How to Choose a Domain Name: Everything You Should Know

Do you want to create a blog?

Are you unsure how to pick the best domain name for your blog?

If that’s the case, we’ve got just the guide for you. In this article, we’ll go over all you need to know about choosing a domain name, as well as the factors to consider.

This guide will teach you:

1. What is a domain name?
2. domain URL’s structure.
3. how to choose a domain name
4. Selecting a Domain Extension
5. Things to think about before deciding on a domain name

Choosing the right domain name for your blog

Your domain name is one of the most important aspects that could influence your online success. Having the appropriate domain may help you build a stronger brand and make ranking your website on search engines much easier.

And having to transfer domain names in the middle is one of the most inconvenient things you can do. It has a significant negative impact on your search engine rankings and brand recognition.

The best option is to take your time and choose the perfect domain name from the start.

However, if you ask, “Couldn’t I succeed without a decent domain name?”

Yes, “Of certainly, with the appropriate mindset and hard effort.”

But it doesn’t imply you should go with whatever name you come up with. Having the right domain name can make your task of building trust, authority and awareness much easier.

When you’re first starting out, it’s difficult to come up with a memorable and intriguing domain name. We’ll show you some amazing tips and tactics in this tutorial to help you simplify the domain name selection process.

Let’s begin by learning what a domain is and how a domain’s URL structure works.

What is a domain name?

The digital equivalent of your physical address is a domain (like your home address or business address). It’s how people will find out about your online presence.

Let’s say you wish to go to a specific website. For this example, we’ll use blogging plex. If you want to visit blogging plex, the first step is to go to a search engine (such as Google, Bing, Duck Duck Go, or others) and type in the website’s name.

You’d be looking for the term “blogging plex” in this scenario. The concern is that you’re looking for a specific term, namely the name of the website you’d like to visit.

Every result related to the term blogging plex will be shown by Google. Not just about the website blogging plex, but a slew of other related results.

The website you search for will appear of the results if it has a high SERP (Search Engine Results Page) ranking. If not, it will appear significantly later in the results. In a nutshell, it’s a long path to a specific digital destination.

You must first go to a search engine, type in the website’s name, find it in the results, and then visit it.

Here’s where domain names prove helpful. A domain name is a website’s digital address. Once you know the domain, you can skip the step of using a search engine and go straight to the destination.

“bloggingplex.com” is the domain name of blogging plex.

If you know the domain name of a website, you can simply open a browser of your choice, type in the domain name, and you’ll be directed to that website.

In a nutshell, the URL for this website is “bloggingplex.com.” Instead of searching for the website’s name on Google, you could go directly to the website’s digital address (bloggingplex.com).

“Hey, I recognize these,” you might think. Everyone is aware of these facts. “Tell me something more useful” you could say.

I wrote this article just for folks who are just getting started with blogging. As a result, we’ve simplified every notion. If you are already own a blog, you may skip any ideas that you are already familiar with.

A domain URL’s structure

Now that you know what a domain name is, let’s look at what a URL is and how it is structured.

A URL, or Uniform Resource Locator, is a web address that shows where a resource can be found. In a nutshell, it’s the location where we can find the resource we’re looking for (in this example, your blog).

A domain URL is usually made up of three parts:

• The WWW 
• Brand Name
• domain extension.

Let’s return to the blogging plex as an example.

www.bloggingplex.com is the domain name of blogging plex.

www (World Wide Web), bloggingplex (the brand name), and.com are the three sections in this case (the domain extension).

The “World Wide Web,” or WWW, is an information system that uses URLs to identify resources (Uniform Resource Locators).

The brand name usually follows the phrase www. In our case, it is “blogging plex”.

The domain extension comes after the company name.

A domain extension is used to designate a website’s category or country code.

For example, “.com” is used for commercial websites, “.blog” is used for blogs, “.uk” is used for the United Kingdom, “.in” is used for India, and so on.

In order to choose the domain name for your blog, you must accomplish two things:

• Pick a company name.
• Decide on a domain extension.

You can choose whether to include the term “www” in the domain name extension when purchasing it. Your website will always be available at the following address, whether you keep it when purchasing:

“www.company name.domain extension“

Now that you know how a domain URL is constructed, let’s look at the factors to consider while selecting a domain name.

Choosing a Domain Name

There are two major processes to selecting a domain name, as we’ve already explained. Choosing the website’s name comes first, followed by the domain extension.

Let’s take a closer look at selecting a website name.

For website names, there are primarily two sorts that you should know. They are:

• Name of the company
• a name that is focused on a keyword,

The first stage in selecting a domain name is to decide whether you want a brand name or a keyword-based name.

A brand name is a name that represents a company. Domains like samsung.com, nike.com, and chelsea.com, for example.

Relevant keywords are used to create keyword-oriented names.

Which is better: a brand name or a keyword-oriented domain name?

You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Aren’t brand names always better?” or “Do people recall keyword-based names?”

If that’s the case, you should know that keyword-based names can be just as effective as brand names.

In general, keyword-based titles are preferable for getting a high SERP ranking and increased blog traffic. If you have significant expansion plans and a powerful vision for your blog, brand names are even better.

Please keep in mind that we are speaking in broad terms. With domain names, there are no hard and fast regulations or criteria to follow.

Adding keywords to your domain name is a smart SEO practice.

Selecting a Domain Extension

The next step is to choose a domain extension after you’ve decided whether to go with a keyword-oriented or brand-based name.

