Domain names are the addresses of the website, so it is an important part of its identity. It must be unique, memory-friendly, explanatory, and must work well with the SEO. It is also important to choose the ideal domain name for you or your company because changing it later may cause serious problems. But considering that there are already more than 350 million unique domain names, it may not be as easy as you think to find the best domain name.
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What is private registration of a domain name
The information of the domain owner is publicly available due to the agreement with ICANN and using false information is a violation against the registration agreement and causes the termination of your domain registration. But if you want to keep your information as a secret, you can choose private registration.
In private registration, WHOIS information will list your registrar’s information instead of yours. Thus, your registrar can not reveal your identity unless it is required by law or if you breach your service agreement. The domain owner can cancel a private domain registration at any time. After that, your information will be public in the WHOIS directory, instead of your registrar’s.
Redirecting a domain
If your website is not still ready to be published, during that time, you can redirect your domain to another URL, one of your, or your company’s social media page for example. But it is mostly considered as a short-term solution. Because with your website, you are in full control, but for social media pages, you are dependent on the platform.
Buying a domain forever
The term “buying a domain” can be misleading, because domain names are not purchased, they are rented. So it has to be renewed periodically. Fortunately, most registrars offer automatic renewal for domain names.
Changing a domain name
You can change the domain name any time you want, most registrars offer a process to migrate your domain. If you are rebranding your business or finally got a better domain in terms of SEO, it can be beneficial to move your website to another domain name.
Things to consider while choosing a domain name
As we mentioned above, it is important to choose your online identity, your domain name that can represent you or your brand. Here are 7 tips you can consider to help you with the process:
The first option is “.com”
By far the most common extension is .com, so it is the most memory-friendly one. It is also prestigious for your brand. If you already picked another extension, you would probably need to purchase the .com extension version too.
Buy other extensions too
It is already hard to pick a good domain name because most of them are already taken. If you can find one with the .com extension, it would be wise to buy other extensions for your domain name too. Thus if someone types the “.net” or “.biz” version of your domain name, you can direct them to your website too.
Shorter is better
If you can’t decide between multiple options, generally, the shorter one is better. Short domains are easier to remember. It is almost impossible to find a single word domain, but you can combine two or three shorter words together to create a domain name memorably.
Avoid abbreviations
Shorteners such as 4U and 2U are harder to remember, can cause confusion, and look unprofessional so try to avoid them. Such domain names can leave a negative impression on many people.
Represent your brand
It would be nice if your visitors can be able to understand what your website is going to be about just by its domain name. It is important to sound like a brand. You can add a keyword about your business to give customers a hint.
Make it memorable
We also mentioned that it is important to choose a domain name that is easy to remember. Short, catchy, unique and clever domain names are easier to remember, but also you should avoid trendy humor, hyphens, and numbers.
Keywords
Try to add some keyword that is related to your business. You can improve your website’s SEO results drastically with some simple keywords. First, you may want to search for the most popular keywords for your business.