Here are 10 general tips on domain names for organizations to consider when shopping for a good domain name to register. Keep in mind these are rules of thumb, and there are often some exceptions to these, but if you research your domain names well before you register them or use them, you’ll spare yourself unnecessary time, money and aggravation. 

1. NAME LENGTH

Remembers the basics – some usability studies have found that more than 16 characters is too long for a domain name. But it depends on how you’re going to use it, too. If your intended users are likely to search for it using a long word or combination of words rather than typing out the URL, then a long domain might be the best thing in some cases.

2. TOP LEVEL DOMAINS

Consider most TLDs (top level domains) including .net, .biz, .name, and country domains, but .com is still the best. Dot org domains are for non-profit organizations, and even though this isn’t a requirement in order to register at dot org, people will assume your site is a non-profit if you use that TLD. Many country-specific domains require that you are a resident of that country in order to register a domain with that TLD, e.g. Canada’s .ca

3. TRADEMARKS

Be careful that your domain name doesn’t sound too similar to that of another company on the Web, ESPECIALLY if their name and domain name is trademarked, and ESPECIALLY if you’re in the same line of business as them. Do a few Google searches using the proposed domain name and some variations on it to see who else is using them, if anyone.

4. BRAND NAMES

Your domain name doesn’t necessarily have to be the same as your organization’s name, but it can get confusing for people if it isn’t.  If the name of your organization or brand appears to be unavailable in its most obvious format, e.g. “TheNameofMyCompany.com”, look at the possibility of using other TLDs  (see #2). Another possibility is to name a domain based on what the company is trying to achieve online. For example, if your name is ABC Plumbing and abcplumbing.com is already taken, try registering a domain name such as “abconline.com” or even the more spunky “virtualplumber.com.”

5. DOMAIN NAME VARIATIONS

If you own other domain names that aren’t linked to a site, and you’d like people searching for those names to hit your site, then you can always redirect them to your main Website. One caution: be careful of this, because sometimes search engines will index your site under one of the other domain names not the main domain name the site is hosted on.  

6. DOMAIN NAME BLOOPERS

Before you decide on a domain and register it, consider that it may not read the way you want it to when it’s read as one word, all lowercase. The Web has many funny examples of this, e.g. the travel site ChooseSpain.com” can be read as “ChoosesPain.com”

7. HYPHENATION

Many hyphenated versions of names may be available, but that doesn’t mean they’re desirable or even legal. You won’t get away with trying to register mic-rosoft.com, for example. Also, people will become confused about whether the domain name requires a hyphen or not, and if they type it in without the hyphen, they may end up on the wrong site.

8. SEARCH ENGINES

Something else to consider. In many ways, domain names don’t matter because most people are now using Google to find sites rather than typing in a URL or finding it in their Favorites/Bookmarks.

9. DESCRIPTIVE NAMES

On the other hand, sometimes it helps your search engine ranking to have a descriptive domain name as search engines will index it accordingly, e.g. “DeliciousDonuts.com.” There can be several search engine optimization considerations when researching domain names.

10. NEW WORDS AND SPELLING

Finally, you can always coin a new domain name by using a different spelling for a commonly known word or words, or by combining commonly known words, but remember that people may forget the unique spelling or the coined term if it’s not intuitive enough, or not marketed well enough.

 As a brief footnote, don’t ever forget to renew a domain name if it’s important to you, or you may never be able to reclaim it again except at a high cost.  While there is nothing wrong with reserving names (as long as you’re not reserving a name that was trademarked at the time you registered the domain), many Internet “cybersquatters”  buy up domains to resell rather than to use for themselves. 

They may contact you to offer to sell a domain name of interest, or you may even contact them if the site appears to be for sale. Let’s just say these domain names are offered at vastly inflated prices, and if you negotiate, they will usually drop their price but rarely to its true market value. 

Disclaimer: This article is offered for informational purposes as a free public service and should not be construed as legal advice. Consult your lawyer on all legal issues relating to domain names and trademarks.