How To Choose The Best Domain Name

Domain Extensions

This refers to what is after the “dot” in your domain name. What should you opt for? People generally recognise (and therefor trust) traditional top level domains (TLDs) such as .com, .org and .net. The convention is that .com extensions are used for businesses, .orgs are for organisations and government departments, or which are somehow associated with activities which are “above” mere commerce, while .net extensions are for websites which relate to the Internet and all things techie. The .edu extension is for higher educational facilities.

Then there are the equally recognisable and trusted national top level domains. In the United States the top level domain is .us. In the UK the national domain extension (actually a second-level domain but very recognisable nevertheless) is .co.uk. The country specific extension for Australia is .au and .com.au and the country specific extension for New Zealand is .nz and .com.nz. If you are an Australian university then you would likely have the edu.au domain extension, and so on.

Then there are a more recent type of extension which relates to trades or activities, such as .cafe, .engineer and .glass, and people are less familiar with these. Remember that a domain name should convey trust, so go for the more familiar extensions which people are more used to.

It is generally best to go for recognisable extensions such as .com if you are a business (or .co.uk if you are a business in the UK). It is not known what weight search engines like Google put on domain extensions when deciding how to rate a website in the search results, but some people think that the .com, .org and .net triumvirate are the best choice of extension in terms of the seriousness with which Google and other search engines take your site. Certainly I would reject things like .biz and .info, which are readily available but which have the taint of cheapness about them, and they sound a bit spammy as well.

Also, if you have a .biz or a .info domain name and people are trying to type in your website name directly into their browser address bar, they may forget that it is a .biz or .info and type in the .com or .us version instead, thus arriving at your competitor’s website. You certainly don’t want that to happen!

But the very fact that you have chosen the more traditional extensions will mean that there is a greater chance that your own activity + location domain will already have been registered by someone else. So what to do then?

You have the option of adding words to the activity + location formula, the shorter the better. For example, adding the letters HQ to your name will mean that this domain will have a higher likelihood of being available (as in GlazierCambridgeHQ.com or DentistBirminghamHQ.co.uk). Other additional words you can use if you find that your chosen activity + location domain is not available include Expert(s), Central, Store, Shop, Pro, Professional(s) and Consultant(s), although the last two will create a domain name that is a bit too long.

I hope the above has helped you to decide on the best domain name, and that you have used the recommended advice to determine the best search quantity versus competition, and that, last but not least, the final domain name that you come up with is available to register.

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