Memorable, easy to spell and short are the three main pillars of selecting a good website or blog name. The name you select will impact how people view your site and more importantly how many may choose to visit your business. Something quirky may attract a specific audience, while a modern spin on a name may attract millennials. More traditional names that invoke images of stability and age might be better for older people or more prestigious companies.
Most of the obvious, self-describing names have already been taken, but with a little creativity, it is entirely possible to select a great name for our website. Just like selecting your niche may require careful thought, your website name or indeed your business name may also require some thought. The attached cheat-sheet may assist you in developing your idea further.
Strategies for selecting a website name
- Choose a feeling or emotion that you would like to associate with your company or website. This is harder to achieve as many are self-conscious when it comes to putting themselves out there.
- Choose a set of words that describe the business.
- “Tripadvisor
” springs to mind. The words “trip” and “advisor” literally describe the primary reason for you to visit the site – to get information about your destination. In just 2 words, they captured their value proposition perfectly. - “Lonely Planet” is not as descriptive and from the name, I would not quite know what the business is about.
- “Tripadvisor
- Choose an abbreviation or acronym for your company name. Companies such as “Microsoft” spring to mind and certainly, with the right abbreviation, the name can become very meaningful.
- Use your personal name as the website name. This is very popular these days and does make it simpler for people who know you to find you.
- Choose a random name that just stands out. “Google“, “Yelp“, “Tinder” mean very little pre-internet, but use them today and everyone knows exactly what you mean.
DOES YOUR DOMAIN NAME AFFECT SEO?
The jury is out on this one. Many sites certainly suggest a correlation, but not necessarily causation between a focused domain name and a more aspirational brand name. However, unless your brand is well known, a more general name may not generate as many clicks. For example, if you see “Acabado.com”, the name means as much as “Amazon” did a decade ago. Similarly, using your own name may not mean much until you have established yourself as an authority on a subject.
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO SELECT YOUR DOMAIN NAME (4 EASY STEPS)
Step 1: Choose your niche.
Once you know your niche and your target audience, you can determine if a very specific name or an aspirational brand name would be most suitable. As aspirational names require you to build brand recognition before you can leverage it, I will not discuss this here any further.
Step 2: Choose a few keywords to describe your niche.
All websites want to rank for specific keywords. After all, would you rather choose to order “Sweet and Sour Pork”from a restaurant that specifically mentions “Chinese restaurant” in its name or from a more generic “WhaleyCooks” place?
When people search online, it is always best to have a name that is descriptive of the target niche so that people easily associate you with their needs. Remember, Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo dedicate very little space on each page to a website and you want to make it simple for any visitor to understand what you offer.
Choosing a keyword for your website also serves to focus the website. It would be odd to find French recipes on a site that mentions “Chinese cooking” in its title. Simply put, the right keyword in the name of a site means that the brand identity of the site is reinforced for Google and for users.
Using tools such as Google Keyword Planner and KWFinder or even Ubersuggest will help you to locate keywords with high search volumes and low competition. This is a long-term game.
Step 3: Use domain name generators, ask your friends and use competition sites to generate keywords ideas.
Time to brainstorm! At this stage, you want to develop 20-30 possible names and let these sit at the back of your mind for a few days. Use a name generator such as Domain Wheel to get a potential list.
Then check on namechk.com to see if all of the possible Social Media avenues are free. In the long run, you may need a presence on YouTube, Instagram or Pinterest to drive traffic to your site.
Step 4: Select your domain name based on easy to use criteria.
The best names are of course:
- Memorable. People are bombarded with information every day. Using a memorable name means that you remain in their minds at all time.
- Creative. This is a subset of memorable names. “Namechk” works because it is memorable – the name is the function, but also it is creative as each time I have to type it, I need to think just a little bit about the spelling, which etches the name in my mind.
- Concise and clear. Simple names are easy to recall. We have a limited capacity for memorization and the less we have to tax ourselves, the more likely we are to recall the name. A descriptive name that is concise sticks to the mind. I do not speak Brazilian Portuguese, so the name “Acabado” meant little to me until its meaning was explained – “It is finished” – now, the name is descriptive, creative, memorable (I have meaning i that word) and concise – a single word.
- Easy to read and pronounce. One of the worst words in the English dictionary is “Worcestershire (sauce)”. No one can spell it and while you can recognise it, few can pronounce it. Choosing an easy name is paramount. Avoid numbers and special characters as these are confusing when spoken aloud.
Try your favorite website names on your friends and family and get their perspective… Are you embarrassed to say the name? How will you feel in front of a stranger? Do they get the name? If not, this might be too cryptic. If you have to explain your website name, the name is not string enough. Do you have to spell the name out? Then the name is just too complex. Imagine trying to pass on the name via a telephone. If the other person cannot spell it, then you need a new name.