Part 1 â Planning your site.
The first thing you should do before contemplating the name should be to make sure you have fully planned your website, with particular regards to what it does, the services and products that it offers, and who it is targeted towards. Until you know this it will be very difficult to judge what the correct name for the site should be. Alongside considering the use of the site and its target audience, you should also be conscious at this point of your budget for the site, particularly with regards to its promotion once launched. The reason for this is that some domain names were not originally related to the topic of the site, but have been heavily promoted and âbrandedâ until; the name appears second nature. Examples of this would be the large domain registrars such as Sedo, Enom and Godaddy- none of these names had anything to do with domains until these sites made it so. This concept of branding is important to naming your website because it may be hard to achieve on a small budget. If you only have limited funds for your website, it may well prove a wiser move to look for names relating to the subject of your site, it is still possible to âbrandâ these sites â look at sitepoint, you could probably guess from the name what the domain relates to, but at the same time it is branded well to achieve its own âauraâ. If you are looking for a brandable name it is difficult for me to advise you as to how to pick the correct one, as each must be taken on its own merits. The best advice I can give is to take the name or word and ask a few friends (or strangers) what it reminds them of, and get their feedback. Obviously the most valuable feedback will come from those who fit the demographic of the siteâs target audience.
When you are entirely satisfied have a good concept for a website and know what its services and audience will be, it is time to move on to researching a name.
Part 2 â Researching your name
This is a very important step in choosing the right domain name, and there are several factors to consider. Firstly, whilst it pays to be thorough and examine every angle of your domain, it is important to be vigilant as to how and where you do this. If you are building a site for an existing company, the logical choice would be to start with the name of the company, although if this is long, you may want to consider using a shorter, more memorable acronym for the website, as these can be easier to type, spell and recognise for people of all nationalities. This concept is very well understood amongst web developers and domain traders, meaning that short names of 2, 3, or 4 characters often carry a lot of value, even in the reseller market.
If your website is a completely new venture, a good start is to determine the best keywords relating to your site. The best way to do this is through a combination of overture research and domain suggestion tools, both of which can be accessed at DomainingLinks.com. Overture is the number of searches performed for a specific term on yahoo every month. It is helpful for demonstrating the most commonly searched for phrases around a generic term. The data from overture can also be compared against search results for the same phrase on major search engines., as ideally you should look for phrases that are frequently searched for, but that have a relatively low number of websites showing as results for that phrase- lower competition will give you a better chance when optimising your website for search engine traffic.
You may already by now have a good idea about the name you think you will pick for your site. It would be wise use an independent whois checker to see if your name is available, as many run by domain registrars etc are monitored, and you may be disappointed to find that even if your name is free when you run the check, somebody else could register it soon after if you leave it to think about it. Also, Godaddy, one of the largest registrars, have a ârecent searchesâ section viewable by anyone, so if you search for a domain but donât purchase it, somebody else could see the name and swipe it before you do. The best way to avoid this is to use an official whois checker and read their data use policy, remembering not to search for a name until you are ready to register it.
Part 3 â Registering a new name or buying a name for sale?
Right! By this stage you have selected a name, or a small selection of possibilities and done your whois check. If the name you are interested in is not yet registered, it would be best to do so as soon as possible. You may at this point be considering what extension is the best for your type of website. It is now generally accepted that if possible, you should almost always try to secure the .com, as this is the best known from a consumer point of view. Most of the best names in this extension however, are already taken, so you may well find that the name you require isnât available in the .com. The various extensions that are available are all in existence for a reason. The best alternative for an international site to the .com is usually a .net, although if your website is for an organisation or charity .org should be considered. One of the strongest new extensions is the .info, which is most suitable for information sites (of course!). At this moment in time, .biz is not at its strongest, but it should be considered if a name is available in this extension, particularly if the site you are promoting is for a business. If at all possible, it is wise to register your name in as many of the top extensions as possible, as you can point all the domains to your main site. If you are targeting your site more locally, the best extension to go for would be the relative country code, although again vigilant developers would try to register the .com too. There are a huge number of registrars to pick from when you do register your name, and it would be wise to pay a few pennies more to register with a reputable company, than try to save a little by opting for a cheap offer from a lesser known registrar.
What to do if the name you want is taken
If you canât register the name you want because somebody else already has, first consider whether there is an equally suitable alternative. If not, you should try to determine the owner of the name by checking the whois records again. It may also pay to see if the name is actually in use or has been purchased by a speculator. If the domain is in use, it will probably be hard to prise it from the grasp of its current owner, but if it is parked or for sale, you may want to approach the owner about the possibility of selling the name (their email address should be on the whois records). Before you do this, you should consider what the name is worth to your enterprise, and not pay any higher. Consider however, that a quality, memorable name can pay for itself very quickly in marketing terms, as opposed to a less desirable name. Many domains sell for thousands of dollars, so if you are creating a major website, the investment should retain value, or become more valuable over time.
Copyright Chris Thomas 2006 This article may not be reproduced in whole or in part without explicit consent of the author in writing.
