So, you're looking for a new website name (aka domain name) and you need a few pointers. Once you have a name, or ideally a few website name ideas and possibilities, you can go to any of the website name registrars and they'll register the name for you - or MYIT can register the name for you and we'll register it in your own name so that you are the sole owner. There are a few helpful tips below if you are registering the website name yourself.
Domain Name Management
MYIT can also act as domain manager and renew the name each year for you and manage the DNS for that domain name too. DNS stands for Domain Name Systems and it is the 'phone book' of the Internet. Web users access information online through domain names, like rte.ie or irishtimes.com. Web browsers interact through Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and DNS translates domain names into IP addresses so that web browsers can load Internet web pages and other web resources.
What Does DNS Do?
DNS servers eliminate the need for web users to memorize IP addresses such as 190.151.11.12 or 2000:ca00:2408:1::c129:d1a2 and leaves web users with the simpler task of remembering a domain name like rte.ie or irishtimes.com . Most of the website name registrars provide a good service and when you are using the search box on their websites you just enter the 'body' part of the website name you're interested in e.g. 'websitename' in the case of 'www.websitename.com', and they'll check the availability of all the website name possibilities such as www.websitename.com , www.websitename.co.uk , www.websitename.ie etc.
Being Organised Will Make Your Domain Search Easier
Sometimes your web name search will be difficult because you are trying to balance a number of separate requirements at the same time, so be as organised as you can and that will simplify things. Write down your website name requirements and put them in order of importance.
When you search for a website name and see that it's already registered by someone, mark that down in your 'already registered' list so that you don't have to search it's availability again. Being organised will make this as efficient a process for you as possible and prevent you from doing the same searches more than once.
Try The Trusted Hyphen
Maybe your first choice name is available? ... so do a few quick searches to see if the obvious website names that you want are still available. If you are stuck and can't find the name you want use a hyphen '-' , but be aware that people may forget the hyphen or have difficulty remembering to include it. Google will figure it out quite quickly if your name is entered as a search without the hyphen though and will probably make helpful suggestions to the website searcher.
For a good few years .com website names in particular are getting registered at a huge rate, so people are getting more used to calling out, using and hearing website names with hyphens in them and numbers too. So, if you can't find a better name, maybe using a hyphen will work for you.
Use Other Keywords From Your Industry
Know the important product names, services and key phrases for your industry. You can use them as part of your web name search. Also consider your target market name e.g. Ireland or your target market county or city e.g. Dublin. Using a territory keyword will give you more website name search options and might give you a good branding lift too as a niche operator in that area.
Think about your business - is there an existing company name that has to be in the new website name? Or is there a product name or service name that is more important? Is your product for a target market so that that territory name could go in there?
Time To Decide What Your Website Name Priorities Are
Which of those website name priorities are the most important to you? Perhaps you could put all of these considerations in an ordered list so that you know where your priorities lie for your new website name.
Think about related words - you might want a .com like 'daviscarpenters' but 'daviscarpentry' might be a good option too if it's available and the first one isn't. Try make your new website name easy to remember and keep it as short as possible. This will not always be possible, but incorporate that good rule of thumb into your other considerations above. A relatively short and catchy website name might be a good plan-b if your initial web name searches are not proving fruitful.
Consider Domains That Are For Resale
You could also consider buying a 2nd hand website name but you would be well advised to get a website company to do an analysis of the domain name for you and see what the site was used for before and how Google views that domain.
A 2nd hand website name that Google marked as a spam site previously for example, would be very difficult or impossible for you to rank well for in the future, even though it might be a nice website name with the right keywords in it for your business.
If you are going to target more than one country market you should consider getting the various domains that you will need e.g. .co.uk for UK and .ie for Ireland. Google likes you to have the local country code domain name and will give you a better ranking - all other things being equal.
Don't use hard to spell words or a complicated play on words. You might understand the clever or funny spelling but others may not, and as a a result they may not be able to type it or remember it.
Check New Names In Google Before You Commit
Before you decide on a website name have a look in Google for it and see if there are already some big or small companies or products on page 1 of the search results with that same name. Check if you are going to have naming issues there too e.g. naming trademarks. If you are targeting the Irish market check your trademark details here: www.patentsoffice.ie .
Some Companies Don't Have Their 1st Choice Website Name
Your website name may not be 100% what you wanted but that doesn't mean it isn't going to be a huge success. When your website has a huge amount of visitors coming to it each day and you are on page 1 on Google for a lot of the important searches in your industry, you won't be thinking of changing your website name.
You'll want to protect your new website name too because now you have built a whole business and brand around it. Lots of business owners have a website name that isn't exactly what they originally wanted but now they're 100% committed to it as a brand and their business has been built up around it. If you want to discuss your website plans and website name plans give us a call on 01 6216866 or email us at info@myit.ie .
