Dominik Parajka, 26. March 2021
A website is part of practically every modern project. In some cases the entire business is built on it. That’s why choosing the correct domain name and project name itself is so crucial. How to proceed during its creation and what to look out for?
You should consider multiple factors when making up the domain name. An incorrectly chosen combination of letters and extension of the domain can result in a bad reputation for the project, inability to build a memorable brand and last but not least in pointless “disputes” with other businessmen who have the particular combination of characters registered as their trademark.
Firstly, let’s take a look at some basic definitions. Let’s say that you have a brand of your own bar Moe’s and you’ll be creating a website for it: moesbar.com. Top level domain (in layman' s terms, the extension) is the part of the name that is situated after the dot. In this case “.com”. It is referred to by the abbreviation TLD (Top Level Domain). Second level domain is a set of letters which is situated before the dot so in our case “moesbar”. This part is critical for a simple recognisability of your project. It can be the name of your brand or a word that characterises your business and website content.
Choosing a top level domain
Although, choosing a second level domain is often portrayed as more important, the top level domain is just as essential. Nowadays we come across 3 main types of TLD.
- gTLD: this abbreviation is used for generic domains. Here you can find domains with 3 and more characters e. g. .com, .info, .net, .org but also more exotic and modern options (.bid, .online, .tech, .men etc.). The role of these extensions is to represent the activity of the particular project or segment in which it operates. Anyone can register a generic domain without any restrictions. An exception is the so-called grTLD (generic restricted Top Level Domain). For example, the extension .gov which is reserved for governments.
- ccTLD: this category features extensions in the form of countries. For example: .sk, .de etc.
- sTLD: this abbreviation represents sponsored generic domains. These are managed by big global corporations and can be used only in projects that operate in the particular segment. For example, the extension .aero can only be used by websites that operate in the air transport sector.
Unconventional extensions and their impact on SEO
While the extensions .com or .org are long and well-established, exotic domains such as .tech have only recently begun to appear. This led to a question whether such extensions can negatively affect the website’s position within the search. Google itself claims that respective domain extensions in no way change the algorithm’s perception of the particular website. Nonetheless, you should look out for it.
Since a study from Bluecoat found that many of the exotic extensions are negatively perceived by users. For example, .zip, .review, .country, .science or .work. The issue is that these top level domains are often used by websites that send spam. They cause user suspicion that's why they tend not to click on websites with such extensions. And that will influence a website’s SEO. Since some people will consider your website to be untrustworthy you’ll lose a lot of visitors, gain less shares and your journey to the top of the search will be difficult.
What top level domain will be the best for you?
If you intend that your project will operate within your own country such as Germany or France we recommend you choose typical ccTLD's in this case .de and .fr. If you want your project to operate internationally, .com represents a verified extension. It creates a feeling of trust in people so you can’t go wrong there. Unfortunately, nowadays it's almost impossible to find a .com domain that nobody owns. You’ll more often come across a scenario when a domain is owned and for sale. However, the price can start at hundreds of euros, in case of more lucrative names even thousands of euros.
We recommend picking more exotic extensions only in case if they specifically suit your project and your website won’t seem untrustworthy. For example, if your portal is focused on technology, the extension .tech or .io can be a good idea. By using a unconventional extension you can also come up with an original name of the entire domain such as moes.bar. In this case an exotic extension will help in terms of a better memorability of your project’s name.
Choosing a second level domain
In the past the rule was that if you used the main key word of your project as the domain name (e. g. barbershopberlin.de) it would significantly help improve the position of the website within the search. However, these times are long gone. A key word featured in the domain might slightly improve SEO, however, don’t expect any miracles. The latest Google algorithms put a much higher emphasis on the brand and its popularity. A brand that people search for on their own represents a strong SEO factor for Google and can significantly help improve the position within search results.
What does it imply? Try to incorporate your brand into your domain name. In an ideal case the brand shouldn’t feature any doubled letters or dashes. Also pay attention so it doesn't feature characters that are written in one way and pronounced unconventionally. This can cause significant trouble during promotion. And of course try to choose a name that is easy to remember and pronounce. A simple rule applies – the shorter, the better.
Help yourself with artificial intelligence
If you haven’t already thought of your own brand that you would integrate into the domain name, innovative online tools can help you with ideas. For example, Namelix.com. It works on a user-friendly basis – you enter the main key words related to your project and the system will subsequently automatically generate name, brand and logo suggestions. You can filter and edit these to your preference. Once you have the name, all you have to do is register the domain with a suitable extension and the building of your project can begin.