9 Smart Tips to Choose a Winning Domain Name

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If you want to create a website that will be successful and become a mode of passive income for you then one of the most important things is choosing the perfect domain name. Though it is possible to change your domain name, later on, it will cause you inconvenience and lower the ranking of your website.

If I haven’t stressed enough, then I’ll do it now. You need to spend some time choosing a perfect domain name.

I know the struggle of finding a domain name compatible with your business. It’s like treasure hunting. You either hit gold or a rusted metal can.

To ease your troubles, we bring to you some tips and tricks to choose the perfect domain name and that too for no cost at all.


Tips To Choose The Perfect Domain Name

Trust me when I say, you don’t want to choose an unattractive domain name if you want to create a successful blog or a website for your business.

We advise you to choose some time aside simply to choose a domain name but also remember, don’t keep pushing your dream of having a blog. Till you start today, you won’t be successful. Your dreams and aims are better accomplished today rather than regretting not having taken time out for them tomorrow.

Here are the nine steps to a successful domain name

  • .com Remains the Best

There are countless, creative extensions out there. The classic and evergreen one remains .com but there are other like.Org, .net and even other extensions targeted at certain niches like.blog , .photography , .nature and .pizza. I’m not even kidding.

Even though you may get tempted seeing all the other extensions we stress over choosing .com extension for establishing a successful blog or website.

Do you want to know why other extension names should be avoided? We are glad to tell you.

.com is classic and therefore people won’t have much trouble memorizing the name of your website. Choosing a .com extension also displays your professionalism. New extensions still haven’t proven their genuine to the audience. So, if you want your audience to trust you then the .com extension is simply perfect for you.

Another negative point about using niche targeted websites is that your readers need to remember your exact domain name to find you which is most of the time a challenge. I say you choose a domain name like www.vicky.ninja and your audience types www.Vickyninja.com on Google search engine, they are most likely to land on a 404 error page.

That’s a steady decline in your readers and the reason you need to stay away from it.

  • Including Keywords Is Important

Now you’d be like “Say What?”. Hear me out. The body of your content and meta tags are not the only ones those need you to include keywords. Your domain name needs one too. This is like the secret to ranking higher on Google.

Though it is an extremely difficult feat to find a domain name with a specified keyword as the market is over-saturated but it’s not impossible.

To make your domain name unique you will need to put on your thinking cap and combine your keywords with other general words.

  • The Lesser, the Better

When it comes to, content, it’s ‘more the better’ but when it comes to a domain name its ‘shorter, the sweeter.’ Yup, you need to figure out a domain that’s fairly simple to remember, short and not complicated.

So that if the reader wants to find you again, they won’t have a difficult time figuring your website name out. They won’t need to scroll down their search history to find you. The name will just stick to them.

A domain name within 14-15 characters is perfect. If you choose a longer domain name, you will lose more traffic. Why? Because your audience is going to end up trying different words to find your website and give up in the end.

  • Simplicity Is Equal To A Successful Website

How many of us are going to remember www.ratatouilletheexcellentchef.com?

None. However, if you create a www.cheeselover.com (I’m sure this one must be out there somewhere) your audience is prone to keep your website name in their memory. Don’t use complicated words in your domain name.

The pronunciation must be the same as its spelling. If you are going to choose high and fancy words, it’s most likely that your audience will have a hard time finding your website again unless they bookmark it.

  • Brand It

To be known as a reputable brand or website you need to choose a clever domain name that stays in the memory of your users. If it seems difficult you can do some research and look around similar projects such as yours. This will broaden your horizons.

Be careful not to use something already popular on the web as you can be charged for copyrights.

Think of your domain name as a brand. How do you want people to remember your brand as?

If people pass by a topic related to your niche they must instantly think of your website. That’s why it’s so important to choose a simple yet unique domain name that will grab your user’s attention and remain in their memory.

  • Take Out Your Magnifying Glass

You must research thoroughly when deciding on a domain name. You don’t want someone to have the same trademark as yours. You will get into deep trouble for that. Before you register make sure you have an extremely unique domain name that’s solely yours.

  • No Hyphens Please

When deciding on a domain name you need to keep in mind that you shouldn’t include any hyphens.

Scammers generally have a domain name with hyphens so you should stay away from a domain name full of hyphens.

You need to prove your professionalism and genuineness to your readers. If you don’t want your audience to end up elsewhere you should stay away from hyphens.

  • Keywords with Double Letters

You may think words with double letters may look unique but they are more prone to confusion amongst readers or clients.

A single typo may lead your audience elsewhere and you don’t want that to happen. Try not to use a domain name with double letters, for instance, kkey.com, it feels a lot more branded if its a simple key.com and easier to remember.

The Last Tip – Focus On Your Niche

It’s an excellent idea to find a keyword related to your niche. This lets your audience instantly know if they are exactly where they need to be. It will also be easier for those finding topics on your niche to find you.

