Understanding what Makes a Good Domain Name

image 1

A good domain name is:

  • Easy to say in person. It's unwieldy to say "digit" before a number in aURL, or the word "dash" or "hyphen"; besides, people have a hard time finding the dash character on a keyboard.

  • Easy to understand over the radio or on the phone. Words that include the ess and eff sounds are often confused when listening, as are certain consonant pairs like b/p, c/z, or d/t. If you're selling in other countries, confusion between English consonants is different, such as b/v in Spanish or r/l in Japanese.

  • Easy to spell. Using homonyms might be a clever way to get around a competitor who already owns a name you'd like to have; however, you're just as apt to drive traffic to your competitor as to gain some for yourself. Also, try to avoid foreign words, words that are deliberately misspelled just because they are available (for example, valu rather than value), or words that are frequently misspelled

  • Easy to type. The longer the URL, the more likely a typo. Your domain name can be as long as 59 characters, but unskilled typists average an error every 7 keystrokes!

  • Easy to read in print and online ads. You can insert capital letters or use a different color for compound domain names to make them easier to read. Be sure your domain name can also be read easily in black and white, and in a logotype if you design one

  • Easy to read in the address toolbar. You can't use colors or capitalization to distinguish parts of a compound name or acronym in address or search engine boxes. Depending on the browser fonts set by the user, the letters m, n, or r next to each other (mrnrnm) are very hard to read, as are the characters l/i (lilllil), or the similar digit/letter combination of 1/l.

  • Easy to remember. Words or phrases are easier to remember than a stream of letters in an acronym, unless your target audience already knows the acronym from extensive branding (for example, AARP). Your domain name may be, but doesn't need to be, your business name, unless you enjoy a preexisting brand identity


Related Articles

  • Understanding what Makes a Good Domain Name
    A good domain name is:
  • What Is a Domain Name?
    Imagine life without the internet? No - everything these days is governed by its presence, so it is important that everyone has at least a basic understanding of the key to all this activity - Domain Names.
  • How to Pick the Perfect Domain Name
    What makes the perfect domain name?
    Well, it has to be:
    Relatively short Simple to remember Easy to spell I was speaking to a customer recently who had a business called Otway Valley Trading Company.
  • E-mail Validation with PHP
    When you register on at a website, the site normally checks if the e-mail address that you enter is in a valid format. This is done by using what called a Regular Expression. What we need to do is check if a string (eg $email) match...
  • What is a domain name?
    The domain name is a unique name that identifies a web site. All domain names have 2 or more parts and are organized hierarchically with the more generic parts to the right. The domain hierarchy is presented by dots found in the domain name...
  • Finding A Domain Name That Is Right For You
    Are you among the millions of people wanting to start your own online business either for business or pleasure? Perhaps you are well established on the internet already but want to get into something new?
  • How to Choose Perfect Domain Name for your website?
    Worried for your Website Domain Name? Then not to worry!! Our complete guide will illustrate you the most perfect steps to choose domain name.
  • Understanding the Domain Name System
    Ever wonder why DNS systems came into existence? Efficiency. Every computer has a distinct IP address, and the Internet needed an elite method for obtaining these addresses and for managing the system as a whole. Enter ICANN.
  • Domain Names-Protect Yours From Drop Catchers
    Imagine youre the owner of a successful Web site, but when you logon one day all you get is an error message. Or worse yet, the domain name now points to a site full of advertisements. Thats right. Youre out of business.
  • Domain Name Search
    When you want to check who registered a particular domain name, you can perform a WHOIS lookup. This will allow you to lookup all data available in the pubic domain records. You can find the owner and thedetails of the domain.

Contact Web Design Outsource and get started today

Need Website Designing, Development, Redesigning, Maintenance and SEO services or help growing your company's web presence? Request a free Quote Now.