Choosing the perfect brandable domain name is the utmost serious part of the successful site journey online. Your wrong selection can cost an expensive branding budget or even the ultimate huge loss eventually.
There're lots of domain names, even startups, are expiring daily due to poor selection quality. As a starter, you might get obstacles deciding on the right domain name matching with your business name as well as products. Isn't that a big job to overcome this challenge with a shiny approach?
Obviously!
That's why all you need to pay your top attention to the efforts of right domain selection from the right source that your business seriously deserves.
In terms of building a big impact on your return on investment (ROI), all you need to go through a set of best choosing processes that can fasten brand-ability as well as rich SEO-worthiness in the domain name.
Here in this article, we'll share more than thirty shaping points including various filters so that you can decide on your right brandable domain name eventually.
Before approaching the main processes for name selection, let's go through an essential pair of definitions and differences in some terms and points. It could leverage you to understand the main processes to choose a perfect domain name.
What is a perfect brandable domain name?
A domain name of a website, which will be familiar online, is located in the second level before the dot top-level domain (TLD) name, whereas dot refers to the root zone of the site. Here all about the naming process is around the place of the second-level domain (SLD, not TLD).
A brand means a consumer's image or perception regarding a specific product, company, business or domain that always stay in her mind. The power of a consumer's perception used to stay in four forms in mind such as awareness, interest, desire, and action. Brand equity defines the quality of a brand based on the consumer's power of perception.
A brandable domain name refers to the name that doesn't bear any exact-match keywords either. It born based on a generic name that gets better ability to brand. But in the case of a keyword domain, it contains one or more keywords in the name.
A brandable domain might have different abilities to get branded while appears in the market competition. Some brands might get branded maximum volume of action-level, whereas some are not capable like that.
That's why a brandable domain name can be defined by its branding ability which has the power to fastened an apex volume in the market.
That's why a domain name must be exceptional, but not too much either.
What are the benefits of a perfect Brandable Domain Name?
Supposed to be you are going to launch a blog or small business startup immediately. Your blogging plan or business site comprises first determining a perfect brandable domain name with a unique logo. Both, the domain and logo including business name too, you want to find to be outstanding among the hundreds of your top competitors.
Why?
That's question of benefits. Because you want high profit from your site with a SEO-worthy brandable domain name. Many startups can't survive on the web due to poor quality of domain name either.
A perfect brandable domain name can give you a profound base of your audience recognition, trust and attitude of buying action. As Google loves brands and authoritativeness, the best brand-ability can help to get a quick-brand of its presence in the challenging marketing arena.
Although a name can become a sky-kissing brand by dint of a comprehensive long-term investment, a perfectly selected brandable domain name can save your huge branding costs and can accelerate the achievement of branding goals earliest.
That's why the effort you'll choose a brandable domain name.
However, let's make the efforts to create or collect the best brandable domain name from the registrar or ultimate broker's market in case.
How To Select A Perfect Brandable Domain Name
While you are serious on the efforts to select a right brandable domain name, let you go through some definitive steps as below:
Table of Contents
Step#1: Create a Clear Concept List
The concept list might be a hypothetical but powerful guideline and a clear image to initiate a list of the right domain name through your what-who-why-when-where-how expertise.
It'd be comprised of some basic criteria that help you to determine a significant domain name. During the choosing right domain, these criteria might be considered again and again. You can take the quick-points as below for creating a clear concept list:
- Follow a brainstorming concept that makes a name brandable.
- Put the branding basics in style that relevant to your business.
- Create a name that goes distinctive so people can recognize separately.
- Name to be taken based on generic name in terms of epic brandability.
- Make it visionary and futurist so people accept it with trust for long.
- Keep short, easy-to-type, spell, pronounce and memorable for brand.
- Very best to keep words close to single word for limiting the syllables.
- Get an idea from competitors brand to generate an outstanding name.
- Pick name that goes SEO-worthy so that Google loves its presence.
- Create final concept list around your product for best recognition.
Let's move with this aforesaid portrait for choosing name.
Step#2: Choosing Name Through Processes
Using search and research follow the below processes -
Pick Out An Appropriate TLD Extension:
1. Select the Right Extension
VeriSign, the owner of .COM & .NET TLD presented the top ten TLDs with an exact share below for 3rd Quarter 2019.
