Selecting the right domain name is extremely important. It can impact your search engine ranking and marketability. Here are 5 tips on selecting domain names.

1. Use Easy to Pronounce Words

Use words that are easy to pronounce and do not require you to spell everything out. This is helpful when you are mentioning your website at events or providing it to someone over the phone. Easy to pronounce domains are also easier to remember.

2. Avoid Special Characters

Try not to use dashes or other special characters in your domain. People have a more difficult time remembering special characters. If you inserted special characters because the domain without the characters was unavailable, customers may accidentally end up at your competitor’s website.

3. Use .com

If the .com version of your domain is unavailable, do not use the .net version. People instinctually enter .com when typing out a web address, even if the one you are marketing or giving out is a .net. If the .com version of your domain is a business in a similar industry, customers may not even realize that they went to the wrong address. Your competition may benefit from your marketing efforts.

4. Use Keywords

Think about your target customer and what they may enter into an online search. Having certain words in your domain may help you better rank for those phrases.

5. Select Words with Clear Meanings

It may be helpful to use a domain that clearly defines what you do. First and foremost, this may help customers remember your domain. Secondly, when your website is displayed in search results, it may increase the likelihood of customers clicking through to your website.

Before selecting a new domain, consider these 5 tips on selecting domain names. Your domain can either help or hinder your marketing efforts. Putting some extra thought into it in advance is certainly worthwhile.