The domain name of a website can have a substantial impact on the potential popularity of a website. There are also aspects that relate to your ranking in search engines. Therefore it is a critical decision for all who want to establish their own presence on the Internet.
Domain name registration
There are many domain registrars available on the market from whom you can purchase domain names. Top level domains (TLDs) like .com or .net domain are some of the most popular choices. Before considering the factors that are important for choosing the Registrar, let’s see how to think of a good name for your website.
1. Easy to type
A domain name that is easy to write down is critical to your online success. Not always people will hit your site directly like that, but it will still happen frequently.
2. The shorter, the better
If your domain is long and complicated, the customers may mistype it, or they may have a hard time remembering it. Keep your domain names as short as possible without getting cryptic.
3. Stick to keywords
Having keywords that reflect your content, services or products in your domain name is a good thing. It could potentially also improves the ranking of the website on a search engine.
4. Be memorable
There are millions of websites on the Internet. To find a suitable place for your site, you should choose a memorable name for it.
Finding the right registrar
Almost every domain name registrar provides you with many choices of domain options. They may include many TLDs which are in demand.
Besides that, many registrars also provide many other services which may be useful along with the domain name registration. These services may include:
- Free email addresses
- Privacy protection
- Email forwarding
- URL masking
- DNS management
- Control panels
- Support
So when you are going to opt for a registrar, you must look for the additional services provided. Some registrars will offer discounts on the prices, or some can provide additional months. You need to compare the services rendered before you make the final decision.
Another important thing to consider is the technical assistance provided by the domain registrar. That is very handy when you need any help or have any specific queries around the hosting of your website. There may be many instances when you may want to edit the domain name, but you always need to remember the fact that once the domain name is registered, you’ll not be able to change it.
The prices for the registration should also be reasonable. Make sure that your plan can easily scale with a website getting more and more popular. You should not need to upgrade to a much more expensive plan as soon as you get some traffic coming in.
We are not going to point you towards a particular direction on choosing the right company, but if you’re looking for some examples, you can have a look at this article by Dan Grabham on TechRadar.
Photo credit: Kristina Alexanderson
Editorial notice: This post was contributed by Sunder Singh