How to Choose a Good Domain Name for Your Business Online

Second only to web hosting in the list of priorities for a successful website, registering a domain name is an important part of website creation and can have repercussions on many other aspects of your business online, including search engine optimization.

Your domain name is your address on the web, but it is also your slogan and holds much information about you and your business online. A good domain name can help your online business by providing trust and authority both to your clients and to the search engines that will determine how well to rank your website.

In this article, we will cover the different aspects that make a good domain name both for the human readers and the search engine robots. Note that you don't have to follow every point religiously when registering a new domain, but rather keep in mind the overall ideas of these points.

The first element to cover is the domain name length. Generally speaking, it is always better both for the humans and the search engines to keep your domain name as short as possible. It's better for your potential clients because they will remember your business name more easily, and it's better for the search engines because some (Google) may penalize too lengthy URLs.

The only exception to this rule would be if you are trying to rank for a long-tail keyword, in which case you should try to get an exact match domain, meaning a domain name that matches your keyword exactly;

The second element is the top-level domain (TLD). Some webmasters choose to use general TLDs like.com or.net, some others prefer the country specific TLDs like.co.uk for the United Kingdom or.cn for China.

Others would rather choose the cheaper alternative which is.info.

Many search engine optimization studies have shown that the most effective domain names choices are the general TLDs, notably.com and.net as they are not only the most used but also the most trustworthy since they are the oldest.

The third point to cover is the quality of the registrar you are selecting. The registrar is the company from which you purchase your domain name, and depending on which type of plans you choose, it can also be your web hosting provider.

Choosing a renown and trustworthy registrar is not only required for the security of your personal information, business information and of your domain name, but it is also a guaranteed help in your SEO efforts. Especially since Google Panda, search Engines take into account the quality of the registrar from which you registered your domain name.

Finally, I would advice you to try and keep your domain name as professional and esthetic as you can. If possible, do not resort to the use of special characters and keep your domain name memorable.

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