domainname 300x233 Do you know what makes a good domain name?After spending weeks thinking about it, you think you have the perfect domain name for your blog. You finally get the nerve to spend the $10 or so to buy it but it’s not available. You knew there was a chance of that happening so you reach for your backup domain name and that’s gone too. So is your third choice. You end up buying one that you don’t love but you tell yourself that it’s good enough. But is it?

Look, we’ve all been there. As much as we’d all like to think that we’re unique and have a unique idea, the reality is that it has likely already been done many times over. We still have to make do with what’s available though. Here are some tips to making the most out of your domain name.


  • Use keywords in it. There are exceptions, like johnchow.com, but for many of us, having a domain name without keywords hurts, especially in the early going. I know you might be building a brand and that’s perfectly fine. As long as you weigh the pros and cons, and you know that one con is a slightly uphill battle when making a name for yourself (or blog). For example, do a Google search on free blog help and you’ll see that this site comes up as the second result. It took only a few days for that to happen!
  • Stick with a .com name. Unless you’re not planning on making any money because you’re working for a non-profit, in which case I would recommend a .net or .org, your domain name should end with .com. You will lose too many people because they won’t remember that your site is .biz instead of .com.
  • Keep it short. I know, almost everything is gone! Over 90% of any combination of any two words with less than five letters are gone! Even made up words are gone! Still, don’t be tempted to use a long phrase unless you have to. Get creative if you must. Instead of projectmanagementtestcenter.com, go with pmtestcenter.com, which is easier on the tongue and the fingers.
  • Don’t use numbers, hyphens or strange spellings. There are countless sites with success using these, such as suite101.com, but generally speaking, if you have to explain that learn2blogtoday.com has a number 2 in it or mygoodfriendz.com has a z in it, then you’ve already dug yourself a hole.
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