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Find your best domain name, one that accurately reflects your brand and attracts the right readers with this handy guide.
For example, Joan has decided on traditional Italian recipes as a niche. She wants Joan’s Italian Kitchen as her brand name. Ideally, the domain for Joan’s Italian Kitchen would be www.joansitaliankitchen.com. But there may be a few obstacles to her getting her best name.
What’s a Domain Name
A domain name is your website’s address.
Our domain is www.thefoodwritingschool.com.
Most domains are in a .com format. The .com is the extension. There are several dozen extensions available such as .net, .org, and .biz.
We recommend getting a .com extension if possible.
When to Get A Domain Name
Register your domain name as soon as you can. As soon as you commit to your project, be it a website, YouTube channel, or podcast, start thinking of names. When you find one you really like, register it immediately.
The Cost of Registering Domain Names
Domain names usually cost around $15 a year to register.
You can find deals and even free domain names.
GoDaddy and other registrars often (okay, almost always) have sales going on.
You can usually get a discount if you register for multiple years.
Many webhosting companies, like Blue Host, offer free domain name registration if you buy your hosting from them at the same time you register your name.
We recommend Blue Host to our readers because it has great customer service and it’s an official WordPress hosting partner.
If you don’t want to buy hosting and just want to register a domain, we suggest Domain.com. They make it easy to switch your domain to a hosting company when you’re ready to launch your project.
Elements of a Good Domain Name
A good domain name should accurately reflect your brand. It should be something short, simple, and easy to remember.
Do’s and Don’ts of Domain Names
- Use something simple and easy to remember.
- Don’t use odd spellings, hyphens or numbers in your name.
- Use something relatively short.
- Think longterm. Will your name still be effective in ten years?
- Check your name on Google and several social media platforms.
- Type it out – you want to avoid unfortunate spellings.
- Always opt for a .com extension if it’s available. You can check out specialty extensions, like .food and .kitchen but we recommend .com domains.
- Think about using your name as your domain name. This allows you to be flexible in your topic later on.
- Brainstorm. Write down dozens of words that describe you and your website. Play with the order of the words to create your best domain name.
Here are some examples of good, simple domain names.
- www.sallyinthekitchen.com
- www.sallygarciabakes.com
- www.cookwithsally.com
- www.sallygarcia.com
Here are some examples of bad domain names.
- www.kupkakecreator.com
- www.cupcakes2021.biz
- www.100-cupcakes-by-sally.net
- www.koolcupcakes4U.com
- www.quikcooking.pro
If Your Preferred Name is Taken
There are currently more than 137 million .com domains already registered. And many millions more registered domains total.
So there’s a good chance your preferred name will be taken.
Let’s go back to the example we used above, with Joan’s Italian Corner. In her search for the name online, she finds there’s an active restaurant with the same name in another state. They have used the website address www.joansitaliankitchen.com for several years.
Since Joan hasn’t launched her project yet, she can rework the brand name and see if she can find a domain name to match.
She could try Joan Cooks Italian (www.joancooksitalian.com) or Cook Italian With Joan (www.cookitalianwithjoan.com).
Yes, Joan’s Italian Kitchen might be the perfect brand name for Joan but not having a matching website address would be problematic. It would make finding her online more difficult.
A Few Workarounds
If your preferred name is taken, one option is to buy the registration from its current owner. Go to Whois.com and search for the domain. You’ll find the owner’s contact information.
You can contact the person and if they aren’t using the name, they may transfer the registration to you. For a price, of course.
Buying a registration can become an expensive undertaking. Squatters register names by the dozens if not hundreds and then hold on to them until someone wants to buy them. Of course, they sell them for top dollar.
If you reach out to the domain’s current registered user and they ask for too large a sum, we suggest you rework your name. As perfect as your first choice for a domain might be, it’s not the only name that will serve you well.
Try adding a verb to your name. Joan might try www.findjoansitaliankitchen.com.
Or she could include the word traditional, which is accurate for her brand. That would be www.joanstraditionalitalian.com.
She could add a location to her name, if she serves a local clientele – www.joankitchenmiami.com.
If she wanted to be known by her brand name initials, Joan’s Italian Kitchen might try www.jik.com.
The point is there’s more than one good name for your project. Find the best one available and more on.
How to Get a Domain Name
This is the simple part. There are several companies that register domains.
Please note: You don’t buy a domain name. You register it by the year. If you let your registration lapse, someone else can register and use it.
If you’re ready to buy website hosting at the same time you register your domain, we strongly suggest Blue Host.
Of course, you might not be ready to buy website hosting at the same time you register your name. In that case, we suggest Domain.com.
But there are several other good companies you can use as well such as GoDaddy, HostGator, and DreamHost.
When you get to the company website, you’ll find a form where you can search and see if your preferred name is available.
If it is, you follow the prompts and register.
If it isn’t, you’ll likely be shown alternatives. It may be the same words you searched for in a different order or with a different extension, like .net or .org.
Remember, a .com extension name is best.
There are specialized extensions, like .coffee or .cafe. We strongly suggest .com, but you may find another extension you like.
A Few Words of Warning
Stay away from .biz. It got a bad reputation as a fly-by-night, con artist extension.
The extension .org is usually used by non-profits and organizations, so you’ll want to stay away from that as well.
Once you decide on a name, register it as quickly as you can.
You’ll be offered one, two, or three years registration. Registering for multiple years often includes discounts.
You might be offered multiple extensions. If you register www.theitaliancorner.com, you might be offered www.theitaliancorner.net, www.theitaliancorner.online, or www.theitaliancorner.co.
You don’t have to register the various extensions. For one, it’s expensive. And two, it’s unnecessary. The only real reason to register additional extensions is to keep squatters from scooping them up.
Conclusion
Register your domain name as soon as you settle on a brand name. Don’t wait.
If your first choice isn’t available (and there’s a good chance that it might not be), rework either your brand name and find a domain that matches. Or rework the domain while staying as close to your brand name as possible.
Remember, having a good but not perfect domain name is better than not having any domain name at all.
The best available name is the best name.
And not having your first choice for a domain name shouldn’t keep you from launching your project.
This article contains affiliate links which means that we earn a small commission if you buy a product or service using one of the links above. There is no additional cost to you and these commissions allow us to keep our content free.
