Web hosting and domain names go hand in hand. Kind of like left over turkey and hot sauce.
Without one you can not have the other – so I figured it would be nice to know how to find at least one half of that equation. Shopping for domain names can be a tricky task indeed. Hopefully though, with this guide by your side you should be a little more prepared for what is in store for you.
1. Search for Your Desired Domain Name
One of the first things you are going to want to do, after you figure out what domain you want, is to figure out if it is available or not. Now most domain name registers will give you a box to search from. Here are some of my other alternative favorites to do that work for you.
DomainTools.com | AjaxWhois.com | Whois.net
2. Don’t Pick a Hyphenated Domain Name
Think of ten of your favorite Web sites. Do any of them have hyphenated domain names? No. The first reason is, is that hyphenated domain names are really hard for folks to remember. When picking a good domain name, you want to find something short, relevant, and with a few keywords. Sure, there are a few companies that break that rule, take Amazon.com for an example.
3. You Should Be a Picky Shopper
It never hurts to be too picky when it comes to buying a domain name. Before you decide on which domain name register you should go with, you should do your homework on them and make sure they are legit and have no bad history.
Going with the trusted names out there might be the best way to go because then you know they at least have a large user base that they can’t afford to screw over.
Here are some domain name registers to start with:
GoDaddy.com | NetworkSolutions.com | Register.com
4. The Shorter the Domain, the Better
When you have a domain name, you want it to be something that people remember. Now this one should pretty much be common sense, but some people are a little lacking in that department. Something short or something that is unique is usually the best way to go. Overly obvious works as well.
5. Should You Buy Other Extensions?
There are a lot of different domain name extensions out there. From .net to .us, which ones should you buy? Well I would say first things first, you want to get that .com domain name. That is the one most people know and the first one they will try when randomly typing in your name via the browser’s address bar.
6. Purchase Spelling Mistakes
Do you have a domain name that is often misspelled or could be misspelled? In that case it might be a good idea to purchase a few more domain names for those misspellings.
Did you know that Gooogle.com will take you to Google? So does Gooooogle.com. Goooogle.com does not though. See the difference?
Don’t know why they couldn’t get the four “o” Google domain.
7. Get the “You Suck” Domains
Think you are going to be popular? Well in that case, purchasing a domain name with the word sucks after it might be a good idea. This will percent somebody else from doing it in the future and publishing all kinds of bad stuff about you. Did you know the folks at GoDaddy own GoDaddySucks.com? It will take you right to the front page. Beat your competition to this domain and get it now. if your competition hasn’t done so – you might want to by theirs as well.
8. Should Domains be Keyword Heavy?
Sure, there is nothing wrong with that. Search engines love it, and so do real live visitors. I would not sacrifice keyword usage for length though. If you have to choose between getting the keyword rich domain and getting the short domain – I would pick getting the short one.
9. Make Sure You Own Your Domain Name
You should always make sure that the domain name is registered in your name and not the name of the Web host or the domain name register. That way if you want to move to a different Web host or domain name register, the process isn’t such a pain in the rear. Want to find out who’s name your domain name is under?
Just do a simple Whois search and you should be given all the details there are. Make sure you always read the fine print.
10. Domain Name Acronyms
Now I am sure everybody knows what an acronym is. Just in case you don’t though, an acronym is a word that is formed by combining parts of other words. Web Hosting Show Fans acronym would be WHSF. It takes the first letter of each word in the phrase and makes a word out of it. Now do you want to use acronyms when you pick your domain name? I would say maybe. I would rather you get the whole phrase first, and then pick up the acronym later on down the road.
For example, www.ilovemashedpotatosandcheese.com might be a little too long of a domain name. In that case, it might be better to direct people towards www.ilmpac.com.
Bonus! Domain Name Resources
As a special bonus tip – I figured that I would share with you some of my favorite domain name resources. Here is the full list – feel free to leave a comment and suggest your own too!
Uwhois
SamSpade.org Tools
Network Tools
DNS Stuff
Ajax Whois
Domain Tools
Have anymore domain name shopping tips to share?
I use domjax.com a lot, it’s quick and useful
Heya Mitch,
The link to the Sam Spade Tools site is bad. Get a page not found when I tried it. I use Domain Tools myself and like it so far.
Thanks Merlin, got the link fixed. I too like Domain Tools, got it on my bookmark bar for quick whois lookups.
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