I’ve had some entrepreneurs ask me if I thought their domain name was any good, first of all I believe that’s a very good question to ask, so here are the 7 factors to consider when choosing a domain name.

1-Goals and objectives
Before you get a domain name, you should have a plan in mind. You should know what your goals and objectives of having a domain are. Do you want to have a domain to advertise your business or do you want it for your interests or hobbies?

2- Domain ending
Always try to select the top level domain (TLD) as dot com (.com) unless you want to get a specific country or a particular legal or organization structure such as dot edu (.edu for education). It depends on your objective of having the domain. If you want a domain to redirect a specific url, then get a domain with dot info (.info). It would serve your purpose well and it is cheaper than the dot come ending.

3- Hyphens
Avoid hyphens in your domain name, potential customers might forget to put them in when they try to find you, and they might end up on your competitors website. However there are a few reasons to use hyphens – one reason would be if you have a company name that has 2 adjoining words where the last letter of the first word and the first letter of the second word are the same – It might read easier by using a hyphen.

4- Name length
Some people have said that the name of your domain should be short and simple, although I do think this is good for a product brand site (the top money-making brands have 6 letters or less as a domain name), I also think that a long domain name that has your industry keywords built into it is not such a bad idea – for instance; “www.lawnmowerrentalsofsouthflorida.com”, a domain that long would certainly come up in a search engine if someone were to type that phrase so don’t be afraid of using descriptive words. The other option would be to create a shorter catchier version such as “rentamower.com” not as search engine friendly but more memorable for word-of-mouth marketing. I should add that the longer the domain name, the easy it is to misspell it. A good test is to say the domain name to a few friends and ask them to spell it.

5- SEO and traffic
Do a keyword research for your domain name because it has influence on search engines. That is why you want your domain name related to keyword in your niche that you are going to do business (see point #4). The targeted keyword used in the domain name can boost traffic to your blog.

6- Trademark infringement

Before you register your domain, do a research to make sure you don’t use a trademark name. Be warned that buying a domain containing a trademarked name could result in taking your domain down after a legal battle dispute.

7- Branding
You can use your name as a domain name, but it is going to take a lot of work to brand your blog. People do not know who you are. You have a lot of marketing and advertising to do.

So, let me know what you think…do you have any ideas about choosing a domain name?, leave a comment!