You can go with the most commonly recommendable popular extension .COM TLD for your website. It's obvious can be used while your site belongs to a commercial deal. You can use.ORG or .NET as well while website feature permits an organizational effort or valued networking respectively.
2. Many Reasons You Needn't Take The .Com
But remember that you needn't use this .com TLD if your deal doesn't meet to the commercial usage significantly. Because, now the days, you have a huge chance to take a niche-wise TLD that can narrow down your branding area by industry.
3. Consider TLDs That Matches Your Industry
Whether blogging, eCommerce, or tech business, your enterprise matters on the selection of a TLD that belongs to industry alone. Make sure the industry or niche is defined well with the area you'll deal with. Then let your site deserves an appropriate extension such as .TECH, .INFO, or .TOOLS, and so on.
Choose Name Using Tools can leverage greatly:
4. Use Tools for Finding Domain Names
Some outstanding tools can make the domain search easier to determine a clever idea. Out of these, here are the top five domain search tools might help you enough to create a set of names checking availability, comparing with alternative names, secondary market prices, and so on:
i) Cool Name Ideas
ii) NameBoy
iii) Shopify Business Name Generator
iv) Instant Domain Search
v) Lean Domain Search
5. Get Help of Synonyms
You'll also need to use tools for "syllable counter" and stock words of the specific number of letters that you could find through Google on the web. You needn't either wasting time on dictionaries.
Then, you better use Thesaurus.com for the most effective synonyms as well as definitions for further clarification.
Make The Choice Based on Long Term Vision:
6. Think Long-term Domain name
Since a name takes time to reach its full potential, let it be evergreen, and always taste of the time.
Based on product features, as it's a continuous long run branding process, let your brandable domain name goes with the time without fail.
7. Think Like an End-user When Choosing Name
Whether you're going to be the owner of the brand, or now domain trader, consultant or flipper, all you need to keep your mind at the user's brain for selecting a brandable domain name.
Let you see the name through the users' eyes, who'll be the ultimate buyers of the potential names that they deserve to belong to the great brands. Your power of choosing a brandable name should be gone through their interest, like or dislike either.
Then, it'll be easier to get a perfect shape, size, color, culture, outlook, and overall intelligence of a domain name.
8. Check Whether It’s Not Trademarked
Checking legitimacy such as Trademark (TM) and other further claims are a very important issue during the domain name selection. There are two major conditions associated between a domain name and TM, such as geo-location and industry.
While you find your domain name goes matching with the other's TM name, then all you need to give up this due name for a new one. There are some tools on the web to check out the issue for determining the legitimacy accordingly.
9. Keep It According to Trade-name
Your domain name should be according to your business name or trade name for maintaining the top relevancy. Recall your business goal, views, and vision over product during the naming process.
10. Look at The Competition to Create Standout
A significant brand means a unique name over a generic word from the dictionary or folk. Let your unique name doubtlessly acceptable by human psychology. Determine inputs which are the driving forces behind the competition.
In terms of making a name outstanding in the competitive market, let you follow the perfect features of your product and services. The next steps could help you in this regard.
Choose Name Based on Common Features:
11. Don’t Forget Branding Basics
All you need to follow your branding basics during name choice. Branding basics include the elements that already planned by the potential owner.
The most probable elements are such as draft business name, product or service names, slogans, logo idea, quality or style of the products, packing standard, pricing, potential media or channels for the advertisement, freemiums, staff status and behavior, and so on.
12. Make Sure it’s Unique & Profound
Let you go forward with knowing how to be made a name 'unique'. The unique name comes from a generic word. A profound unique name usually refers to be distinctive and intuitive as well.
A company or individual creates product or service doesn't bear equal features. Following the branding basics, particular features might be the best element to create a name unique and product.
13. Make Name Weighing Niche-worthiness
Niche-worthiness means industry-friendliness. Never select a name that doesn't match the area of product usage. Let your domain name measuring the power of solution upon a niche on the particular problem.
14. Look to Your Brand's Future
A great future of a brand is located in the brand's comprehensive features. A brand's features remain in the branding basics as well. Particularly, a brand always lives in the consumer's head, brain or mind. Let you know how consumers used to image your product in their minds and how they could remind your domain name during their purchase decision.
