When it comes to choosing a domain name for a commercial website, there are a number of criteria that can be used to measure candidates. Choosing an appropriate domain name is important as the domain name is critical to a company’s online identity. A deliberate and well thought out domain name can have lasting benefits for a business, such as building a positive brand and generating repeat traffic. Once a domain name is registered, a business immediately invests in that domain name as it will exist in web links that drive search engine rankings, directories that drive web traffic, included on business cards, banners and other promotional materials. This article provides the top five criteria to apply when selecting and registering a strategic domain name for a commercial website.

The first criteria, which can also be seen as a prerequisite, is to find a domain name that is available. Since domain names uniquely identify a business online much like a phone number does offline, domain names must be unique. Many of the shortest and most desirable domain names are already in use and are of great value. These include Insurance.com, Business.com, Cooking.com, and Diet.com. There are many free tools provided by domain name registrants and web hosting companies to determine if the desired domain name is available and to suggest variations when needed. the desired domain is available. already taken. It is also good practice for businesses to search the online US Trademark Database to ensure that a potential domain name is not a trademark for some other business. Believe it or not, there are known cases where companies had to surrender the domain names they registered and were later found to be infringing on other companies’ trademarks, even though the trademark owners had not previously registered the domain name. .

The second domain name selection criteria is to find a name that is related to the trade name, brand, or industry. If the business has an established brand identity, then the domain name choice should be the brand name, if available. Some of the largest e-commerce sites fall into this category, namely Amazon.com, ebay.com, and craigslist.org. Your domain names are your brand names that have been established over the years. However, if a business is new and does not yet have an established and widely recognized brand identity, the selected domain name may benefit if it is related to business focus. Examples of this type of domain name include PRWeb.com, EzineArticles.com, and emarketer.com, although it is not clear to the author whether these now well-established brands were created before or after their domain names were registered. Either way, a potential visitor can look at these domain names and get an idea of ​​the business approach of the registered owner. Having a domain name aligned with business focus can also help with SEO (search engine optimization) and increase visitors referred to the business website from search engines.

The third domain name selection criteria is based on the old adage, “less is more.” In other words, it is best to select a domain name that is as short as possible considering the other selection criteria. Many suggest that ten characters or less is ideal. This can be quite a challenge with so many domain names already registered and in use over the last decade and a half. To make matters worse, many investors registered domain names for the sole purpose of branding and reselling them prior to use. This practice, known as domain name parking, is based on speculation of high demand and motivated buyers for certain domain names. That said, there are still plenty of domain names available that are ten characters or less for those who want to get creative. Having a short domain name benefits the website address by reducing the number of misspellings, making it easier to remember and can fit on business cards, stationery, and signs.

The fourth domain name selection criteria is to register com suffixes whenever possible. Most Internet users assume that commercial entities will have domain names ending in .com rather than .net, .biz, .tv, .us, .info, etc. Many searching for the website of a well-known company or brand will add “www”. to the company or brand name, then add “.com” to the end to try to navigate directly to the website of interest. Some businesses will select a popular brand or business name as their “root” domain name, but register it with a suffix other than .com, since the .com domain name is already registered by the brand owner . While this approach may generate “free” traffic, conversion rates from visitors to customers will be very low, as these visitors will typically leave the website feeling cheated. The same principle applies to selecting a domain name using a misspelled brand or company name.

The fifth and final domain name selection criteria is what I call “The 3Rs”: easy to recite, easy to recognize and easy to remember. Random strings of numbers and letters make good system passwords, but horrible domain names. They are difficult to remember and almost impossible to guess. This applies to acronyms that stand for unknown brands. This is especially relevant when providing a website address to radio audiences or presentation listeners. A good domain name will allow advertisers and presenters to recite a website address to potential customers and customers who will hear and recognize the website address and then remember that address the next time they are online. Domain names with word components that can be spelled in multiple ways, such as “ad”, “add”, “two”, “to”, “too”, should be avoided as listeners will be prone to misspelling the address of the website when trying to get the business online.

Carefully selecting and registering a strategic domain name is an important step in launching a business identity online. Businesses will benefit from smart selection as domain names, once registered, will quickly find their way into countless materials, partner links and search engine indexes that become costly to update if changes are required. Applying these top five domain name selection criteria will improve online identity, increase website traffic, and make it easier for customers and prospects to connect with your business.