If further down the road you want to broaden your horizons and actually, I should say broaden your niche for instance, instead of blogging about only rafting you may want to write about dirt bikes as well but your website is named www.raftlover.com then where are you going to add dirt bikes to?

Make sure that when you choose a domain name you also focus on sports as a whole niche so instead of raftlover.com you can choose adventurelover.com so that you don’t have to go through the hassle of changing your domain name in the future.

25 comments

  1. Hey Ali, this article is what I really was looking for. I’ve used all these tips and could came up with a great domain name for my website. Thank you for sharing these valuable tips with others!

  2. This is such a great post, I have never read a better breakdown on this topic. Had to take notes and immediately practiced what you shared. It works like a charm.

  3. I’m looking into a new domain for a new website I am building, and I couldn’t have found this at a better time!

    There are some great pointers here, especially things like not using hyphens. I never knew about that, and the fact that it could reduce the credibility of my site.

    Anyway, very useful article, I am more confident in the domain name I plan to get for my new website.

    Thank you for sharing!
    -Joseph

  4. Ali is it a coincident, that about less than a day before reading about these tips, I’ve regretted the domain name I’ve used for my website. I choose a name that was too confined to a tight niche, and here a couple hours later I see this article, making the same points as I’ve observed. Is it possible to ignore my previous domain and start something fresh without affecting my google rating? Thanks again man.

    1. Hi Sean, sorry to hear about that. Yes, if you’ve bought your domain recently and don’t put much content into it, you can simply pick a new one and it does not affect your google rating. Just do your research pick your suitable domain name and don’t change it in the future. )

      Best,
      Ali

  5. Ali, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to review the 9 tips for choosing a good domain name. I learned a great deal, especially the Namecheap domain names are actually cheaper than selecting one directly through Wealthy Affiliate.

    I do have one suggestion for your site and that would not to use your social media as a left sidebar widget. It covers up your text as you are trying to read it, especially from a mobile device. I would suggest either placing them on top or on the bottom of the page.

    Best regards,
    Barbara

    1. Hello Barbara and thanks for your comment and suggestion. Ok, I’ll move social media buttons to the top or bottom of the page to make content more readable. )

      Best,
      Ali

  6. A Lot of excellent tips for people just starting out.
    It would of saved me some time if I had found an article like this when I started. I read most of these tips but in separate articles.
    I agree with all those tips especially the .com and lesser is better.

    I do have a question on one of your tips though. I did put a keyword in my domain as that is what I had read when I started. I’ve since read that keywords in your domain name is not that important now. (in regards to a blogging site) I’m not sure if that’s a change or false information that I read.

    I’m curious what you think on that and if you agree.

    1. Hi Lee and thank you for your comment. Putting keywords in domain name is not necessary but it would be useful and attract more visitors naturally. Imagine you have a website about cooking and there are two domains: cookingwithlee.com and thegoodfood.com
      As a visitor, I definitely prefer to visit the first site so if there’s a chance, always use keywords in your domain name.

      Best,
      Ali

  7. Great article, Ali. You make a lot of good points about choosing a domain name. I really like that I was able to choose a short domain name, and great for my niche. Also that I stayed away from an ending that wasn’t a .com, or the hyphens.

    I hope everyone starting a website will read this article.

    Thank you!

  8. Hello Ali,
    I feel much more confident about choosing a domain name for my next niches after reading your 9 tips to choose a winning domain name. special I’m glad to you talk about not using double letter and simplicity equal to a successful website. thank you very much all the great information, I will definitely apply those 9 tips in the near future.

    Peace & Health
    Mak

  9. Thank you , Ali, for that excellent article and your 9 tips about choosing a domain name. I didn’t know that a keyword should be in the domain name. I also liked your reviews, very helpful and well done!

  10. Hi Ali, I read your post. I found it really useful and I think there are many things you need to know to have a successful domain. In fact, I didn’t even think that a hyphen could cause problems for the credibility of my site, nor that with a name too long they would have difficulty finding me. Luckily I happened on your blog in time. Thanks for sharing.
    Greetings Georgi

  11. psd: I had no idea about the keywords within your domain name, now that’s a cool trick I just learn, thanks for that, I’ll have it in mind for the selection of my domain.
    All the best with your site, looks really cool by the way.

  12. Thank you for this post,I have been looking for a name for my site for some times, but I’d really hard, either they are too long or too complex, thanks again, now I have a bit of a clue of how to narrow down the list a make it better, and although I already have a domain hosting place, I’ll check “namecheap” see if they give me a better rate.

  13. Hey Ali, I have looked at your website and the information provided is great. I created my website recently so i did hear some of your ideas from Kyle but you definitely have some new and important ideas when it comes to picking a great niche, choosing a domain name e.t.c. I must admit i didn’t know about not using hyphens so i for sure learned something. Keep up the great work.
    Stay safe and Healthy.

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