A domain extension, as previously said, is used to designate a website’s category or country code.

The following are some of the most common domain extensions:

• “.com” 
• “.net” 
• “.org”

There are other category extensions, such as “.info,” “.tech,” “.blog,” and so on.

Also available are country-specific extensions such as “.uk” (United Kingdom), “.us” (United States), “.in” (India), “.de” (Germany), “.cn” (China), and so on.

The “.com” Domain Name Is Always Good

Over the years, the most popular top-level domain has always been “.com.” To be honest, because of its immense popularity and demand, finding a solid “.com” domain name has become somewhat difficult.

However, choose a “.com” domain.

The “.com” extension has grown linked with “trust”. So, would you prefer to go to bloggingplex.com or bloggingplex.xyz?

Our minds have instinctively paired “.com” domains with “trust.” As a result, you are considerably more likely to visit a “.com” domain than its competitors.

There is a slew of new domain name extensions to choose from. “.blog,” “.shop,” and “.photography,” for example, are all new and specialized extensions. If you run a specialty website, these are also beneficial in terms of SEO.

As a typical internet user, though, we would always prefer a website with a “.com” extension when reading through search results.

If you’re a blogger, this is especially true. Attempt to use a “.com” domain. Furthermore, people look for “.com” extensions by default, since they are more memorable.

Please note that this does not imply that we oppose alternative domain extensions or that you will not be successful if you do not use the “.com” extension.

There are lots of websites that perform nicely with other extensions. However, the major reason we recommend using the “.com” extension is because of its widespread popularity and natural trustworthiness.

To recap, there are two basic steps involved in deciding on a domain name for your online business. They are as follows:

• Choosing between a brand name and a keyword-oriented name
• Choosing a domain extension (.com domains are often favored)

Let’s go to the most crucial section of this guide now that you understand the basic processes in choosing a domain name. That’s what you should think about while choosing a domain name.

How To Choose The Best Domain Name

Choosing a domain name might be stressful if you’re new to running a digital business. The following pointers can assist you in selecting the best niche for your organization.

1. Keep it brief

Your domain name should be as brief as possible. Short names are simple to recall.

Keep the length of your domain name to no more than 15-20 characters. Anything longer would be a long name that would be difficult for your audience to remember.

Furthermore, as your domain name becomes longer, the likelihood of your audience making a mistake while searching increases. It’s best to keep domain names as brief as possible.

2. Make the name memorable and appealing.

The more memorable your domain name is, the more brand retention you’ll get.

For example, consider how memorable names like “pennyhoarder.com,” “crazyegg.com,” “screamingfrog.com,” and others are. People are significantly less likely to forget such names after they have heard them. Furthermore, their popularity shows the point we are attempting to express.

3. Confirm that the domain name is easy to pronounce.

It’s just as vital to have a short and memorable name as it is to be easy to spell. It will be more difficult to recall the name if it is difficult to spell.

Furthermore, when a name is difficult to spell, it will be difficult for visitors to promote your website through word-of-mouth.

4. Create a Personal Branding Strategy

It’s sometimes easier to develop a personal brand by using your name as the domain name.

“neilpatel.com” (by Neil Patel), “goinswriter.com” (by Jeff Goins), and “ryrob.com” (by Ryan Robinson) are some notable examples.

The following are the key benefits of adopting your own name as a domain name:

You’ll be able to establish yourself as an industry authority while simultaneously building your blog.

You won’t be constrained by specialty terms. Unlike with a keyword-based domain name, you can modify your focal topic whenever you want.

This will clear up any doubts you may have about whether to go with a brand name or a keyword-based moniker.

5. Keep it in English or your native language.

It’s advisable to keep your blog’s default language to English. This will help reach a global audience. You will be able to reach English-speaking audiences all over the world, regardless of where you are from.

You could also use your local language. However, keep in mind that if you choose a local language, your target audience will be limited.

6. Keep numbers and special characters to a minimum.

In your domain name, you should strive to avoid using numerals and unusual characters. They make your website appear less readable.

7. Consider the long term.

We stated in the piece on niche selection that when establishing a blog, you should pick a niche that is neither too tight nor too broad.

We may say the same about deciding on a domain name.

It’s a good idea to include important keywords in your domain name, but be sure they won’t prevent you from expanding in the future.

Other key factors to consider while selecting a domain name include:

• Consider the names of your competitors’ blogs for inspiration.
• Pick a good name that reflects your blog’s tone and style.
• Wordplay and assonance are both beneficial.
• Check to see if anyone else has trademarked the name.
• Check to see if the domain name you want is accessible to social media identities.

If you’re having trouble coming up with words, a thesaurus can help you identify synonyms and related terms. You can use Thesaurus.com as a resource.

You should come up with a list of 5-10 prospective blog names. After checking for domain availability, you can choose the finest one among these.

Conclusion

The most important thing is to take your time and get the best domain name possible. Understand that this is a decision you cannot change later (you can, but it will be a lot of work).

It’s best to take your time and think of a good name. It’s perfectly fine if you take a few days or weeks to come up with a name. What matters most is that you pick the right name. That way, you won’t have to live with the consequences of your decision afterward.

I hope you found my tutorial on how to pick the right domain name for your blog useful. Thank you for visiting Blogging Plex and for taking the time to read.

If you have any further queries, please leave them in the comments area below.

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