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Choosing the best SEO friendly name for your website

Joe Ford

Your website’s domain name has a big influence on your business and brand image. Among other factors that it influences, it also has an impact on your website’s search engine rankings. So it is extremely important that you choose an SEO friendly domain name. But how can you create a name that is perfect for ranking high in search engines?

The following tips should help you choose the right name for your site.

1. Choose a Memorable Domain Name

When creating a domain name, it is not just important to keep the search engine algorithms in mind, but also your users. In fact, user experience (UX) is considered to be at the core of search engine rankings.

So choose a name that is memorable and unique. This means that when you are able to tell your website’s name to someone, they should be able to remember it later. This goal can be achieved using the following tips:

  • Keep the domain name small, simple, and easy to remember
  • The name should be related to whatever services or products you are offering
  • It should be unique

It can also be your brand name, given that your brand name has been chosen to meet the above-mentioned tips.

2. Include your Keyword(s)

Keywords have an impact on both your target audience and search engines. When you include the right keyword(s) in your domain name, search engines can learn what your site is about and so do your target audience. When combined with quality UX and content, the result is improved rankings. You will have to be creative in adding your keywords along with other words to create a name that perfectly addresses both human and technical aspects. The Hostinger Domain name search tool can help make your task much simpler.

3. Create a Short Domain Name

It is important to make your website’s name memorable and include keyword(s), but it is also important that is short. If you make it long, it may no longer be as memorable. It is recommended to keep the length up to 15 characters. A longer domain name also means that people are likely to forget the spelling. This can mean that many of your potential visitors may not be able to find your website.

4. Choose the Right Domain Extension

The choice of the domain extension also has an impact on your search engine rankings. If you have a specific target country, you can choose an extension focused on the country. For example, if you want to promote your business in the UK, “.co.uk” can be the ideal extension for your website. This sends out a clear message to search engines about the country you want to rank for.

Choosing the best SEO friendly name for your website

If you don’t have a specific country as a target market, you can choose Generic Top Level Domain extension. This includes options such as the following:

  • .com
  • .biz
  • .org
  • .net
  • .travel
  • .xyz
  • .online
  • .tech

You may even choose extensions based on your name, if it is a personal website. There are many more options available in the market.

New domain name extensions are added every now and then. You can also find options like .blog and .photography, which can make your website more relevant to your target audience. It is, however, generally recommended to choose a .com domain. The most important reason is that .com domains are easily memorable.

5. Avoid Hyphens & Special Characters

It is recommended to avoid the use of hyphens in your domain name. The main reason is that hyphens have been used extensively by spam sites. Google and other search engines often associate hyphens in domain names with spam sites. Even potential visitors can see your domain name in a different light. This property also reduces or eliminates the SEO value of your domain name.

Another reason to avoid hyphens is to avoid any room for typing mistakes. Most of the time people choose domain names with hyphens because their preferred name is already taken. This means that your users are highly likely to forget the hyphen when typing your domain name and can end up on the other website.

There are a few more tips to help you create an SEO-friendly name for your site. This includes the following:

  • Avoid double letters in website name. This increases the risk of typing errors and sending away traffic.
  • Cover a wider area related to your niche. It is highly likely that you may want to expand your product or service offering in the future. For example, if you are currently offering baby clothes and desire to expand in the future, you should choose a domain name that can cover the general niche including users of all age-groups.
  • Do some research to ensure that your website’s name is unique. There should be no brand or trademark clash with your competitor or with someone from another niche.

Before you choose your site’s domain name, it is important to know that you cannot change it once it has been chosen. SEO is one of the most important reasons for making the right choice. Your site’s popularity and search engine rankings depend a lot on what name you choose for it. It is well known that domain name is one of the main factors in Google’s ranking algorithms. Google and other search engines can gain a lot of information from your site’s name. So make sure to follow the above-mentioned tips to choose the best SEO-friendly name for your site.