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.
Table of Contents
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.
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?
She has 30+ years of experience in marketing/advertising with 11 years of experience in content marketing, social media, blogging, and SEO.
You can purchase her eBook about Twitter on Amazon.
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I carefully selected my domain name and 2years later, I’m still crazily in love with my domain!
Hi Onome, what is it that you love about your domain? Thanks for coming by on this one and welcome to Inspire To Thrive!
Does using numbers in domain affects SEO or other things?
Hi Akshat, welcome to Inspire to Thrive. Great question. I had to do some reading on it. If the number is part of the URL it is okay unless it is making it a duplicate of another URL with 1 or 2 after it. For example: if someone did Inspiretothrive1 that would not be good. If they did inspire1tothrivemore that would be okay. Do you see the difference? Thanks for that thought-provoking question Akshat! Have a great day.
Hi Lisa,
Awesome tips!
One decision you’ll have to live with for a long time is the domain name of your website.
Domain names have a massive impact all over the web in terms of click-through rate, from search to social media results, to referring links, to type-in traffic, brandability, offline advertising. There’s a huge wealth of places that your domain name impacts your brand and your online marketing, and we can’t ignore this.
Following your tips one can easily pick a suitable domain name.
I will tweet your post.
Thanks a lot for sharing.
Hi Manish, thank you. Yes, and if you change it will take time to gain traction once again. True on the click through rates and search too. Thanks for your input on this one Manish. Have a wonderful day ahead there.
There’s a lot of debate about whether or not the length of your registration gives an authority boost or not. For a new website, most evidence points to it doesn’t really matter if you’ve registered the domain for one year, two, or ten years into the future. The length of time you’re actually online publishing great content contributes to your authority of course, but the length of time you’ve paid for the domain to be yours not really so much.
Hey Lisa,
Great points here.
First of all, I completely agree with you about registering a domain and leaving it for a few years. I have a few domains I registered in 2010 that have yet to be touched or have anything done. I mean I write content on them and save them as drafts … waiting for when I acually publish .. but I would figure it would serve me really well when I do finally publish.
Regarding you point #3 about domains that have great SEO juice. I’ve been looking at expired domains recently and trying to find a few “gems” there. Just last week I found a domain that’s just recently been expired that was registered in 1999!!! They have great SEO juice and a crap load of backlinks. I was salivating after I found it. So your point on that is .. well … on point.
Great tips.
– Andrew
Hi Andrew, thank you. Wow, that’s a neat tactic I haven’t heard before 🙂 I haven’t tried that one – buying an old one with great SEO juice, but it’s on my bucket list of things to do going forward. I’d love to know how that works out for you too Andrew. Thanks for coming by on this one and have a great week ahead there Andrew.
Hi Lisa,
As you know, my blog is just my name. I wasn’t very creative with brainstorming or coming up with something unique for my domain name.
I did implement #5 when I registered my domain. I knew that I was planning on working on this blog and wasn’t going to be a fly by night like I’ve done in the past.
When I registered my domain, I registered it for 7 years.
I guess I also did it because you save more on your domain when you register it for more than one year at NameCheap.
The great thing is that I won’t have to worry about having to renew my domain for a while.
Thanks for sharing these tips, I have no doubt they will help someone who is considering getting a new domain.
Have a great day 🙂
Susan
Hi Susan, that is a smart move. Now I can’t get mine 🙁 I have to wait til it expires. 7 years – that is great! I haven’t heard of NameCheap, interesting. Thanks for the input here Susan. You are welcome. I hope you have a great new week ahead!
Hey Lisa,
Choosing a domain name can be brainstorming for many.
I always look for the keyword related to my niche and ignore the numbers, characters.
There should be something which reflects your brand, your services.
Thanks for sharing your research.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi, yes, I think they brainstorm for the creativity and likeness. it’s great to think of keywords and SEO for your domain name. You are welcome and I appreciate your coming by. Have a great day Ravi.
“Ooops, I did it again!” 😉 I missed a dot in my podcast site… It should be egonetcast dot com.
Lisa: What do you think about my “last” domain, TeaParty.Media? 😉 I got “inspired to thrive” with a new gTLD, after checking out Chris Brogan’s site, Owner.media. The idea is that my new site will become an umbrella (org.) for all my activities including new media, business philosophy, and the good life (including tea).
Hi Martin, I know exactly how you feel just by the title 🙂 That is very clever and yet easy too. Interesting to see the new extension being used. I’d love to know how it goes Martin. Keep us posted. Thanks for coming by and telling us your story on this. Have a great weekend.
Lisa: Thanks for your feedback and input! I appreciate it very much!
All the Best,
Martin
P.S. Do you have a favorite tea blend?
You are welcome Martin, I love mint flavored tea’s 🙂
Hello, Lisa!
Too great if not good!
I used to have the handful number of the domains years ago but did not find fun working on them until I got one in my name. 🙂
I know I overlooked so many steps by just purchasing the name-based domain name and not picking up of a brand but it is working so awesome for me.
That helped me to get acquainted in the blogosphere and right with the name. 🙂
#7 is too important! Very important! Cheap become so cheap in the time of emergency…
Again, great post! 🙂
~ Adeel
Hi Adeel, thank you. That is awesome that your name is available. Mine is not 🙁 But it expires in a year. I’ll have to keep an eye for it 🙂
Yes, you surely do get what you pay for today Adeel. Thanks for your input and have a wonderful weekend Adeel.
