Search engine optimisation comprises a range of elements, from fundamental aspects to minor details, one of which is the domain name. By choosing the right address, you won’t compromise your search engine rankings, and your website will also leave a positive impression on users. It is therefore worth thinking in advance about what the domain should be like for website promotion.
To create a suitable domain for website promotion, it would be wise to consult true branding experts and take note of the criteria they use. Let’s take, for example, the addresses known to everyone without exception: mail.ru, Facebook.com, Twitter.com, Yandex.ru, etc.
Everyone’s heard of these domains – what do you think is the reason for that?
- Firstly, what matters here is that they are original and easy to remember.
- Secondly, these domains are short, so there is no need to bookmark them; users can simply remember them as they are. What’s more, they also serve as the names of the projects themselves.
For half of the addresses mentioned, the name is linked to the site’s subject matter, and in your case, it wouldn’t go amiss to create the necessary associations. By learning from the true masters of website promotion, you’ll surely be able to come up with something truly worthwhile!
Common mistakes when choosing a domain name
Now, let’s look at a few minor details to bear in mind when choosing a domain for website promotion. Many people, particularly novice webmasters, tend to want to save fifteen dollars a year, so they opt for free third-level domains. Let’s be honest, that’s not the best choice!
First and foremost, you should feel sorry for your poor visitors, who clearly won’t be able to remember something like marketing-guru-best-top-seo.ua Furthermore, when it comes to promoting your website, a domain like this will put you at a disadvantage compared to others in terms of search engine performance.
No matter how hard you try, you will always lag behind other websites, even if they have exactly the same metrics as you.
After all, a free domain can be either granted to you or taken away, and with every justification, meaning that all your hard work could go to waste. So is it worth using such a domain to promote your website, especially given that, after going through all these difficulties, you won’t even be able to earn a decent income because your site will most likely not be accepted by many popular services?!
And one final point regarding the domain. If your future audience is English-speaking, it is, of course, better to use a .uk or .us domain, because users tend to remember only the first part of the domain; they often overlook the second part. In other words, if you purchase a domain to promote your website, for example: marketing-guru-best-top-seo.com then some of your audience who return to your site from memory will type marketing-guru-best-top-seo.us into their browser, meaning you will effectively be handing your visitors over to your competitors.
Security considerations when choosing a domain name for a website
A domain is a unique address without which no website can exist on the internet. At a technical level, a domain consists of a string of numbers, but as it would be very difficult for users to remember such sequences, they are organised into a combination of letters and hyphens.
At present, the Ukrainian internet environment supports not only Latin characters but also Cyrillic, and this approach is the best way to satisfy both users and search engines if you plan to promote your site through them.
A single domain can only be assigned to a single web project, so if you have chosen a provisional address, you must check whether it is already taken using WHOIS services.
If someone else already holds the rights to this domain, it cannot be used. However, you can try alternative options by adding characters to the original address or, conversely, removing some.
Purchasing a domain involves completing a registration form and paying for one or more years in advance. When carrying out this procedure, it is safer to use the services of long-established and reliable registrars, so that no one can subsequently unlawfully deprive you of your rights to the domain name you have purchased.
When registering a domain, it is also recommended for security reasons that you provide only your own accurate details.
Domain levels and selection criteria
Domains are categorised into several types: top-level domains, second-level domains, third-level domains, and so on. Each level is separated by a full stop.
For example, .ru and .cn are top-level domains; they define the domain zone. This indicates either the language in which the resource is implemented or its affiliation with a particular sector: .cn – China (and therefore the Chinese language), .com – a commercial website.
A second-level domain is the preferred choice for all website owners: website.com.ua. Third-level and subsequent domain levels are used primarily for supplementary resources of the main project, which is why they are referred to as subdomains. Using them as the main domain is strongly discouraged.
The domain name should be unique and easy to remember, so that users can easily recall it and type it into their browser. Therefore, you need to come up with an optimal name that is associated with the project’s theme, whilst ensuring it is limited to ten characters.
Domain merging
Every webmaster and SEO specialist should be aware of the concept known as ‘domain migration’. This is the term used to describe the process carried out when moving a website to a different domain zone (when the owner needs to change the website’s name), during which the website’s content is copied. Merging is used when the owner of a website hosted on a third-level domain wishes to move the site to a second-level domain without losing search rankings or website visitors. For a successful merge, you need full access to both websites.