How to choose a great domain name?
There are a few simple rules.
- The shorter the better.
- Make it catchy or easy to remember.
- Make it relevant to your niche or industry.
- The fewer words within the domain the better. Finding a domain which is 1 word is really hard these days (for a .com domain), 2 words, is more feasible. 3 words are borderline, and anything more should have a really special reason but I suggest against it. Unless it is extremely memorable.
Additionally, if this is your first domain name, I always advise people to buy their personal name. For example, in my case it's EranBucai.com.
This is for the simple reason that you are your own brand. Your name is what makes you unique. Even if you think your name may be stupid, I want to remind you all the great brands and companies you know. These brand names were named by and after a person, who when they got started, were just like you. Here are some notable examples:
Ford (automative) McDonalds (fast food) JP Morgan (banking) Hilton (hotels) Louis Vutton (fashion)
And so many more.
You can read more about this article from Wikepdia, "List of companies named after people".
Why make a domain name easy to remember? Here's a short 45 seconds video that explains this perfectly.
Here are some examples of domain names I personally bought for my businesses:
EranFunnels.com = A simple combination of my name, Eran, and the word "Funnels". My freelance business that explains my process for helping people choose the best software for their online business, and then also helping them build their funnel 1-on-1.
CustomIntroVideos.com = A domain name for a side business where my team creates an custom branded introduction video for people's YouTube channel videos. Combination of the 3 words, Custom, Intro, and Videos.
WebsiteDIYCourse.com = A domain name for a sales funnel I wanted to create for my website building services. It starts off with a simple landing page to give a free gift in exchange for an email address and the follow up products to help someone DIY their website, such as my Website DIY courses. For example, my Systeme.io Website DIY course is found on WebsiteDIYcourse.com/systeme. This domain is based on the 3 words combination, "Website", "DIY" (a well known and easy to remember acronym), and "Course".
DogTrainerFunnels.com = This domain name is to serve a very specific niche of Dog Trainers. There are literally 10s of 1000s of dog trainers worldwide, and I discovered some time ago that a lot of them were looking to create an online course on New Zenler. And so, I created a sales funnel specifically to cater for that niche audience and created a Sales Page Template specifically for them and this is the capture page to bring them into my world. This domain name is a combination of "Dog", "Trainer" and "Funnels".
Another reason to buy a domain name is if you want to have have a higher chance of being found on on the search engines like Google. For example, I promote a software called "Podia", which is a software company that lets you build online courses and memberships. Since people who are interested to learn more about Podia, may type to google the search term "Podia Review".
So I bought the domain name, PodiaReview.com. While there are other factors that go into getting a website on the first page of google, I knew that this domain name would be a good one for this reason. I also bought the domain name PodiaReviews.com for the exact same reason and purpose.
Another thing to watch for when choosing a domain name, is seeing if the social media accounts are available. To do that, check the availability on a website called NameCheckr.com - I show how in this short Instagram video reel.
To wrap up this FAQ, I have a great explainer video from GoDaddy. I would like to note that even though I greatly appreciate GoDaddy's wonderful explainer video, I do not recommend buying products from GoDaddy. I'll give you my thoughts in this YouTube video.
With that said, here is the video from GoDaddy explaining how to choose a domain name:
Transcript of the video below (italicized):
*Welcome to “How to choose a great domain name.”
Your domain name is a critical part of your online identity. As your unique internet address, it can help put you on the fast track to business success – or be a stumbling block to reaching your goals. So knowing what makes for a good domain name matters.
For starters, keep it short and relevant to your business. A name that’s easy to spell and type is a bonus.
For instance, if your business is cleaning windows, you’ll want your domain name to include the keywords “window” and “cleaning” or “clean”- because those are the words people will search when they need your service.
Numbers, whether spelled out or as digits, and dashes can create confusion. Avoid forcing customers into mental gymnastics trying to recall your online address.
The domain “bestwindowcleaning.com,” three short words, is way easier to remember and type than number1-windowcleaning-4u.com
For local businesses, including your city, state, or region in your domain helps your customers find you faster. For example, seattlewindowcleaning.com is more targeted than bestwindowcleaning.com.
Now for the extension…. that’s the part of the domain name following the dot. If you can get “.com,” go for it. It’s the most widely used extension, but it’s also been around so long that getting a short, memorable name that ends in .com can be a challenge.
Other popular extensions include .net, .org., .info. and .biz. Plus, hundreds of fun new ones are now available, like .guru, .shop, .nyc, and .actor. These descriptive extensions allow you to perfectly represent your business and boost your brand.
Speaking of your brand, you can protect and build it by purchasing misspelled versions of your domain name so customers who get it wrong are still ushered to your website. It’s also a good idea to purchase your domain with various extensions to prevent competitors from registering them.
Finally, make haste. Domain names sell fast. But most are affordable, so get your favorite domain registered now before someone else beats you to it.
Domain registrars, like GoDaddy, streamline the process of finding a good domain name because they know which names are and are not available and help with your search by suggesting relevant alternate domains when the one you want is already taken. *