If you're into websites and web development you probably know that every website needs something to cover up its IP address: a domain name. But how exactly do you pick one? There are so many, most of those which you want are already taken and there are also many variable domain extensions to choose from. This may be a bit overwhelming at the start so I will explain here in a simple and intuitive tutorial how to choose the perfect domain name for your website.
Think about your Niche
Think about what the Niche of your website is going to be, is it tech, fashion or perhaps cooking? Think about what type of website it will be, a blog, a business website or an ecommerce online shop. If you already have a niche planned. Great! Then you're free to proceed to the next step.
Brainstorm
At the first step of the process just brainstorm some ideas, don't think about the availability or price. Perhaps an awesome idea will strike you in the middle of your shower or lunch break. You may also be struck when you wake up in the middle of the night. Wherever the idea strikes you, don't wait, write it down or you'll maybe forget it.
Brainstorm and come up with at least five domains that you really like because most of them will be taken and only one may be free. Sometimes even all five domains are taken so this step may take a while.
Try
After brainstorming some domains you should go to a domain registrar website like namecheap.com and check the availability of your desired domains. If your top pick was already taken, don't stress, this happened to me too and to many other website creators.
It is common that very branded domains, for example, www.pineapplejuice.com are already taken while unknown and SEO-optimized domains like www.warbrokergaragelondon.com aren't taken.
It doesn't have to be .com
Now it is time to choose your domain extension, there are many: .net .org .tech .store .shop and so on. I'm here to say that your SEO won't be impacted by having another domain extension, what will matter though is that .com domains are more memorable for users themselves, but judging by the fact that many websites with very absurd domain extensions still get millions of visits every month.
This happens because the users have by then memorized the domain well enough and don't care about domain extensions, the users are there for the content, not the domain extension. if the content is good users will come anyway. If you still don't believe me here are some examples:
And are these websites dying? Absolutely not, all of them are making waves in the tech industry and are growing steadily. I know that a .com domain is desirable, but if you don't get one, it's fine, judging the examples here you can absolutely become the next big thing in your industry.
Which Domain Registrar to use?
The Places where you buy your domain are called domain registrars, they can be of different quality all over the internet. A good domain registrar usually has built-in domain privacy protection, low prices and good customer service.
Good domain Registrars:
Namecheap is a great domain registrar for those starting out and offers relatively cheap prices compared to the others out there.
Google Domains is another outstanding domain registrar which is very reliable and will result in lower costs than Namecheap which offer a discount at the beginning but bump the price up afterwards.
Cloudflare is also another great tool with the lowest prices found anywhere, but this registrar has some work for you because you have to do everything manually and yourself.
Bad Domain Registrars
Domain.com is a bad domain registrar due to high prices upsells and most importantly a separate fee for domain privacy protection making up for an astronomical yearly fee.
GoDaddy is also another example of a bad domain registrar because it is pricy and gives you so many useless upsells like premium domain privacy protection. Also if you reach out to them then they'll respond, but only write something about their other products.
Trust me and don't use these domain registrars and go with the ones listed on the other list. Many people have had so much trouble with Godaddy and domain.com and don't let the high Google rankings fool you, these companies have paid millions so that they would be the top pick on Google.
Conclusion
This article might have helped you a lot with choosing your domain name, but regardless of the domain you choose, you will have the chance to become the next big thing on the internet. I hope this article helped you with choosing your domain so thanks for reading :)
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