7 Simple Steps To Choosing the Right Domain Name
One of the first decisions you’ll need to make is whether you want a .com or .com.au domain. In many cases it might pay to register both the .com and .com.au versions of a domain name. This will stop anyone else setting up a similar site to yours in the future with the same name but using the domain extension that you didn’t register and scooping up some of your traffic (through mis-typed web addresses by potential customers).
If you want to sell your product overseas as well as Australia, then the .com domain name is the best way to go as people will see it as more of an international site rather than just a local Australian one. If you’re selling a product locally, within Australia, then a .com.au would probably be the way to go (though a .com would also be fine). All in all, you’re best off registering both versions if at all possible.
If you have a registered business name already, then that may be the logical choice to use as your domain name, but if you don’t then really your options are limitless. Here are a few simple rules to remember when choosing a website name:
- Don’t make it too long – the shorter the name is the less likely people are to make a mistake when they type it in and the easier it will be to remember. Also if you ever decide to advertise on Google Adwords, the maximum length the display URL (domain name) can be is 35 characters (including the ‘.’ but you don’t have to type the ‘www.’).
- Make sure it’s a name you’re not going to be embarrassed by in years to come or is perhaps not very professional sounding – it might be best not to register a name like www.johnsreallycoolgadgets.com or www.my5gorgeouskidsclothingshop.com.
- Try to include some of the keywords/keyword phrases in your domain name if possible – by doing this, you’re giving yourself an extra boost in the search engine rankings for those particular keywords. There’s no guarantee you’ll get top spot, but every little bit helps.
- Use the non-hyphenated version of the domain name you want – people tend to forget to type in hyphens so it’s easier if they’re not there.
- Register the hyphenated and non-hyphenated domain names – this is to help protect your business & ensure that no one else can copy your site and set it up with a confusingly similar domain name.
- Consider registering some other extensions of your domain name like .net, .org, .info, .net.au etc. – this is also to protect your site as above.
- Tools like NameBoy & BustAName can be useful in finding suitable domain names that aren’t yet taken. You enter a few keywords that you’d like in the domain and these tools will provide you with a list of domains (& variations) available.