The first thing you should do before contemplating the name should be to make sure you have fully planned your website, with particular regards to what it does, the services and products that it offers, and who it is targeted towards. Until you know this it will be very difficult to judge what the correct name for the site should be. Alongside considering the use of the site and its target audience, you should also be conscious at this point of your budget for the site, particularly with regards to its promotion once launched. The reason for this is that some domain names were not originally related to the topic of the site, but have been heavily promoted and âbrandedâ until; the name appears second nature. Examples of this would be the large domain registrars such as Sedo, Enom and Godaddy- none of these names had anything to do with domains until these sites made it so. This concept of branding is important to naming your website because it may be hard to achieve on a small budget. If you only have limited funds for your website, it may well prove a wiser move to look for names relating to the subject of your site, it is still possible to âbrandâ these sites â look at sitepoint, you could probably guess from the name what the domain relates to, but at the same time it is branded well to achieve its own âauraâ. If you are looking for a brandable name it is difficult for me to advise you as to how to pick the correct one, as each must be taken on its own merits. The best advice I can give is to take the name or word and ask a few friends (or strangers) what it reminds them of, and get their feedback. Obviously the most valuable feedback will come from those who fit the demographic of the siteâs target audience.
When you are entirely satisfied have a good concept for a website and know what its services and audience will be, it is time to move on to researching a name.
Part 2 â Researching your name
This is a very important step in choosing the right domain name, and there are several factors to consider. Firstly, whilst it pays to be thorough and examine every angle of your domain, it is important to be vigilant as to how and where you do this. If you are building a site for an existing company, the logical choice would be to start with the name of the company, although if this is long, you may want to consider using a shorter, more memorable acronym for the website, as these can be easier to type, spell and recognise for people of all nationalities. This concept is very well understood amongst web developers and domain traders, meaning that short names of 2, 3, or 4 characters often carry a lot of value, even in the reseller market.
If your website is a completely new venture, a good start is to determine the best keywords relating to your site. The best way to do this is through a combination of overture research and domain suggestion tools, both of which can be accessed at DomainingLinks.com. Overture is the number of searches performed for a specific term on yahoo every month. It is helpful for demonstrating the most commonly searched for phrases around a generic term. The data from overture can also be compared against search results for the same phrase on major search engines., as ideally you should look for phrases that are frequently searched for, but that have a relatively low number of websites showing as results for that phrase- lower competition will give you a better chance when optimising your website for search engine traffic.
You may already by now have a good idea about the name you think you will pick for your site. It would be wise use an independent whois checker to see if your name is available, as many run by domain registrars etc are monitored, and you may be disappointed to find that even if your name is free when you run the check, somebody else could register it soon after if you leave it to think about it. Also, Godaddy, one of the largest registrars, have a ârecent searchesâ section viewable by anyone, so if you search for a domain but donât purchase it, somebody else could see the name and swipe it before you do. The best way to avoid this is to use an official whois checker and read their data use policy, remembering not to search for a name until you are ready to register it.
Part 3 â Registering a new name or buying a name for sale?
Right! By this stage you have selected a name, or a small selection of possibilities and done your whois check. If the name you are interested in is not yet registered, it would be best to do so as soon as possible. You may at this point be considering what extension is the best for your type of website. It is now generally accepted that if possible, you should almost always try to secure the .com, as this is the best known from a consumer point of view. Most of the best names in this extension however, are already taken, so you may well find that the name you require isnât available in the .com. The various extensions that are available are all in existence for a reason. The best alternative for an international site to the .com is usually a .net, although if your website is for an organisation or charity .org should be considered. One of the strongest new extensions is the .info, which is most suitable for information sites (of course!). At this moment in time, .biz is not at its strongest, but it should be considered if a name is available in this extension, particularly if the site you are promoting is for a business. If at all possible, it is wise to register your name in as many of the top extensions as possible, as you can point all the domains to your main site. If you are targeting your site more locally, the best extension to go for would be the relative country code, although again vigilant developers would try to register the .com too. There are a huge number of registrars to pick from when you do register your name, and it would be wise to pay a few pennies more to register with a reputable company, than try to save a little by opting for a cheap offer from a lesser known registrar.
What to do if the name you want is taken
If you canât register the name you want because somebody else already has, first consider whether there is an equally suitable alternative. If not, you should try to determine the owner of the name by checking the whois records again. It may also pay to see if the name is actually in use or has been purchased by a speculator. If the domain is in use, it will probably be hard to prise it from the grasp of its current owner, but if it is parked or for sale, you may want to approach the owner about the possibility of selling the name (their email address should be on the whois records). Before you do this, you should consider what the name is worth to your enterprise, and not pay any higher. Consider however, that a quality, memorable name can pay for itself very quickly in marketing terms, as opposed to a less desirable name. Many domains sell for thousands of dollars, so if you are creating a major website, the investment should retain value, or become more valuable over time.
Copyright Chris Thomas 2006 This article may not be reproduced in whole or in part without explicit consent of the author in writing.
