Many new websites hope to become the next Twitter or Google, but few have actually invested the time and research in coming up with the perfect domain name to guide them towards that level of success. To a person with little internet experience, ‘Twitter’ and ‘Google’ might sound like words a two year old made up, but in reality, they were deliberate and sound choices that have lead both domain names to become cultural phenomenons (and even verbs)!

The best domain names tend to combine a bit of search engine optimization, marketability, branding, linkability, authority, and distinction into one big mash-up. Each factor has its own advantages and disadvantages, so the trick is in finding the right balance for your purpose. Regardless of the purpose of your website though, it will be very difficult for users to find you without the right domain name. And while what exactly falls under “right” is up for debate, we can at least give you some tips to point you in the “right” direction - towards a domain name that doesn’t suck.

Branding Considerations

In many cases, the goal of starting a website is to create a digital space that serves as an extension of an existing brand. In other cases, a brand must be established for the first time through the website. In either situation, the success of the website begins with the choice of strong, representative domain name. Below are a few things to consider when selecting a domain to extend or define your brand.

1. Descriptiveness – Often, companies will try to get the exact name of their business for a domain name. If the .com domain is unavailable, they might consider ditching the .com and moving over to .net or .org, however this often leads to customer confusion (see #2 - Originality). In this case, you might take a creative approach by seeking out domains that reflect the identity of your site through a common industry phrase or illustrative wording. For example, www.ireallylikefood.com, allows for a relatively confusion-free way for a domain name to advertise the site and what they’re about.

2. Originality – Stand out from your competitors! Avoid choosing a name similar to your competitors. Search engines don’t like this and you may lose business when customers mistakenly go to the wrong address. This lack of diversity can be seen in the online flower industry where many businesses have been unable to uniquely brand their domain name, making it extremely hard for any one of them to stand out in the crowd.

3. Creativity – This is especially important for businesses known for their creativity, such as Google. Many aspire to follow in Google’s footsteps by inventing words (see Twitter or Flickr) that result in easily recognized brands. Of course the down side to creative names is that they might not immediately reveal the nature of the site.

SEO Considerations

Sometimes the selection of a domain name may be influenced by an SEO motives, in which case, the goal of the name would be to increase accessibility through search engines. The following factors are just a few things to consider when selecting a domain for SEO. And of course, a carefully crafted, SEO-minded domain name is only step one in the eternal quest for better search engine rankings, so don’t solely rely on a good name to get you to the top.

4. Distinction – Search engines crawl through the internet collecting details to help them provide their users with the most accurate results possible. When these crawlers reach your site, they consult your domain name for an initial overview of your site. A well crafted domain name can definitely help in your SEO strategy. For example, exclusively selling oranges on FruitCity.com is okay, but a name like OrangeCity.com is much better, as it includes the keyword “orange”, thereby reinforcing the target product anywhere it’s displayed.

5. The Hyphen Debate – Despite what you might have heard, domain names and hyphens can play nice. While not exactly user friendly, hyphens can help you rise to the top of search engine ranking pages (SERP), as the hypens help Google to extract the individual keywords in your domain name. For example, search engines will identify, and give you ranking points for, the keywords “baseball” and “gloves” in Baseball-Gloves.com, as opposed to the mash-up of BaseballGlove.com.

   If you are trying to maximize your website’s reach in the human market, hyphens might be a good thing to avoid. They confuse web users and are hard to refer back to. For example, compare the domains: oranges-for-sale.com and orangevendor.com. The same basic usability concerns apply to numbers - do you spell the number out or represent it numerically (Five vs. 5)?

6. Simplicity – When possible, try to keep your domain name under ten characters and the fewer words the better. Stick to easily spelled words and be cautious about using words in other languages, no matter how basic they are.

Acquiring Your Dream Domain

There are a number of online tools available to assist you in choosing and managing your domain name, a few include: DomainFellow, MakeWords, NameBoy, and DomainNameSoup.

Once you come up with the perfect domain name, you should immediately check its availability through a service like: GoDaddy, Network Solutions, DomainTools, or eNom. If your name is already taken, sites like these may be able to provide you with information on the owner of the site, offer similar alternatives, or help get you on a waiting list for later purchase.

These tips should help to get you started, but remember that you’re probably not going to succeed based on a good domain name alone. Content, SEO, customer support, solid functionality - they all play a part, and domain names can certainly be a critical factor.

Editor’s Note: Our guest blogger, Katherine Naszradi, is currently a senior at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, pursuing a career in marketing. She’s had extensive experience building social media campaigns and online brand identities through sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. In her spare time she can be found traversing the Twittersphere as @krnasz, creating abstract works of art, and running with the bulls in Spain. Thanks Katherine, for a great post!