Your domain name is one of the most important marketing tools, and often one of the first items web viewers will see. If you already have a domain name that is less than ideal (as I do), the following may help you do worse next time. Here’s seven great ideas about how to choose a bad domain name:
1) Make the name irrelevant to the subject matter of the site or blog. If your subject matter is growing tomatoes in your garden, choose a name like “spaghettirecipes.com” or “farmfertilizer.org.”
That way, most of your site visitors will leave instantly and be disappointed.
Part and parcel of being irrelevant is avoiding keyword research. That way, choosing a good domain name will be like pinning the tail on the donkey when you are blindfolded … and in the wrong room … and usually, the wrong house.
2) Choose a name which is obscure. Either make it relevant to a niche which is too obscure to attract anyone (“bedtimestoriesfordustmites.com”) or looks like personal code (“xlc462quagmirez34.com”) so no one will remember it. The longer, the better.
3) Make your name relevant to a fad as the fad is waning. That way, your domain name will be desired for the shortest possible time frame. As someone said, “He who is married to the spirit of the age is soon divorced.”
4) Avoid “.net,” “.org,” and especially “.com” addresses. Prefer “.info,” especially if you want to avoid a professional appearance or be harder to find.
5) Use misspellings. That way people are more likely to miss you when typing in your domain name into a search engine. Unfortunately, this can backfire if the misspelling is funny or common. Be careful to misspell properly.
Prefer “o” and “0″ which leads to confusion between letter and number. Similarly, keep searchers guessing whether your domain name has Roman numerals (“ix,” “v,” and so on) or letters of the alphabet.
6) Prefer underscores, hyphens, and numbers in your domain name, especially if they are unnecessary or have nothing to do with your existing brand or business name. It adds to the difficulty people have with your domain name.
7) If possible, choose a name which is generic in a highly competitive niche. That way, no one will ever find you in the crowd. Nothing in the name will make you stand out. You will be camouflaged.
Of course, there is an exception: your domain name infringes on the copyright of some big fish. At least that way, you will invite a law suit.
But otherwise, we hope the above helps keep you in the dark and on the web.
Peter Rubel
P.S. NameCheap.com and GoDaddy.com are two places to get started with domain names. Check for domain name availability at WhoIs.net.
P.P.S. As a bonus, you could purchase an old domain name with lots of baggage–one with a history of spamming, porn–whatever works (or doesn’t). Just try to shake such a reputation! Find out about the baggage for yourself on archive.org.
Tags: domain name, keyword research
