With millions of websites already out there it can be hard to come up with an idea for a original, unique and lovely name for your blog, website, or even business (these are often the same thing nowadays!!).
When you start thinking and gathering inspiration and ideas for your website or blog name, it’s very helpful to know about a few things and rules, we share them with you here!
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Tip #1: know the blog & website name rules
Let’s start with the basics: really there is only one rule: you’re allowed to use only alphanumeric characters and hyphens in domain names. So you can use the letters a-z and the numbers 0-9 and the – (hyphen or minus sign).
You can’t use any other characters in your domain name. So $%^&*()_=+{:@~<>?,./;’#[]¬`| and \ are all out. Myself, I would have loved to use a ♥ in my domain name, but alas.
The other thing you need to know is that domain names are case insensitive. So it doesn’t matter if you use capitals or not: xyz.com is the same as XYZ.com (or xYz.com or any other combination of uppercase and lowercase).
Oh, and domain names can be a maximum of 63 characters long (but that’s waaaaay too long anyway, so you probably want to go for something shorter).
tip #2: keep it simple – shorter is usually better
You will give your domain name to people when you meet them and talk about what you do.
You will put it on your business card and in your email signature. If you advertise anywhere you’ll want to include it with your email address and phone number.
In all these cases, people will have to write it down or remember it and type it into a browser to get to your website.
If your domain name is really long, people may have trouble remembering it or not bother to write it down. And if you’re including it in an ad with limited space or where you pay by the character (like classifieds), it’s going to help you if your name is short and easy to remember.
So if at all possible, keep your domain name short, simple and easy to pronounce.
tip #3: choose a unique name
A unique domain name is neccessary and important, but it can be a bit of a challenge nowadays to find a completely unique domain name that is not in use by someone else.
For example, if you are thinking of the name sparklecoaching.com, but it’s already taken, but sparkle-coaching.com or sparklecoaching.org is still available, it’s usually not a good idea to go for the hyphen or a different extension, especially if they are offering a similar service.
Your could bring a lot of business to the other site if people simply type in your name without the hyphen!
Also, if the name is trademarked, you may not be allowed to use it (you can usually see this from the ™ symbol).
In our FREE e-book on Website & Blog names you’ll find a lot of tips to come up with a unique name, so don’t worry and continue reading: a unique name can be created in many different ways!
tip #4: how to check if a website or blog name is available
Nowadays, choosing a domain name goes hand in hand with checking whether it’s available. There are millions of websites out there already, which of course means that quite a few names have already been taken. So there may be a possibility that someone else already owns the name you’d like for your site.
Usually it’s best to take it as a sign and move on to look for a different name. The perfect one is out there, just waiting for you to discover it…
It’s important that you research domain name availability in the right way, otherwise it’s possible that your perfect name is snapped up right before your eyes!
This is called Domain “front-running”.
To check whether your name is available, you can start by typing it into a browser and see if there’s a website on it already. If not, chances are the name is available. But you can’t be 100% sure yet. Someone might have just registered the name without building a site on there yet.
Don’t now make the mistake to go to any domain name registrar (the companies that sell domain registrations) to type the domain name that you have in mind in their search box.
First read our post “How to avoid Domain Name Front Running” to make sure you don’t lose your great idea to people that are looking to make money from re-selling domain names.
tip #5: how to choose the extension (.com, .blog etc)
Nowadays there are many different domain name extensions. The best known and most popular/desirable are still .com, .net and .org.
**However**, the best choice for you depends on what you do and sometimes also on where you’re based.
Dot com names are generally used for companies. Dot net for network organisations or groups, and dot org by organisations and not-for-profits.
Of course there are also the local country extensions. For example, if you’re based in the UK and your market is also in the UK, then a .co.uk domain name is probably the best choice for you.
If the .com is also available it would be good to register that as well. Both can be pointed to your website at the same time. The same goes for other countries and extensions, such as .fr for France, .ca for Canada, etc.
We’ve already mentioned it before, but if only .net or .org are available, while .com is in use, then it is often better to think of something else.
Here’s an example; if marketingbooks.com is in use, but marketingbooks.net is still available, this might not be such a great alternative. People often don’t pay much attention to the extension and might land on your competitor’s website.
Luckily there are many new domain name extensions, which give us lots of opportunity to get creative with your website name. A couple of examples are freeimage.love and walkingholiday.info.
Download our Free E-book on website & blog names for lots of brainstorm tips and handy tools to help you come up with a unique and creative blog or website name. We also link to a list with the **best** new domain name extensions for female entrepreneurs in this e-book.
tip #6: register your website or blog name yourself
When you’re having your website set up by someone else, it’s quite common to also let them register the domain name for you.
However, we advise against this and let all our customers register their domain name in their own name.
This means you are the one who pays the annual bill for your domain name, and you have full control over it.
We have well over a decade of experience working in web design and we’ve seen a few cases where our clients had fallen out with their previous web designer, and unfortunately you are in a very dependent position if they choose to be unhelpful.
They could for example take down your website or be slow and unhelpful when work on your website requires access to your domain name details.
We can point you in the right direction (we explain in our Free e-book how & where to register your domain name), but to be sure and safe, always register your domain name yourself!
Summarizing 🙂
We hope this was useful info for you. If you have any questions about choosing or registering your blog or website name, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us!
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