There are many factors that go into designing an effective website. Design elements and content work together to ensure that each component serves the site’s purpose for your business.
A website must play many roles. It establishes your brand identity, increases visibility through search rankings, and provides the information your visitors need to receive the value of your products and services.
Many businesses get stuck when trying to name their website. They commit some of the common mistakes that hurt them in the long run. The following are some essentials you need to know for naming your website.
What’s in a Name?
Words still rule online. They articulate your value proposition and persuade readers to take a specific action on your site. But it all starts with your site’s name.
Selecting the right domain for your site is just as important as choosing your design theme or headline. Yet it’s often the most difficult part of the process for business owners.
Choosing a name isn’t necessarily permanent. But it can be a costly and time-intensive endeavor to change your name in the future, transfer URLs, and hope that your customers know where to find you.
So it’s important to get it right the first time.
You need to match your site’s name to your brand in order to get the best results for its performance in the search engine results pages (SERP).
Start With Keywords
It’s a good idea to explore some keywords and phrases related to your business. Create a list of these words and expand on them to come up with possible names for your website.
Using keywords, as opposed to a clever or quirky name, allows prospects to easily identify the nature of your business.
Don’t Confuse Your Audience
It’s easy to confuse users with a poorly thought out website name. You need to research existing domains to ensure that yours isn’t too similar to another site already online.
This is critical when considering names that are intentionally misspelled or are the plural forms of words. If you include numbers or hyphens as part of your domain name, it can cause people to be confused when looking for your site.
Finally, most Internet users are still accustomed to sites with the “.com” top-level domain (TLD). So if “.net” or “.org” are the only options available, you should consider a new name that can be used with “.com” unless another TDL is better suited to your website.
Make it Memorable
Word of mouth is still the greatest form of advertisement. Make it easy for users to share information about your business by having a name that’s easy to remember.
You can have a beautifully designed and fully functional website that loses traffic when people can’t remember your site’s name.
It’s a good idea to keep your website’s name short, as these are easier to remember over time. A secondary benefit of using a short name is that it can allow you more space when advertising or appearing in the SERPs.
Avoid Legal Obstacles
Before you register that domain name and begin designing your site, make sure that you won’t run into any legal challenges. Copyright infringement can occur completely by accident.
Do your research to ensure that you aren’t infringing on anyone’s copyright. Search your potential name online and within your industry to make sure that you aren’t putting yourself at risk for legal challenges.
Essentials naming website can be the most challenging part of its design. You want a name that relates to the nature of your business and is easy to remember. Your name should be unique so it isn’t confused with another website or infringes on the copyright of another business.
If you’re having trouble coming up with a name for your site, let us know in the comments below. The points listed here are just a few places you can start. Tell us where you’re getting stuck so that we can help you establish a powerful identity for your business.
