Choosing the right domain name for your site is a crucial step in getting your online business off to a good start! Natural referencing, notoriety, brand image… everything is decided from the reservation of this name.
You can always transfer a domain name to a new digital identity. But it is still better to start on the right foot and choose a relevant name when designing your website.
Through nine tips and tools, find the ideal name for your website, select the best extension and register your new domain name.
Choose the right domain name extension
A web address is the association of a domain name , i.e. a set of words representing your online brand (eg mywebsite), and an extension (eg .com, .fr or .org). The combination of these two elements constitutes the URL of your site. The extension reflects the type of website, its geographical position and/or its objective, commercial or not.
Of the thousands of domain extensions available on the web, the most common are .org, .com and .net, as well as geographic extensions like .fr and .eu.
Choosing the right domain name extension requires understanding their pros and cons.
Advantages and disadvantages of extensions in .com, .net and .org
Today, more than 50% of websites around the world have the .com extension. This is called generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD). This means that it has no geographical restriction.Created for international e-commerce sites, this extension is now used by all types of websites. Non-profit organizations and NGOs also have their own domain name extension: .org..net is the third most popular extension and is an alternative to .com. Abbreviation of network (network), it was originally intended for Internet service providers and hosts such as Namecheap or Gonline.
Please note that the interface of mobile browsers does not favor websites with a .net domain. Most telephones offer the .com extension directly on their numeric keypad. Smartphone users could therefore come across a site competing with yours if you opt for .net.
National, local and specific extensions
The creation of a .fr or .eu domain name is reserved for residents of the European Union. The .fr extension ensures that French-speaking Internet users have access to appropriate content, even when it exists in several languages.
ICANN, the authority that regulates domain names worldwide, has authorized the creation of nearly 1,300 specific extensions since 2012. Some of them indicate a location, such as .paris and .alsace. Others specify the theme of the website, such as .voyage and .sport.
Less expensive for some than .com and .net, these extensions make it possible to highlight the specificity of a brand.
If you are in Ghana or you are in Africa, you can simply choose your domain name on Gonline. They are available 24 hours for any help.
Choose an easy-to-remember domain name
Web addresses have a major impact on a brand’s image and its visibility. Internet users rarely use their favorites. They write the name of the desired site in their search bar from memory.
Your digital identity is built around your website. It is therefore better to choose your name with as much care as a traditional trademark registration at the INPI.
Choose a domain name that is easy to pronounce and write
A domain that is easy to remember will be searched for more often by Internet users than one with a complicated or difficult-to-spell name. This explains in particular that many companies use their own brand name as a domain name. Some even buy several similar domain names with different spellings or extensions to prevent others from misusing them.You can also redirect several domain names to your main site to guide Internet users. And this, even when they have the wrong extension.
Good to know: it is possible to host several websites on a web hosting offer, even if all your domain names are not registered with Namecheap or Gonline.
Choose a short domain name
The shorter a domain name is, the easier it is to remember. Internet users will easily find you if your name contains less than 12 characters, without numbers or hyphens.
Why 12 characters? Because beyond that, about 3 syllables, the name of the website is less easy to spell. It will also be faster to type on a smartphone or tablet, even with a small keyboard.
The maximum length of a domain name is 63 characters, or a complete sentence. Some special characters are accepted by extensions such as .fr. We do not recommend it, however, because:
- Internet users are not used to it and will look for the site without any special character;
- adding special characters in the domain name causes problems with URL encoding;
- your graphic communication will be less effective, especially when printing on paper or creating visuals for social networks.
More than a combination of words, the name of your website must be an acronym, a brand, which will be a reference in its field.
Going to the essentials is therefore a good way to remain memorable.
Choose a domain name adapted to your brand image
Your domain name should reflect the concept of your site, your brand or the theme of your articles. Ideally, it arouses attachment to your company or to the products you sell, if you have a commercial site.
In the case of e-commerce, the semantic value has a meaning. eBay, for example, represents in its own way a mode of purchase by search bar. At a time when online sales were mainly done by category, with a fledgling filter system, this type of name was particularly differentiating. As for Cdiscount, the site highlights its low prices in nine easy-to-remember letters.
Check that a domain name is available
Before buying a domain name, ensuring its availability is essential. Namecheap, Gonline offers a domain name verification service. Its dedicated page presents the availability results of the different extensions, from the most common to the most specific. This makes it easy to identify at a glance which site names are available and at what price.
In some cases, the domain name you are looking for is already owned, but available for sale. On the OVHcloud site, it will then appear in the results with the “secondary market” label. You can buy it at the price displayed by the site owner.
Check available domain name history
It is not because a domain name is free or available that it has not already been used to create a website. Its renewal is not automatic and its right of use is limited to a period of one to ten years depending on the contracts. Once it expires, the site owner is offered a renewal. However, some domain names are abandoned during business interruptions, forgetting to renew, etc.
Many domain names that have not been renewed are therefore regularly available for purchase from registries.
These websites have a past that can be beneficial. Sometimes they are redirected (links and anchors) from other web pages, which generates traffic. Before buying an expired domain name, check if it has a good history or if, on the contrary, it has been blacklisted by Google or other search engines.In the latter case, it is better to choose a domain name that has never been used, find a commercial name or study a new keyword to highlight.
Register your domain name
If you wish to use a domain name, you can reserve it with registrars: the registries. Often, this repository is managed by web hosts such as Namecheap, Gonline. They are indeed accredited by official bodies. These include Afnic for .fr sites, EURid for .eu domain names and ICANN for .com, .net and .org.
Filing a domain name often goes hand in hand with choosing web hosting and, possibly, a content management system (CMS). The latter facilitates the creation of the website linked to this domain.
Register your domain name from anywhere over the world here
Register your domain name if you are in GHANA or Africa
Communicate with your new domain name
The notoriety of your future website is partly based on your communication! To publicize your new domain name, update your email address and signature. An email domain is easily obtained from a web host.
Just remember to set up a forwarding of e-mails from the old address, so as not to lose any incoming messages.
