Factors to Consider when Choosing a Domain Name for your Blog

It’s always very exciting to start a new blog, sometimes choosing a good domain name might be a little bit difficult because you probably have several ideas running through your mind.

I will show you how to choose and register a good domain name for your blog by telling you the basic rules of choosing and registering a domain.

When choosing a domain name, here are the basic rules that must be followed.

When choosing your domain name, do your best to choose a domain name that is not longer than ten (10) words. When the length of your domain name is too long, it might be very difficult for your visitors to remember the name of your blog.

It is safer to choose a name between 8-10 characters long. Take for instance, a first time visitor will find it easy to remember oksprout.com compared to learningaboutblogging.com

Choose something catchy and easy to remember. You don’t want to use a name that is not easily memorable. Choose a name that visitors would find catchy and simple enough to remember.

Take for instance pinklady.com would definitely be easy to remember than simplyquintessential.com

I decided to write about this in order to avoid any form of confusion that may arise when you’re to choose a good domain name for your site or blog.Many experts would tell you to use a keyword in your domain name. This idea is stale and it no longer works on search engines. You don’t have to build your blog for robot by giving it a ugly name like “loseweightnow.com” but rather, build your blog after your own brand.

There are successful blogs that does not have any keyword in its domain name. Blogs like Mashable.com, Geek.ng, Ogbongeblog.com etc. are top notch blog and they don’t have any keyword in their root domain name.

The main reason why many people resolve to using hyphen in their domain name is because they want a particular keyword but the keyword is not available so they tend to settle for the keyword that is closer to the one they want. Imagine a blog with a domain name such as “ok-sprout.com” and another one with “oksprout.com” which of the two do you think visitors would remember easily?

Except your blog is part of a big company with other subsidiaries online, then it is very important that you use a .com domain for your domain name extension. The reason for this is not far-fetched; .com extension is the most common extension right now, which means it is very easy for visitors to assume your domain would have a .com extension as well.

 Earlier on, I advised that you should not choose a domain name based on keyword in your niche, it does not only inhibit the possibility of expanding the scope of your blog, it also affects your branding effort when you choose to make a brand out of your blog. As a result of this, it is advisable to choose a good domain name with branding in mind. As yourself, “if I were to own a company, what name would it bear?” that is what branding is all about.

Blogs like Geek.ng used to be named after it’s owner (Doncaprio.com), but he changes the name of the blog because he was pursuing a brand for his businesses. Branding your blog names does not only make it look professional, it also makes it look distinct amidst the crowd.

You can also name your blog after yourself, provided it is a name you would be willing to share around. The disadvantage of naming a blog after yourself however is that, it affects the possibility of selling it off in the nearest future, until you change the name to something less personal.

In conclusion, when you’re about to choose a good domain name for your blog, think of the following and use it in making a decision.

If your aim is to make money from your blog, then remember these quick tips before registering a domain name for your blog.

What’s your choice on the use of keywords in domain name?