Hello Lisa,
Great stuff over here 🙂
This is a great read for those who are looking to get a domain name. Those who are planning to come out with new
blog they can have a read to this and get to choose a domain name which suits there niche or business.
Earlier I was choosing names randomly but now its high time we need to choose it according to our niches.
Thanks for the share.
Shantanu.
Thank you Shantanu. I used to do the same thing too – I would just pick a name I liked. Now I would do a ton of research before choosing a new domain name. Thanks for coming by and have a great weekend!
#7 jumps out at me Lisa. I went with a huge hosting company years ago. Paid like 7 bucks a month. All was semi-OK for a few years then when the company overloaded servers – due to the cheap prices of course – my old blog was down hours at a time, and was super duper slow for much of the day. I ditched the host, paid $15 to $20 a month depending on exchange rates and have been happy as a lark ever since. Some lone wolf/solo acts offered me premium hosting but I’d never go that route. Only because if it is so incredibly difficult for 1 person to handle 1 site, let alone 5 or 10, and since this human being sleeps, imagine if your blog goes down when their head hits the pillow? No support for at least 8 to 10 hours. That it nuts and totally un-doable for any professional blogger.
Hi Ryan, Oh yes, you do get what you pay for! Cheap is not always a good idea. I’ve had that happen, the blog went down for 2 days with the lack of service I had back when I just began with my self-hosted site. Never again. I’ll be switching to https so I will be in maintanance mode for a few hours. I’ve having my techie Mayura handle it for me. Working in the cpanel can be challenging for me. I’d rather pay to have it done right then mess that one up myself. Thanks for coming by and sharing your hosting story with us here Ryan. I hope you have a great weekend!
Hey Lisa,
A great guide for those who are choosing a domain name. I guess most bloggers wish they knew these things when they started out.
Specifically the first domain name bought by most of us won’t be perfect! I wish I had knowledge about the points mentioned here before I secured my first domain name. But with experience we learn a lot of things.
Keeping it short is a must these days since it helps reach prospects easily and it is also easy for people to remember us!
.com first – yes indeed!
Thanks for the wonderful tips.
Cheers,
Jane.
Hi Jane, thank you. Yes, myself included in wishing that Jane. I wonder how many other extensions others use – I’ve been seeing more and more of them lately Jane. Thanks for coming by on this one and have a great weekend!
Great information. having an aged domain with good link juice is particularity important. Personally I would never get a brand new domain name ever again. It’s worth the extra money to just get a domain name you like which already has some great metrics. You’ll save so much time on getting your website ranked because of it. In fact, you might even hit the first page with in a couple of days, and if it’s an awesome domain name you’ll be able to rank for some hard keywords. Def worth the money!
Hi Joe, welcome to Inspire to Thrive. Thank you. I agree on not starting over for that reason too – though I’ve thought about it from time to time. Thanks for the feedback on this one Joe. Have a wonderful day and weekend ahead.
Creative and brandable are always better than generic. Remember: Your domain name is how visitors will find, remember, and share your company on the web. It is the foundation of your brand. Here’s the main difference between a brandable and generic domain name:
A brandable domain name is unique and stands out from the competition, while a generic domain name is usually stuffed with keywords and unmemorable.
Hi Alice, welcome to Inspire to Thrive. I like your differential factor – you make a great point with that Alice. Thanks for coming by and have a great day.
Hi Lisa,
Great info shared here, there used to be times when we just do what we want; choose any name that we love, host it where we want, etc. Without thinking about how these could in turn hurt a brand.
Following your post definitely should guide anyone who’s looking forward to getting a domain name for his or her business.
Have a nice day and Stay Cool!
Hi Prosper, welcome to Inspire to Thrive. Thank you. Yes – that is so true! So many people when starting out pick a name that THEY Love without giving a thought to Google, SEO or any of that. It’s when things get hard to be found online that they start to wonder why. Thank you for coming by and have a great day ahead there!
Hey Lisa,
Fabulous tips on choosing a domain name. In the past, I chose names randomly. I no longer have those domains nor the blogs that were associated with them. Thankfully, I wised up and chose very carefully when building my business webby.
Your tips are spot on, gf!
We’re almost there!
B
Hi Bren, thank you. It’s funny how when we started we didn’t think of those the same. I’m glad at least mine is short and sweet. But if I ever do another site it will be of utmost importance when selecting a domain name. Someone already has my name 🙁 It does expire in a year though. Thanks for coming by Bren and have a great Friday and weekend ahead.
Hi Lisa,
Informative post indeed 🙂
I wish we knew about the importance of domain names when we started blogging, years ago! (I talk of those of us, who weren’t from the blogging or marketing niche as such!)
Speaking of myself, I just started my blog because I wanted to showcase my writing skills, being a writer, and the rest is history! One thing led to another and one became more of a blogger then, but yes, the domain name IS essential.
A lot of pros and cons are written about the kind of domain name is idea etc., though I really wonder if it matters that much at all. What really does matter is the content, which should help your readers, isn’t it?
Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your weekend 🙂
Hi Harleena, nice to see you back here 🙂 Yes, we have been at it a while, haven’t we Harleena? How many years for yourself? I am at 6+ plus. I think it does matter but if we are not using a keyword in it, if it’s short and sweet and memorable that is a plus. Content is important too, what good is a great domain name with terrible or no content, right? Thanks for coming by on this one Harleena. Have a great weekend too!