A brand's feature usually includes the likelihood, love, trust, respect, value, worthiness and many other practical emotions as well regarding your product, and business that lie on your website.
Every rationale human is a buyer as well, whoever consumes a product from the market in real life. Let you realize the name accordingly. During the naming process, include value of particular features that lead the future of a domain. It might come up automatically in your mind if you having a bit of experience on the track in real practice .
15. Input Best Recognition Character Power
Although a brandable name recognition doesn't depend on name alone, it works upon the aggregated role of some recognition elements. The brand recognition elements might include the power of product quality, product tagline, business name, business slogan, website or business logo and many others.
But most importantly, the first character and last character in a domain name matter as well. It might empower the recognition of name got proof by DataGenetics. You might note the impact from the composite chart below that showing the frequency of both characters:
The best recognition power comes from the aggregated elements therewith the core presence of domain name. That is why let your name comprising all the elements into your domain for a powerful presence.
16. Signify the Name with Actionable Keywords
What type of keywords or key terms can be considered into the domain name for a perfect brandable domain name? That's all depends on exceptional terms that are not yet used by other parties' site working online. Adequate research can fix this issue to uncover a unique namable keyphrase.
You might consider the world trending key terms too. According to Verisign, the top ten trending keywords that registered for the third quarter of 2019 in.COM and .NET in English as below:
Top 10 Trending Keywords in Domain Naming in Q3, 2019 ( by VeriSign's Research).
Remarkable that both of those TLD are belonged by Verisign. It is a clear message by VeriSign to the domain name determiners that they might consider these largest trending shares of the words for naming in domains.
17. Make Domain Name Based on Generic Word
Generic names or words come from single words that are not being used as a keyword for search. It is known as seed name as well. For example, bona, teen, karma, secure, safe, smart, net, free, keen, solo, trend, kite, kid, shape, author, name and so on.
A generic name can be brandable in two ways: using variant and confirming that created new name is not being used by others. A significant variant using suffix, prefix or infix with the generic name, you can create a new name.
18. Keep It Visionary with Simplicity
Visionary means inspired, creative, imaginative, ingenious, inventive, insightful, enterprising, perceptive, innovative, or intuitive. Simplicity comes from pretty shortness and easy-to-type names. Choose the easiest rememberable combination accordingly that doesn't go more than two words combo.
19. Follow - Short is Better but not Shorter
It is best to keep it closer to single words and letters between four to nine. And a better range of letters might be four to eleven as well since the world's average length of letters is eleven.
Most concisely, letter count is the very best minimum of five to a maximum of nine letters. This is all about researching conclusions based on Google's EAT guidelines as well as the empowerment of SEO into the root domain for a better rank.
That's why, as a second-level domain name, short is better but not too shorter either.
20. Easy to Spell and Pronounce
Syllable or pronounce matters. Make the name or choose from somewhere based on syllable as well. The harmonious composition of letters in a brandable domain name outputs pretty sound. In this effort, you might use Google Dictionary as well as ImTranslator in Chrome.
21. Go Memorable, Rememberable, and Predictable.
A pretty short and sound meaning that relates it's the product, business and site culture could be much more memorable, rememberable, and predictable as well. Make sure your naming process strongly follows the criteria that make the brandable name accordingly.
22. Ignore Hyphens, Numbers, and Double-letters
Using hyphens and numbers lower SEO value harms letters harmony, and create names worthless both users and search engines as well.
In some cases, double-letters in a name could lower the uniformity of letter formation in a name with a lack of pretty sound. It might cause typos that result in losing traffic either. That's why better to avoid double letters as well.
23. Not Acceptable Exact-matched Keywords
The search engines do not favor the exact-matched keyword domains, rather dislike in terms of loving brand-ability.
Because, Google loves brands, because of loving brands by users. That's why Google is massively influenced by people to favor brands. But a good brand never possible to be generated using keywords.
As canonical issue relates to the duplicate copy, and cannibalization relates to multiple usages of the same keywords. Same way, duplicate or multiple usages of keywords in the same URL used to lower the acceptance by Google BERT that doesn't like either.
Shortly, the reason is that Google BERT (which is far best than Google RankBrain ) uses the context and relations among the words in a sentence instead of one-by-one using the order.
