Have you ever created a great domain name but find that you can't get what you want?  Then you searched for many other names only to hit defeat. What rules will you break to manipulate a name for the domain you want?  Are there really certain rules when creating a domain name that matter when it comes to SEO, website ranking, word length, or key words that matter while avoiding other keyword combinations?

How do you battle the domain beast when choosing a new domain?

 

The other question many have is what are the rules on TLD's (top level domains) or other domain extensions?  I've always used TLD's and secured my brand with .com and .net.  Often to protect a brand name I'll use various spellings in case some clever deviant decided to copy my domain name in another spelling.  The downside to that, is now you have a lot of domains to keep up with.

Are there other TLD's to consider?

PengieTech said:

It depends on what you are naming. You can't think of it as "domain naming" if it is a company name. It's company naming. If you are naming a product, then it's product naming.



You have to think about your audience. If you are naming a blog just for your own hobby, you can do any creative name. If you are doing a professional blog for something specific, and want to earn, then you need to come up with a professional name that also generates trust.



If you are naming a business, the goal is to earn in most cases. Due to that, you need a good name that generates trust. That then helps to find the domain name for your business website. Normally, that would be the business name with a .com as that's the preferred thing due to recognition. You don't want to do tv ads, etc, and then have people assume you have the .com but you have the .somethingelse because then your ad money just went to get someone else traffic.



If you are naming a product, the same rules apply. Make it a good name that fosters trust. Don't make kitchy names that you find cute. It's not about you. It's about the customer. Who do you want to attract? What need is the product serving? What space are you in? You probably would have competition in that space so always, always, always have the customer in mind. Step out of your own head on that one and just think about that client. Once you have the product name, the domain name usually follows suit. If it's an online product, then the rules are a bit more complex as your product and domain name need to be easy to type, easy to remember, and not be too long.



Do an experiment - type your preferred domain name 50 times fast. Is it easy? Does that domain name make sense to you if you look at it objectively? Are you by accident using a word that promotes something you don't want to promote?




Sure, makes sense, I tend to get caught up in the domain search as opposed to the domain purpose (eg. business or product name as you suggested) because getting the domain name you want isn't that easy.

Also great clarification on the difference between fun and playful naming compared to more serious and professional name selections.

For the past twenty years it's been ingrained in me to secure the .com and .net, has that changed? Is it not necessary to have the matching .net anymore? Just curious since you specified .com. On the other extensions, I've not looked at them because it seems they don't carry the TLD website presence, however, I've noticed some domain extensions have a higher price per year than the .com and .net. For example, I've seen .IO and for some domain names they are $35. per year. I haven't spent much time in researching that though. I've also seen other domain extensions that more apply to the domain name/business type such as "engineering" often follows any "tech" name during my search.

I'm guilty of looking at snappy little names sometimes, and good to have your expert advice and guidance for best business and product naming. It's still hard to product name when there seems to be certain rules to start with like making the name as short as possible, two syllables or three syllables maximum. With those standards, it's hard to "name" your product with what it's about because those key words are either used up or the key words are high key words and you have to pay a premium price.

Good suggestion to say the name out loud. Yes, recently I was playing with domain names and was thoughtfully putting together two words that worked together, but when you actually put them together they either spelled an unacceptable word in the middle or the two words you attached aren't actually being pronounced the way you are intending your audience to sound and read them out as you intend. One group of words came out with the word "minor" in it and that was when I was using the key word "orbit". Of course if I used the words friendsextreme, you can see the problem there. I've only been about to use the word "extreme" in one instance where it didn't imply that other word. So yeah, names can be a challenge and using the right domain service can be an asset to you too. Recently, with my domain challenge, I emailed Porkbun because all of a sudden I kept getting this message that they couldn't put the domain in my cart. When they emailed me back is was because of my word usage and their terms of service. I respect Porkbun more since they are protecting their service and domains from people with bad intentions. Once I emailed them back and explained what I was doing, they unblocked my domain search and had a verification system too that gave me more privileges in my search. That was great customer service but also a reminder, as you suggested, to be mindful of what gibberish you are putting together and make sure it isn't sending the wrong message.

Thank you so much for your professional advice and all of your experience you can share!

Geffers G said:

Re domain naming. Pengie Tech suggested professional domain names when hoping to earn money.  I totally agree, a professional sounding name instills confidence  but I do wonder how Facebook ever became popular, I'm not sure how the name relates to the services it initially provided.  

Geffers

 

 

Yeah, Facebook is like putting together two words that aren't related to each other to me.  Money, I suppose, investment and advertising helped it take off? 

Geffers G said:

Web Diva said: Have you ever created a great domain name but find that you can't get what you want? Then you searched for many other names only to hit defeat. What rules will you break to manipulate a name for the domain you want? Are there really certain rules when creating a domain name that matter when it comes to SEO, website ranking, word length, or key words that matter while avoiding other keyword combinations? How do you battle the domain beast when choosing a new domain?

 

Personally I have a couple of domains I only keep for a year at a time, usually offered very cheap but price rockets on subsequent years so I let them expire. Only use them for ease of access to external sites I create for experimental services on the cloud.

I'm not really in to web site creation or design, not terribly artistic, I have a small web server running on home network merely for sharing files with a US friend (I'm in UK).

Guess it all depends what needed for. Geffers 

I do the same with domains, though, for me, buying domains is like buying an idea, keeping it for a year and then realizing, nope, I don't think that domain name can be used for something, and I don't keep it.