How to Choose a Website Domain Name - 11 Principles
Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 6:28 am
What name to give the site
1. It is best to use your brand name directly in the domain. However, this is not always possible, especially in old domain zones like .com. Most of the beautiful and short words have been registered there for a long time. If the domain is taken, you can try to buy it. Domain owners do not always set exorbitant prices.
2. If the domain uses a brand, the perception of your site name by the target audience is predetermined by the quality of naming - the process of coming up with a brand name. Naming is a whole direction in copywriting, which can be written about in a separate article. Here we will limit ourselves to just three requirements for the name of a company or product:
absence of inappropriate associations;
easy to pronounce;
the absence of someone else's trademark registered under this name (at least in your business niche).
3. It is believed that the shorter the domain name, the better. Short domains look solid and are easy to remember. However, short and beautiful names are usually already taken - you will have to spend a lot of money. The amount is from several thousand rubles to millions of dollars, depending on the attractiveness of the domain name and the appetites of the domain owner.
4. If the domain with your brand name is not available, you can proceed as follows:
a) Add a word to the brand name that characterizes its field of activity. For example, if your jewelry store is called "Diamant", then you can choose diamantshop.ru as a domain name, etc.
b) Use keywords in the title that describe the essence of your offer. For example, remont-kvartir.ru
Which domain zone to choose
5. Don't limit yourself to ru and com domain zones. In recent years, many new thematic domain zones have appeared, such as:
.agency,
.group,
.shop,
.bar etc.
The abundance of thematic domain zones has expanded the boundaries for imagination and marketing calculations.
Yes, .ru and .com are the most authoritative domain zones for Russian Internet users. However, you shouldn't get hung up on them - consider other options!
6. Don't go to extremes with Cyrillic domains. There are often diametrically opposed opinions about Cyrillic domain names. In fact, domains in this zone are neither bad nor good. Everything depends on the situation, the specifics of your business. When deciding whether to use Cyrillic domains, compare their pros and cons in relation to your individual situation.
Advantages of Cyrillic domains:
they are easy to remember;
fully convey Russian words, unlike transliteration;
are perfect for projects with a national, patriotic theme;
There are still a huge number of unregistered beautiful and short names in Cyrillic domain zones.
Cons:
when shared on social networks, Cyrillic domains are reflected in panic code, for example, “yoursite.rf” will turn into “xn--80aae4a1bi2b.xn--p1ai”;
for the same reason, it is impossible to create a decent looking email address on them;
They close your exit to the West, to countries where people do not use the Cyrillic alphabet.
A compromise solution: you can register a Cyrillic domain in addition to the Latin one and use it as a mirror. We did this ourselves, our site is available both at marketingup.ru and at marketingup.rf.
7. When using a geographic domain zone, try to think several steps ahead, imagine where you plan to uk number for whatsapp operate in the future. For example, if you are currently working in a certain region, but dream of expanding to a national and international scale as soon as possible, you should not limit yourself to regional domain zones such as .moscow, spb.ru, .tatar, etc. It makes sense to use a national, international or thematic domain zone.
8. You can play with associations with domain zones, sometimes this allows you to create a memorable domain name.
For example:
sigaretam.net - although the .net domain zone was originally intended for Internet topics, in RuNet this domain is often “played with” because of its consonance with the Russian word “net”;
understand.me — Montenegro's .me domain zone is written the same way as the English pronoun "me/me/myself". Therefore, it is well suited for projects related to personal matters.
interesnoe.tv — the Tuvalu domain zone was ordered by God himself to be used for websites related to television;
klassika.fm — the domain zone of the Federated States of Micronesia is perfect for radio.
1. It is best to use your brand name directly in the domain. However, this is not always possible, especially in old domain zones like .com. Most of the beautiful and short words have been registered there for a long time. If the domain is taken, you can try to buy it. Domain owners do not always set exorbitant prices.
2. If the domain uses a brand, the perception of your site name by the target audience is predetermined by the quality of naming - the process of coming up with a brand name. Naming is a whole direction in copywriting, which can be written about in a separate article. Here we will limit ourselves to just three requirements for the name of a company or product:
absence of inappropriate associations;
easy to pronounce;
the absence of someone else's trademark registered under this name (at least in your business niche).
3. It is believed that the shorter the domain name, the better. Short domains look solid and are easy to remember. However, short and beautiful names are usually already taken - you will have to spend a lot of money. The amount is from several thousand rubles to millions of dollars, depending on the attractiveness of the domain name and the appetites of the domain owner.
4. If the domain with your brand name is not available, you can proceed as follows:
a) Add a word to the brand name that characterizes its field of activity. For example, if your jewelry store is called "Diamant", then you can choose diamantshop.ru as a domain name, etc.
b) Use keywords in the title that describe the essence of your offer. For example, remont-kvartir.ru
Which domain zone to choose
5. Don't limit yourself to ru and com domain zones. In recent years, many new thematic domain zones have appeared, such as:
.agency,
.group,
.shop,
.bar etc.
The abundance of thematic domain zones has expanded the boundaries for imagination and marketing calculations.
Yes, .ru and .com are the most authoritative domain zones for Russian Internet users. However, you shouldn't get hung up on them - consider other options!
6. Don't go to extremes with Cyrillic domains. There are often diametrically opposed opinions about Cyrillic domain names. In fact, domains in this zone are neither bad nor good. Everything depends on the situation, the specifics of your business. When deciding whether to use Cyrillic domains, compare their pros and cons in relation to your individual situation.
Advantages of Cyrillic domains:
they are easy to remember;
fully convey Russian words, unlike transliteration;
are perfect for projects with a national, patriotic theme;
There are still a huge number of unregistered beautiful and short names in Cyrillic domain zones.
Cons:
when shared on social networks, Cyrillic domains are reflected in panic code, for example, “yoursite.rf” will turn into “xn--80aae4a1bi2b.xn--p1ai”;
for the same reason, it is impossible to create a decent looking email address on them;
They close your exit to the West, to countries where people do not use the Cyrillic alphabet.
A compromise solution: you can register a Cyrillic domain in addition to the Latin one and use it as a mirror. We did this ourselves, our site is available both at marketingup.ru and at marketingup.rf.
7. When using a geographic domain zone, try to think several steps ahead, imagine where you plan to uk number for whatsapp operate in the future. For example, if you are currently working in a certain region, but dream of expanding to a national and international scale as soon as possible, you should not limit yourself to regional domain zones such as .moscow, spb.ru, .tatar, etc. It makes sense to use a national, international or thematic domain zone.
8. You can play with associations with domain zones, sometimes this allows you to create a memorable domain name.
For example:
sigaretam.net - although the .net domain zone was originally intended for Internet topics, in RuNet this domain is often “played with” because of its consonance with the Russian word “net”;
understand.me — Montenegro's .me domain zone is written the same way as the English pronoun "me/me/myself". Therefore, it is well suited for projects related to personal matters.
interesnoe.tv — the Tuvalu domain zone was ordered by God himself to be used for websites related to television;
klassika.fm — the domain zone of the Federated States of Micronesia is perfect for radio.