How to Choose a Domain Name to Register

A Web Hosting Article Contributed by Raj Rao

Why Choose a Domain Name to Register

You can register a domain name for either Personal use or Business use. A Domain Name is your window to the online world. You can put up a personal website or an online business using a Domain Name.

A Domain allows users on the Internet to find your website. A domain name enables online users to search your website in Search Engines like Google.com and Yahoo.com.

Strategy for Choosing a Domain Name to Register

Choosing a Domain Name is similar to choosing a name for your first child. You would want as much meaning in the name as possible. A Domain Name should also be meaningful to ensure that visitors to the website remember the domain name for a long time.

Your Domain Name should reflect some concept associated with your business. For instance, if you have a business of selling Shirts, the most obvious domain name would be shirts.com. In case, this is not available you can select names like Whiteshirts.com or fancyshirts.com or partyshirts.com or formalshirts.com etc. All of the convey that you are in the business of shirts.

Second way to search for a domain name to register would be to use a 'Name Suggest' service offered by several Domain Registrars. You need to supply some keywords like 'shirts' 'formal' 'fancy' etc and the Name Suggest feature will provide you a list of domain names that are available using the keywords.

Third way to search and register a domain name is searching for associated keywords in a Search Engine like Google.com or Yahoo.com. Research the names used by your competitors. Make a list of concepts used by them in the domain name. See if there is a gap in the concept and use it to your advantage.

Fourth way to search and register a domain name is to see beyond the Internet and look for names in the advertisements in newspapers, magazines and Television. See the words used in the copy of the advertisements. Does a word ring a bell? Do you think your target audience will recognize and associate the word with your line of business? Then go ahead and select that name as the Domain Name for your business.

Tips to Choose and Register a Domain Name

a) Keep the domain name as short as possible.

b) You can use multiple domain names for a single website, but promote only the one that you think has the best chance of being recognized with your business.

c) Domain Name need not be your brand name. It could be any word or a combination of words associated with your line of business.

d) Use the Thesaurus to look for synonyms and similar sounding names. Use these as domain name in case you cannot locate your best choice.

e) Always search for the domain name in the Trade Mark registry before you register a domain name to avoid legal issues.