Choosing a domain name is one of the most important things you will do when you are starting an affiliate marketing website. It’s can be pretty simple for some people or perhaps they have had one in mind all along. But there are a few considerations to make when you are choosing your domain name. So here is how to choose a domain name for your website, and information that might help you choose it.
Why Is It So Important To Have a Good Domain Name?
It’s your “first impression”: It’s the first thing people will see. It will be on your business cards and in all your posts and communications. You want it to say what your are about at first glance.
It Affects SEO (Search Engine Optimization): You want it to be picked up by the search engines so they direct traffic to your site.
It Defines Your Brand: People will identify with your products by looking at your domain name. They will make judgments about you, your website, your products, and your services. It sill be your business identity.
It’s a Long Term Deal: You can certainly change domain names, but it’s a difficult process, and it may harm your search engine ranking status. So, it’s something you will be using long term.
Choosing the Words
Go With A .com: It is the most commonly used extension and has kind of become part of our vernacular. When you say “dot com” everyone knows what that means. It’s easier to remember too. I have worked for a company that has .net, and I can tell you that people messed that up all the time.
Easy To Say and Spell: You want people to say and type your domain name A LOT, and you will be saying it and typing it yourself. So make it easy on your customers and take it easy on yourself in the process.
Keep It Short and Sweet: Long domain names are a hassle for everyone. Think about the last time you typed out a long one, how it didn’t fit in the box you were given, and how, when you tried to go back and make sure you typed it correctly, you messed it up and had to start all over. Avoid frustrations like that.
No Hyphens: Hyphens add an element of awkwardness to the saying and typing of the domain name. Besides, most people don’t refer to a hyphen as a hyphen. They say “dash”, which can get confusing. Avoid confusion!
Use Keywords: Using your SEO tool and searching out a great keyword that describes your subject matter is an excellent way to get search engine ranking from the get-go. If you can find the perfect keyword, you are one step further into making your website noticeable.
Consider Using Your Name: It doesn’t have to be your whole name, perhaps just your first and/or middle name, or a nickname. It personalizes your site, and hopefully makes it unique. If you have a common name, this may not work for you. I’m talking to you, John Smith. One of my websites is my first and middle name, RhondaLeigh. I think it’s cool and catchy.
Make It Expandable: If you are a normal human being, you will not remain the same, and neither will your website. Let’s say you want to sell pencils on your website. If your domain is pencils.com, what happens if you want to sell erasers? Or pens? Your domain name will be confusing at that point. Maybe go with writingtools.com.
Avoid Strings of Words: It’s OK if you are using a commonly used phrase, like sobeit.com or itiswhatitis.com, but if you are using a list of what you are selling, like babyhatsbottlesandspoons.com, people might remember the words, but not the order in which they appear in your domain name. Then you have more confusion on your hands. Try babythings.com instead.
Avoid Obscure Terms: You might be heavy into Snowdonia Hawkweed, but the common person is not going to know that it’s a yellow dandelion-looking flower. So use layman’s terms!
Try Not To Be Generic: People are not going to get excited over clothes.com. Clothes for who? What? Where? But they might get excited about tinydogclothes.com. See what I did there?
Check Your Domain Name on Social Media Sites: Any web designer worth her/his salt is going to want to promote his/her site on social media. It won’t go over well to choose a domain that is already being used on Facebook and Snap Chat. So, be sure to check out if your name will work with all the social media platforms.
Simple is Best: Don’t overthink it. Pick something easy! You will be glad you did.
But after all of that, the name I chose isn’t available!: Don’t worry. You just need to get creative. “Try looking up similar words in the thesaurus. Ask others for ideas. Mix words up or around. Use a tagline, a nickname or a phrase you say all the time.” From https://amylynnandrews.com
Use a Domain Name Generator: Perhaps you have an idea on what your domain should be but the name you want is registered, or it just doesn’t sound right to you. You need help. So, try a Domain Name Generator:
Wordoid. This tool allows you to plug in a word, it will come up with ideas that either contain that word, begin with that word or end with that word.
Lean Domain Search. This tool matches your keyword with other keywords and generates a list of available domains.
DomainHole. This tool allows you to search keywords, find expired domains, generate new names, and more.
Get Feedback on Your Chosen Domain Name: Ask friends and family to check out your domain name, and to give you good critical feedback on it. What you may think is a great name, might have an issue you are unable to see. It’s a good idea to have objective opinions on the domain name you choose.
Domain Name Help From Wealthy Affiliate
If you are a member, or want to be a member of Wealthy Affiliate, there’s a platform called SiteDomains in which you can purchase domain names for your websites.
For the Free Membership, you are allowed to host 2 domain names. For the Premium Membership, you are allowed 50 domain names.
You can purchase domain names from Wealthy Affiliate for $13.99 each. You can stick with the free domain names provided, but because the domains have a SiteRubix extension, they don’t have the visual appeal and the trust that purchased domain names do. Besides, you are going to want to own your own domains, so you can have complete control over them.
Need help with your domain name? Access the Wealthy Affiliate community, who can give you a selection of domain names that are specific to your niche
Do consider becoming a member of Wealthy Affiliate. You will get world-class training along with the best hosting and research tools. See my articles about Wealthy Affiliate here:
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In Conclusion:
So now you know how to choose a domain name for your website. Find a great domain name that tells the story about you and your business. Apply the hints above and certainly ask for help if you can’t find a good one. And when you do find a good domain name, get some feedback on it before you use it. You will be glad you were thoughtful in picking out such an integral part of your online business.
Please put your comments and questions below, and thank you for reading!
reference:
Hi Rhonda, this article helped me a lot. Choosing a domain name is not so easy task as it seems. I plan to start a new website soon and I should think of domain name but I am stuck at a niche. I want to ask you is it still good to use the personal name in a domain?
Hi Daniel, yes you can certainly use your name. In my niche website, RhondaLeighPlusSizeCapsuleWardrobe.com, I use my first and middle name.
“I highly recommend registering your name as a domain even if you have no plans to do anything with it. Why? Because you never know if you just might become a household name in the future. And then you’ll be glad you have it.
If you plan on using your blog to sell a service you provide or if you hope to speak or become a published writer, your name might be perfect.
If you have a really difficult name to say or spell, consider using your first and middle, or a nickname, or make up a new name altogether (yes, people really do that).” This is from Amy Lynn Andrews
So yes, using your name is perfectly acceptable. Thanks for reading and commenting! Rhonda
Thanks so much for the great ideas and resources! This really helped me to narrow down a domain name. I am in the process of rebuilding and restructuring a site I started about 4 months ago; this is when I found and joined Wealthy Affiliate. I was a complete beginner then and wow have I come a long way thanks to WA!
With all the training and support I have received, I decided to start from the beginning and change many things, including the domain name, before I got so far along that doing so would be difficult, if not impossible. I’m a perfectionist at heart and wanted my site to be exactly how I envisioned it in my head. The techniques and tools in your article were a huge help in leading me to the perfect domain name. I cant thank you enough!
Hi Shannon, I’m so happy that my article helped you with your websites. I too had a couple of websites, that I was going nowhere with, because didn’t know what to do. Thanks to Wealthy Affiliate, I am now writing articles about how to create web pages. What a huge difference! And I hear you on the perfectionism. I have that going for me too, and I know how frustrating it can be when your vision of it doesn’t come out in back and white. So, yea, thanks for reading and commenting on my post, and best of luck to you! Rhonda