24. Consider Common Misspellings
In terms of relating to the keywords of your business, you might follow the common misspellings methods for naming your domain. Accordingly, You can create a name using 'K/X' instead of 'C', or 'Z' instead of 'S' or using various variants or suffix and so on.
25. Use Alternative Keywords in Name
Uncovering a significant brandable domain name is hard work as well. You have a huge opportunity to find names using synonyms, semantics, a glossary of product terms.
In case, while you find that a pretty matchable term is already taken by someone, let you find it's synonyms or semantic words just googling from the web. You might alternate the seed words transforming popular Latin, Spanish, Italy or Franch word into your domain name for a unique brand.
26. Use Best Quality Suffix or Prefix
Lots of suffix, prefix, and infix in the web for your new domain formation. Your proper expertise can make the effort easier to pick out the best variant.
Whether using suffix or prefix, make sure that joining letters get well-matched with significant phonics and syllable.
Sometimes, suffix can be used with a partial generic word that creates an awesome combo for a domain name. For example,
Secu (Security) + fy (suffix) = Secufy
Secu (Security) + fide (suffix) = Secufide
Kidi (Kids) + safety (suffix) = KidiSafety
27. Buy A Live or Expired Domain Name
Buying a live domain means taking a running site offered in the secondary market. And buying an expired domain refers to take from the auction or already deleted from the system. It is quite free to register at a regular price now from any registrar.
Good domains with favorite TLD are being booked by the traders or flippers in the secondary market. This sort of expired domain bears a better potential due to formerly used by someone. But every deal deserves adequate apprising for quality checking.
28. While Secondary, Audit the Domain History Properly
In the case of the secondary domain, check out domain history via Wayback Machine and Who.is.
Check the features like domain's active age, existing content, content quality, PageRank, Alexa, Backlinks, Traffic, Google-friendliness, DA, PA and so on.
29. Let Your Name be Unique in Social Media Presence
Thereafter the search marketing, social media is the biggest potential to get marketing benefits and ultimate branding.
For that reason, make sure that the domain name you choose has a chance to be presented in the social media platforms as a unique vehicle. It is crucial to boost branding in the social channels. Let your site be registered in the corresponding social media handles.
30. Make the Name to be Mobile-friendly
Wow! Pretty matching!
Well. It's essential.
Now mobile-visitors are the largest audience alone than the total visitors from desktop and laptop in the site. That's why mobile becomes a crucial factor to competitive marketers now.
That's why creating a very pretty-short and memorable domain name you could enhance the mobile presence for overtaking the competitors. You wouldn't care about the mobile competitors means surely you'll stay huge lagged of them ASAP.
Step#3: Find A Very Short List Out of All Choices
To select a perfect brandable domain name, create a very short list of potential names following the above processes. That might be ten to twenty in numbers.
Each name can be remarked beside their amazing name with short clarification on each variant, meanings, the origin of language, phonics, syllable, letter counts, level of difficulty and so on. Before filtering the short-listed names this sort of master-sheet might helps to determine using advanced methods.
Step#4: Filter the Names Following Advanced Methods
Understanding the perceived value of a brandable domain is essential for selecting the best domain names.
These advanced methods could help you to pick out the best ones making scores on the short-listed domain names. Here are the hints over specific methods you might use for final selection:
(i) Go Based On Emotional Quotient (EQ)
EQ stands for Emotional Quotient which is derived from emotional intelligence (EI). Each of the domain names can be scored based on EI values. At a time, a domain name can focus it's an ability on emotional intelligence (EQ) as well as technical intelligence (IQ).
A significant domain name refers to belong the EQ along with logo, business name, slogan, and human worthy design as well. Following the method, all you need to make an EQ score identifying the usability, power of understanding and managing ability on the brandable domain name.
(ii) Consider SEO Ability
Since SEO starts from naming of a domain, and the root of a site is located between the TLD and domain name, SEO ability bears so importance.
That's why the SEO power of a domain name can be scored following the SEO factors that affect the root zome as well as Google EAT Guidelines. How unique the name without manipulation by key terms is a major considerable factor to create the remarking scores on each domain name.
(iii) Go Based On Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a method that comprises some principles to assess the appreciable nature and beauty of the domain name. The significant score can be made by following this method on the domain name with the logo as well as UI of the site in case.
