Getting a comain name is similar to getting a company name registered from local company registration commissions. Similar checks like no one should have registered your company name before and it if it does, the company should not be active and the registration should be expired in order for us to obtain required company name to be registered under our name. The same way in domain registration, as we can’t buy the domain that have been purchased by others. We still can only if the domain is expired and the previous owner have lost interest in the domain name. Plus, there are less competition with existence of hundreds of different top level domain (TLD) available, including country specific domain names. Generally, it is hard to get a .com or .org or .net domain name for a common name. So, what are the important points need to be considered before purchasing a domain name? Let us get the drill in below checklist to get the best domain name that works best for our business:
1. TLD
Choosing top level domain type plays important role here. Assuming that you are targeting International market, getting common .com domain is vital as it is the first TLD that will strike common minds. Even in Firefox domain, if you just type the domain name, for example; “atniz” without a http:// or www. or .com and press “shift+enter”, by default Firefox will open “atniz.com” blog instead of sending you “atniz.net” or “atniz.org” or some search results from Ask.com or any other search engines. Basic TLD from a .com is very helpful if you want to global. It is easy to remember and best TLD option compared to those others. Also, avoid cheap domain names like .info or .cc because this is the common TLD used by spammers because it is cheap. You don’t want your company name falls in this category with just a few dollars difference.
2. GEO TLD
Assuming that your business concentrates to certain country and is not meant for global market. You should choose local TLD instead. For example, if you are targeting UK market, get a .co.uk TLD domain for your business to get better ranking in UK local search engines. Most search engines refine their algorithm to provide localized and most relevant search results to their visitors. By having local TLD, you are securing a better placement and chances to increase local traffic is brighter. By default, Google will rank your blog in higher priority in local search engines if you have local TLD as you don’t have to select your preferred country from Google Webmaster tools.
3. Keyword Rich
If your business is about “mobile phone”, then get a domain name that includes this keyword in it. Of course, if you give preference towards company name, which can be avoided. But, having a relevant and targeted keyword in domain name will be helpful when it comes to search engine rankings. However, by now most top ranking keywords would have been purchased by domain traders. If you are lucky, you may get some high traffic keywords in your domain name. This will deliver immediate traffic from search engine even before you start any SEO campaigns. Why not make use of this free technique to draw highly targeted traffic by just having keywords in domain name.
4. Private Data
There are some business owners prefers not to show their physical address and owner’s name to Whois records. So, they are forced to purchase private data policy for an average rate of $10 annually. You don’t have to purchase any private data since you will have the complete control to change this details once you own the domain name. You can change your First Name, Last Name, Address, Contact details, and more using your domain control panel. Not many domain buyers realize that and flush away some money in order to gain private license address.
5. Renew 5 years Or More
Search engines tend to give more credit towards domains that have longer period before expiry. Usually, most spammers get their domain registered for less than a year and will not continue to use it. The same goes with the domain traders where they will increase domain popularity within few month for a higher resell value. Having longer registered domain among this group of domain owners will certainly make us look like more serious owners.
If you have more points to check, please share it here. Personally, I will check the above points before purchasing any domain names.
Good tips for purchasing domains.
But now a days it is nearly impossible to get any .com domains with any relevant keywords. so you can go for some other non related domain names, but i think if the site is content rich, you can get good ranks in all the search engines, that would be your main source of traffic.
see ebay and amazon, they have nothing in their domain name, with what they are doing now. but most of the keywords in a google search will locate them.
Nice new look of the site Atniz, but seems like I’ve seen this kind of theme in other sites. I like the green one better
welcoming and casual. Anyhoo, great points for the domain name but we must always be careful in choosing the name that will totally describe the site as a whole.
Thank you for your sincere comment on the new theme. I have been using the old one for more than 2 years now. Just giving this blog a new look.
Also, make sure your domain name doesn’t contain hidden meanings; sometimes things can be interpreted in a very different way. For example, if you had a therapy business, and you wanted to register “therapist.com”, you might want to reconsider, because it could also be read as “the rapist.com”.
Thanks a ton for providing all the details on domain name and what factors need to be kept in mind before purchasing a domain name.I have plans of starting my own website and therefore these information have proved to be really handy.I was aware of some of the things mentioned by you over here but i was able to attain an in-depth knowledge of each points from this post.Really thankful to you.Have bookmarked this page.Look forward to more such useful posts from you.
You can’t change the following if it’s through Yahoo domains…I don’t know about others.
“Domain registrant/organization name and anonymous information such as your domain name servers will remain public.”
I have tried to go in and change it but they don’t allow for this change.My domain was purchased through Yahoo Domains, do the others work this way also or are they different? I use HostGator for my hosting.