The first and foremost thing to do to launch your business online is to have a presence on the internet – Yes, the website.

Choosing a good domain for your company is the first step. Of course, it has to have your business’s name in it.

In this blog, you’d find a complete, step-by-step guide on how you can easily choose a good domain name for your website and introduce your business to the internet.

So, let’s start this not-so-boring but a little wordy & knowledgeable blog that I’m writing at 10 in the morning.

1. Discover your rivals

First, find out about your competitors and what keywords are they using in their domain names. Your competitors can give you a lot of ideas.

And if you don’t know or think you don’t have competitors, then find one. The goal is to derive as many inspirational ideas as possible.

But of course, never copy their keywords, because you’d be doing them a favour if you do that.

So, the question is:

How can I find competitors for my business?

It’s very simple:

• Search keywords, phrases relevant to your business online and see what comes up on the first page of Google.
• Search hashtags, on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram to find out tags, posts, people related to your business.
• Search online business directories to find relevant listings and discover company names that sell products relevant to yours.

If that seems quite a work to you, then use help from tools available online.

Software companies like SEMrush, Ahrefs, Bright Local, HubSpot, Moz, Serpstat, Neil Patel, and many others that I can’t remember because I haven’t had my coffee as yet and still brainstorming this blog.

These companies also have domain name analyser that makes it a walk-in-the-park for netizens to search, choose, and finalize domain names.

So, find your rivals, gather keywords, and come up with a domain name that is best for your business.

2. Choose simple words and not some made-up BS

The idea of having a ‘unique domain name’ is one way to satisfy your Shakespearic nature.

 It doesn’t work that way.

No one cares how unique, different, or difficult your domain name is. If they can’t get to your website – it’s useless.

Also, the domain name doesn’t have anything to do with your business.

Adding a business-oriented keyword in the domain name is just a reflection of your business or products for the user.

However, if you see it from SEO’s angle, you wouldn’t agree to what I just said.

Remember, you have to be creative, not unique – don’t make the same mistake I made.

How to choose a domain name for a business?

• Use keywords related to the products you’re selling. For example, ‘Value Hosted’ and we provide ‘Web Hosting’ services. The word ‘host’ appears in our domain. So, there you go. Perfect example.
•  Uniqueness in terms of being different is acceptable. But don’t be too cheesy. Simple & relevant. That’s it.
• Do not use trademarked keywords or phrases. You don’t want to get into any lawsuit thing. It’s a mess. Trust me.

3. Keep it short & minimal

“llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.co.uk”

 How does that sound? Pretty stupid, right?

Well, it’s an actual website named after a Welsh village in Wales, UK.

But can you pronounce it? Of course, not. I know I can’t. But then I also had a ‘C’ in English Pronunciation. So yes, that explains.

Whatever the name, the keyword you have in your mind for the domain. Make sure it is short, simple, and minimal.

Use acronyms if you like to; For example: ‘Value Hosted’ to ‘VH(dot)com’ (we couldn’t register this domain in time, because Danyal [CEO] & Karim [Director] were too busy playing CSGO on Discord).

And don’t forget to check the availability for the acronymous domain.

4. Be a Grammar-Nazi

Do you ever encounter people who always correct your grammar on Social media or gatherings? We all do. They’re called ‘Grammar Nazis’.

Be the one while typing your chosen domain name.

Ensure there are no spelling mistakes, no typos, no writing errors. Because one screw up at this stage can give away your domain to your competitors.

So, this is perhaps a little serious step. But not as serious as my mum can be after my late-night gaming sessions.

Remember, we’re not playing spelling bee here. You don’t necessarily have to have grammatical expertise.

Simply, spell out your domain name, check for spelling mistakes, and you’re good to go.

5. Size does matter – Domains’ of course

The length of the domain name is important. Yes, Domain Name’s character size – thought I should clear this thing first.

The maximum length of a domain name is 63 characters.

1 alphabet = 1 character

‘www.valuehosted.com’ – Value Hosted have 11 characters whereas .com is a domain extension (and not included in the domain name).

The ideal domain name length should be between 5-12 characters. But not recommended in case if you’re using acronyms.

Since we’re not setting up a password. Therefore, stay away from numbers, hyphens, or a combination. Unless you want them (which may be a bad idea).

Or if your company has a numerical name. Example: ‘WD-40’ (www.wd40.com)

I’d suggest not to add numbers and hyphens as it’ll just confuse newbies like me.

6. Keywords in Domains: Yay or Nay?

Having keywords in domain name sounds great—and it is a plus if you think from SEO’s perspective.

But sometimes you have to let go of your keyword chase. Never and I mean it, force a keyword into your domain name.

Take this website for example…

Now, this website has two rich keywords ‘Dubai’ and ‘VPS’. But this website doesn’t rank high in Google.

Why? Well, for that. Check out this blog I wrote for SEO centuries ago while hanging out with my buddy Allosaurus.  

In any case, use a business-centric keyword if you have to. But don’t make it law to abide by.

7. Easy to spell, read, and type

Listen & type “Pizzazz” on your mobile browser.

Did you get the word right? I hope not.

You must have either typed ‘Pizzas’ or ‘Pizza’s’. I typed ‘Pitzaaz’ which was not even close. I thought it was a homophone (again, a reference to my ‘C’ grade in English).

Avoid such confusing words at all costs. You don’t want users struggling with spelling. It’ll not only agitate them but probably scare them off as well.   

The best way to make it easy is to first write the domain name separately, check for spelling mistakes, and check if it is pronounceable.

Consider your users as English newbies in this scenario and choose easy spelling domain names for listeners.

8. Use online domain name generators for help

If you don’t want to put too much stress on your brain, simply take help from domain name generators.

But never take the results for granted. The purpose of name generators is to offer creative ideas for the domain.

The results may be or may not be in your favour.

To pace things up. Here’s a list of few good domain name generators:

• Name Boy
• Name Mesh
• Domain Wheel
• WPBegginer
• Shopify
• BlogTyrant

And many others.

9. Choosing a domain extension

.com, .net, .org, .edu. These are called ‘Domain Extension’. When you’re checking the availability of your domain name, you also need to put the desired DE.

My recommendation is to choose the .com domain as it is one of the Top-Level Domains (TLD) on the internet.

Top-Level Domain is a list of high-level domains in the Domain Name System hierarchy.

Here’s a list of original top-level domains:

• .com – Stands for ‘Commercial’. Anyone or any company can use this TLD.
• .org – Stands for ‘Organization’. Any profit or non-profit organization can use it.
• .net – Stands for ‘Network’. It can be a portal site that points to smaller websites.
• .edu – Stands for ‘Education’. Used for educational institutes.
• .gov – Stands for ‘Government’. Used for governmental entities & agencies

Your choice should never be limited to aforesaid TLDs. But Since these high-level domains are popular and easy to remember, your website is more likely to be visited by more users than those who struggle to remember whether it was .com or not.

So, in simple words. .com is your go-to domain extension.

10. Register from the right place

Now let’s end the research on domain name registration. How to do it? very simple

It’s not rocket science. It consists of three easy steps:

• Choose domain name and extension
• Check its availability
• Pay!

If you’re in the right place, you won’t have to go through more than three steps.

Also, find the right price. It is possible that the domain name you selected may be highly competitive or TLD.

In this case, the domain provider can charge you whatever they want to. But not us.

We’re a cool-minded web hosting company who just want you to host a website. So, register a domain now.

Did you know?

Value Hosted offers hassle-free domain name registration. You can register desired domain names & extensions at surprisingly affordable rates.

Don’t believe me? Try it yourself here !