The correct choice of good domain name is often times overlooked. If you choose a bad domain, this can confuse site visitors and can lose you a lot of traffic, which will immediately affect the earning potential of your online business.
To avoid that, I will try to give you some guidelines so I can make things a bit easier, when it comes to picking up the right domain name.
Extensions
There are various extensions for websites – com, net, info, org, biz and others. You can see the full list here – List of Internet Domains.
In general, when people are typing some URL, most of the time they type the default domain extension .com. Therefore, without much explanation, if your domain name + extension .com is free – just grab it.
However, If you don’t have such luck and somebody had registered this name, don’t worry. Just try slightly different domain name, or, if you insist of using the exact wording, go for .net .
The domain extensions, finishing with .org tend to be used by non-profit organizations, so you can keep this as your last option. Other possible extensions are : .biz and .info, but they are less preferred.
Another interesting extension is .io . It has become a very popular alternative for new startups.
Dashes
Many SEO experts are against the use of dashes in domain names, if this can be avoided. Sometimes it can be avoided, but in some cases, in the entry in the domain name for example, may be an advantage.
People tend to put a dash in the domain between several keywords trying to improve positioning in search engines.
For example:
goodkeyword >> good-keyword.com
Also, many experts believe, that the smaller sites do not have to think in the long run for the brand, but instead have to purchase these domains because of their value as keywords to start their business. I don’t agree with that, and I think you should focus on establishing your website as a brand.
If you have two great keywords in your domain and there is no hyphen between them, they will also perform well.
People will remember the name of your site, but if they remember, that your domain has a dash? Probably not. Hyphen in your domain name can also be a problem in the delivery address. If you plan to use the domain Domain-Name.com, may also want to consider purchasing and DomainDashName.com. This is usually not a big problem, but it is worth to pay attention when choosing a domain name.
Numbers
Domains, that contain numbers have the same problem with the delivery and at the same time have the advantages of tags. Therefore domain containing numbers can be used only in very special cases. And just like domains with hyphens, how many of the big sites that meet the network include numbers in the domain name? Not a lot for sure.
Length
We’ve all seen some very long domain names. In most cases they only tend to make us nervous. So make your domain name as a short as possible and at the same time good and memorable. The ideal domain name should be between 8 and 14 characters. However, if the domain name of your site fits perfectly and it is longer than it should be, it’s still worth using it.
Now, keeping in mind these simple rules, you can go to GoDaddy and register your best domain name for as low as $2.49/year. The default price is $12 per year, but when you click this link, you get a massive discount.
Or get a hosting with a free domain name from Bluehost. Check if your domain name is free now.