important because this attracts top-of-the-funnel customers. Altogether, these help you build a successful business.