source: http://www.flickr.com/ by pinkpurse
One of the first things that you have to decide on if you are setting up a website is the domain name. Your domain name will serve as your address on the internet that people have to use to visit your website. When choosing a domain name, see to it that you choose one that can provide value to your website. You must also avoid the following mistakes when choosing a domain name:
- Opting for a Long Domain Name
You have the option to use up to 67 characters in your domain name but this is not recommended. A long domain name is not good for your website because people will have a hard time remembering and typing in your website address. Some of your potential visitors may also learn about your website through your offline promotions such as through business cards and leaflets that you distribute. Having a short domain name makes it easier for you to fit your website address in these offline forms of media. If you want your target visitors to easily remember your web address and accommodate your type-in traffic, settle for a short domain name.
- Not Using a .com Extension
There may be around 300 domain extensions you can choose from. You can have a site that uses .net or .org but a .com website is the preferable one. This is because many people often assume that the website they intend to visit uses .com so whenever they have to check out a particular website, they will likely type in .com as the site’s extension. You may lose a lot of type-in traffic if you use a yourname.net domain name and there is already an established yourname.com website. Such instances explain why owning a .com website is critical. People and businesses sometimes settle for other domain name extensions because the domain name that they want to use is no longer available under the .com extension. If this happens to you, you may just have to consider using word variations as long as you can use a .com extension. You can also get creative by adding descriptive words to the domain name that you want.
- Using Hard to Spell Words in Your Domain Name
Steer away from using hard to spell words in your domain name because some people will have difficulty spelling and typing them out. You will likely lose potential visitors if you include hard to spell words in your domain name. If you intend to set up a business website but you have a virtually unknown and hard to spell company name, you may just have to settle for words that best describe the products and services that you offer.
- Using Hyphens and Numbers in Your Domain Name
One of the ways you can get people to visit your website is by telling them about your site. If a customer calls you through your hosted PBX to request for a catalogue of your new products and this is already posted in your business website, you may just have to tell your customer to visit your site. You and your customer won’t likely have any trouble if you use a short and easy to remember domain name. If you use hyphens and numbers, though, you may have to spell out the domain to your customer and your customer may still have a hard time remembering and typing in your website address. Using numbers and hyphens in your domain name is a big no-no because it makes your website difficult to type and remember. Refrain from using these characters when thinking of a domain name.