At the time of launching Apple back in 1976, Steve Jobs definitely did not think about domain names but he did get one aspect of naming his business right. Jobs wanted to find a moniker that is commonly used by everyone. Something that will stick to his customers’ heads and they will be reminded of his business every time they see it. Today, we know that all his ideas worked.
Picking a winning business name is not easy. Finding a domain available for the name you just picked is another story. The market is flooded with businesses with similar services and names and standing out seems almost impossible. But you cannot be slack with your domain. In the digital age, that is your business’s identity. Here are 5 tips to help you to brainstorm better and come up with a name that is sure to draw your customers’ interest.
Think about your business goals first
When you pick a domain name, you will want to stick with it for years to come. Although you can change it later, the chance of losing your brand identity will loom over your business. So, think about your long-term business goals. Do you only want to make pizza for the next 10 years? A generic name like Domino’s have scope for expansion but Pizza Hutrestricts brand association with your product. Take all your possible ideas and goals into account and then start writing down names.
1. Keyword-centric or not
SEO has long dictated that having a popular keyword right in your domain name will help your search engine rankings. But the rule now is gradually losing its value. Your visitors might get turned off to see a domain name like “bestpizzaplace.com” but they will connect with “kellyspizza.com”. However, this does not mean that you should totally overlook the influence of keywords. The domain “kellysbestpizza.com” also works.
2. Take help from suggestion tools
The internet is flooded with online domain name suggestion tools that take your initial idea as a reference and suggest similar names. You can also check their availability instantly with any domain and hosting provider to finalise. These suggestion tools can often act as the spark you need during your brainstorming and refine the name that you have written on your pad. With suggestions, “kellyspizza.com” and become “kellysauthenticitalian.com”, a name that might not come to your mind instantly.
3. Play around with TLDs
Although dot-com and dot-net command some authority from an SEO perspective but your niche-specific TLDs can help you to gather attention. Get creative and consider top-level domains like dot-dining or dot-restaurant and enable your customers to know what you are all about from just one look. But then again, this will restrict your business to the restaurant sector only whereaswith dot-com, you can expand into FMCG later as well.
4. Avoid misspelled domain names
This only creates confusion and your customers might end up somewhere else when they are directly searching for you. Just to get the domain name you like, avoid adding an extra “z” to “pizza” and stay away from picking similar names that already exist in the market. Like your business, your domain name must be unique as well and your customers should find you with the right grammatical spelling.
5. Shorter is always better
When it comes to domain names shorter is always better. If you are not able to finalize a domain name down to one memorable word, add one or maximum twomore words. In general combinations of two words work quite well formemorable names. Also, try and not use an acronym. It is quite difficult for people to remember the letters unless it’s a highly likeable name.
6. No Numbers and Hyphens
Numbers and hyphens usually cause confusion especially when used in middle of a domain name. Numbers are still ok when used like 123greetings.com but never use hyphens stay away from them at all costs. Even something as clever as the worldnumber1.com will cause confusion. Make the name speak for itself and something that connects with your goal, business and product or service.
First Impression makes a difference. A catchy or meaningful name is just the start. Don’t treat your domain name like after thought. Brainstorm and spend a good amount of time on it so that you can build a winning brand in the long run.
