Buying a domain – Web Design Tips

Hi and welcome to this week’s web design video blog. Today we’re going to share some tips and advice for buying a domain name. If you’re starting a new business, or taking a company online for the first time, picking the best domain name from the outset is more important that you might expect. For example, it’s important to make a decision that you can stick with. Switching domain names later down the line would probably cripple any presence gained within the major search engines.

Choosing the right domain extension

One of the first things to do, is make sure that you choose the right domain extension. In our opinion, we would always recommend picking the ‘.co.uk’ extension if you are in the UK or a ‘.com’ extension if you are in the US or if you operate in multiple countries. Picking a less common domain extension like ‘.uk.com’ or ‘.me.uk’ might give you more options when it comes to buying, but these aren’t common place for a reason. We believe picking your country’s primary domain extension like ‘.co.uk’ in the UK or ‘.fr’ if you are in france gives you not only the standard, expected format but will ultimately perform better in the search engines.

Domain length

Secondly, think about the length of the domain. Website addresses that countain fewer words are easier to remember and may work well with your other marketing material. In all liklihood, the ideal domain name is probably already taken, which makes finding a short .com or .co.uk domain very difficult. mIf the ideal domain name is unavailable, try typing it into your browser to see who has it. A large percentage of domains purchased are actually for sale by what are known as ‘Domain Resellers’. Domain Resellers snap up domain names early on and then sell them on for a one-off premium. But as obtaining the right domain is so important you shouldn’t right off buying the perfect domain name for a small premium. Pre-Registered domain names can range from twenty pounds to Thousands, depending on the exclusiveity of the domain.

Domains and SEO

Another important consideration is your domain’s impact on your SEO campaign. Domains that contain keywords contribute to your site’s performance within the search engine rankings. For example, if we search for ‘web design’ on Google, you will notice that Google highlights the keywords within the domains. It’s therefore reasonably fair to assume that if the keywords in your domain name reflect your website’s content – then your website is a stronger listing.

That being said, you may find yourself with a dilemma. To illustrate this dilemma, we at Creare own both creare.co.uk and crearedesign.co.uk. Creare.co.uk is shorter and more marketable domain name that crearedesign.co.uk – However crearedesign.co.uk contains our primary keyword ‘design’. Now we don’t beleive there is a right or wrong answer when making this kind of decision, as both domains have different advantages.

So in conclusion, when picking a domain name, these are the following factors to consider:

1. Choose the right extension.
2. Keep the domain as short as possible.
3. Explore premium domain names.
4. Try and incorporate your primary keyword(s).