Choosing brandable domain names is not easy, but crucial

By Rajab Bader on Mar 3, 2008 in Domain Names |

During the last few months I had to rebrand a well-known online community and come up with a nice name for my blog. Coming up with a domain name for your website is really crucial and can have a direct effect on your site’s success or failure.

I started digging in Google search results and I found several articles about how to choose brandable and good domain names. Rand Fishkin has an articled titled “12 Rules for Choosing the Right Domain Name“. Also, Darren, the ProBlogger, has an interesting article on brandable vs keyword-rich domains. I recommend you read both of them, and here is my two cents on choosing domain names.

1- If possible go with keyword-rich domains. Having your targeted keyword in your domain name will increase your chances of having relevant anchor texts and people who hear about your site will directly associate it with its content.

2- Never use hyphens. I was guilty of this and I’ve learned my lesson. You have to make it easy for people to remember your domain name and having hyphens can confuse them.

3- Choose a name that represents your goals. For example, I chose SEO Gladiator because my goal is to be a professional SEO. Darren chose ProBlogger because he is a professional blogger - I think you get the point.

4- Ask for people’s opinions. When I was naming this blog, I contacted a lot of friends for their opinions. They were all kind and gave me valuable suggestions. Their inputs really helped me a lot.

It isn’t easy, so you need to do a lot of research, brainstorming and asking a lot of people. In the end, you will have a domain name that will make your business successful.

I would love to hear your feedback on this topic. What is your experience with domain names and do you have more useful tips?