So, you are thinking about buying a domain name. Wait! First, you must read this.
1. A short and memorable domain name is crucial.
There is nothing better than a short and easily memorable domain name.
If you have a brand already, you should use it, but try to keep it as short as possible. Use just the name and remove all the corp., LTD, or any other additional word.
If your site is new and you don’t have a previously created brand, you will be very free to decide. Keep it tight. You can use keywords related to your business, but don’t go overboard. A no-meaning name like “A51” will be a lot easier to remember than “carpenter-wood-London”.
2. Generic TLDs are not bad.
When we are thinking about a domain name, it is often that our first thought is a .com domain. But are there any other top-level domains (TLDs)? Of course! There are plenty of TLDs out there, and many more are created every year. You can find a perfect match for your business with a less-known TLD like .industry, .pro, .tech, and many more. So forget about the first TLDs and browse broader with all the available combinations. It won’t affect your SEO, nor will the visitors have anything against it.
3. Price for registration and price for renewal.
Many people get a bad taste in their mouth when the first year of their domain name is passing already, and they get a nasty surprise when they want to renew it. The price had skyrocketed, and now it is not $8.99 as before, and it is $89.99! Even before registering, you should think about the renewal price. Many TLDs have a very attractive registration price, only to make huge profits in the future. Be aware of this issue and make a choice. Don’t get a bad surprise.
4. Think about the local language too.
There are many countries like China, Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria, and more that use other alphabets. Think about how people could read your domain name. Is it a problem for you? In many of these countries, you will have the chance to register a domain name using their alphabet. This could be another issue because most international users will use a Latin keyboard (Qwerty layout) and won’t be able to write it. Choose a name that could be easily pronounced and read, no matter in which country you are.
5. Changing a domain name is a hard process.
Take your time and make a good decision at the beginning. To change a domain name is a hustle. You can change it quickly, but you must also preserve the SEO of the old domain, and there is the trouble. You need to create a sitemap of the old site and a lot of 301 redirects to keep the juice. Otherwise, you will lose all the previously-generated backlinks from other sites. Redirect your articles from the old URLs to the new ones. After that, you will need to update Google Webmaster to let Google know about the change.
And after all that, you still will want to keep the old domain for a while. At least until Google index all the new pages of your new domain.
Ok, now you can go and get your domain name. We warned you about all 5 underwater stones that you should really think about when choosing a domain name, so you are ready!