How to Create a Memorable Domain Name

Domain names offer ways to remember products.

Everyone knows first impressions mean everything, and this axiom is no less true for websites. Your domain name will create the first mental image visitors associate with your website, so making an impression with the name helps you to stand out. You want to gain valuable traffic because visitors remember the name. A great domain name is a combination of art and science. Memorable domain names require creativity, an understanding of your customers and a basic understanding of how the web works.

Instructions

1. Brainstorm possible keywords related to the topic of your site on a sheet of paper. Include single words and possible phrases you would want associated with your site's premise.

2. Decide what you want the name of your company or blog to be. Make the name of your site and your domain name as close as possible.

3. Eliminate keywords that are excessively long or close hybrids of other popular websites. Try not to misspell common words such as "luv" or "werd" as this confuses older web users, and people spell the domain wrong when hearing it from someone else.

4. Choose a name that can be easily typed. Decide the best variant by practicing typing your potential domain names in the search box to get a feel for what's memorable and easy on the fingers. Give preference to potential names that reference a call to action and contain important keywords.

5. Choose a .com version for your domain name. Choosing a .net or .org version of the same name causes you to miss out on potential traffic with visitors who are not web savvy and type .com for every website.

6. Make the final version of your site name free of any hyphens or other forms of punctuation. These names are slightly more easily indexed by Google, but they are more difficult to remember and confuse visitors too much to make it worthwhile.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider the brand image you want to project as well as your website name when choosing relevant keywords.

• Make sure your domain name will not cause copyright infringement by going to copyright.gov before you purchase the name.

• Remember that long domain names are hard to remember and short domain names are usually already taken.

References

• The Site Wizard: Tips on Choosing a Domain Name
• SEOMoz: 12 Rules for Choosing The Right Domain Name