How to name a website?

So how should you name your website? Although we’ll be exploring few website naming principles in this post the basic decision comes down to keywords, brand or a combination of the two. I think the easiest way to help you understand the keyword, brand or both concept is to use an example website. For instance, let’s say you are setting a up a website to sell soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies to people that love soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies. In this case you are either going to get a website name that has some cookie or chocolate keywords in it or a website name that promotes your unique business name or brand.

So why keywords, brand or a combination? You see people mainly find things online two ways: First they find websites by using search engines and typing in keywords or keyword phrases that relate to what they are searching for. Secondly they follow links provided by social media or other familiar online sources. They also find things via advertisements but that’s not as prevalent as the other two methods.

Let’s use the your chocolate chip cookie business as an example. To find you online someone would either search for chocolate chip cookies or if they new it, by typing in your business name or brand name. The other way they might find you is if someone on Facebook or some other source posted a link to your website. Considering the way people find websites online I have listed some principles to hopeful help you with decide on your website name.

Things to help you decide on a website name:

The popularity of keywords or keyword phrases -

Doing some keyword research will help you determine what words and phrases are popular and how much competition there is. You can use Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool.

Brainstorm website name ideas -

Write down several variations of the idea you have for your website. Remember some of the best names are already taken so you will what to have a few options. You can also use a cool online tool like Panabee to brainstorm.

Check to see if your brand name or idea is already taken -

Often someone else had the same idea you are thinking of. Do a domain name search to see if your brand or desired website name is available. You can use our Domain Search Tool or the the Website Names link at the top of the page.

Try to use a recognized TLD (Top Level Domain) -

Using a top level domain like com, or net will help with your websites credibility. Use org if you are a non profit or charity. You can use other TLDs but they won’t be seen as reputable out of the gate.

Stay away from hyphens -

A lot of spam sites use long hyphenated names so I would avoid using them. You don’t want to be on Google’s spam radar if you can help it.

Keep the website name length reasonable -

People don’t want to have to type in a long name and it is less likely they will remember it. It’s a good idea to use one good word or two or three small words that work well together and that are easy to remember.

Be creative and think outside the box -

There are lots of words and word combinations out there. Try putting some together that will capture your audience and grab the most keyword traffic.

Lastly, add a word, letter, or number -

If all else fails try adding a word like web, online, home or similar to the end of your website name. You could also ad a letter like i or e or a number like a street address or the number of floor in a building.

I hope this helped you get some ideas about how to name a website. The next post I’ll write some more about keywords and keyword phrases.

See you tomorrow.