(iv) Consider Media Quotient (MQ)
A domain name works like a live vehicle around the web thereafter it's best to commence. Media Quotient (MQ), means media intelligence as well, helps to score the ability to determine perceived value, and understand users in the media.
It can measure the power of domain in a scalable way onto the media interests, behavior and practice over an outstanding presence in the media. Let each of the short-listed domain name to be scored accordingly.
(v) Go Based on Potential Brand Equity
A perfect brandable domain name refers to be highly unique, based on generic, pretty-short, intelligent, recognizable, and powerful presence in human minds.
Before appearing on the web, about no one could know the newborn domain names at all. But make sure that it's profound potential to reach at the sky-kissing apex by dint of a long-run branding process.
You'll have to determine the uncovered power of brand recognition, consumer perception, and overall commercial value of the names using Brand Equity future.
Now, you could choose the best-scored domain from the short-list that deserves huge potential for branding and making the site outstandingly profitable.
Step#5: How To Buy Selected Domain Name
Follow the ways below:
1. Choose a Trusted Domain Registrar
Whether you want to be a domain flipper or trader or end-user, all you need to select a trusted dealing center or hosting. You can use your existing host if the service can provide domain business systems as well.
If you're quite new, you might learn the reviews on the best domain registrars online. We recommend you can use Namecheap as your cheapest domain and hosting service that is an ICANN accredited trusted registrar and serving customers around the web since 2001.
2. Find The Best Price
Make sure your price is already chosen checking the offers around according to TLD you prefer. As you can buy and get the domain transferred from another registrar as well, you might check the other registrars too. Compare several registrars offers in the at-a-glance sheet, and make your final decision on a price.
3. Register Domain and on Your Own
Very best to register your brandable domain name on your own in terms of safety and security. How to attempt for registration?
In case of primary domain registration, at first signup for an account. Then, attempt to buy domain following the existing system they provide. Input the chosen domain name into the search tools and go through the action button to shop the domain name.
In case of secondary domain name registration, while you search the particular domain name in the specific market or broker house or registrar, the action button will show you the way.
Suppose, you're going to take the domain name from Namecheap registrar, all you require to search the specific name (suppose: secufide.com) using their 'Domain Name Search' tool. The tool is located at the top of the dropdown list from the 'domains' category in Namecheap. Then, it will show you the page exactly as below:
You might buy instantly using cart (4. View Cart) you found right side or can make your offer for further negotiation regarding price.
In case, you want to negotiate price, follow the 'Make Offer' (#3.) button to propose your price request. Then, you will find the page as below for submitting after offering your amount in the minimum price slot.
The negotiation process will be started after submitting your request and creating an account in the DomainAgents platform who is a legitimate third party of Namecheap.
4. Take Protection with WhoIsGuard
Your contact information record which includes your full name, phone number, email, and physical address is preciously all about your domain name ownership. During the registration process, this information needs to be provided to the registrar.
Domain ID Guard system used to mask that information from the people who seek using who.is tool. That's why you must need to use WhoIsGuard and fortunately, it's free by Namecheap. You obviously can make sure the protection system in other registrars as well according to their existing offers.
5. Consider Auto-Renewal Domain Set-up
Auto-renewal setting could help you get your site to be auto-updated at the end of the renewal period. It's just a single click away to fix the auto-renewal in Namecheap.
By chance you might forget to renew either, then another party might snatch the domain name due to missing the renewal. And, this circumstance might rush you at an unexpected loss on your hard works.
Last words
Whether for an end-user or quite for your own usage, the expected perfect domain name to be top brandable, SERP-rankable SEO-worthy, and highly profitable eventually. No compromise with so-so ones. A startup might sink into the ocean of competition because of a wrong domain name selection either.
Beyond your expectation for a smart domain name, all you need to follow the step-by-step above-designed processes to uncover the Mr. Right. It looks to be an online brand ambassador for your new product or services.
You have two ways for going to fix the requirement. You might get the help of a domain consultant to pick out the brandable domain name whether from a secondary brokerage market or primary unregistered source.
Another option, you might start determining the best one quite on your own research following the aforesaid processes.
Is this helpful for your domain name solution? If yes, please let me have your precious share.