Tips for choosing a domain name for your practice
Choosing a domain name for your Dental website is one of the most important factors to consider to create your online brand and your online identity. This is, however, a lot easier said than done! There are a few important factors you should consider before deciding on a domain name for your website. I've put together some tips to choosing one, but ultimately the decision is down to you!
- Brand or Keyword
Domains which include a keyword or two about your business are referred to as keyword-rich domains. These domain names are very focused, so your business should definitely reflect the fact that what you do is represented by those keywords.Keyword-Rich domain names are desirable for several reasons, including: They have historically ranked well (and quickly) in search engines for the keywords used in the domain name. Visitors tend to click on domain names which exactly describe the product they are searching for and they are perfect for tightly focused sites with only one type of product or service. An example would be www.dentistlondon.co.uk.Branded domains do not contain keywords and are ideally short, aesthetically pleasing and easy to remember. This could be a word you've invented, a word with an obscure reference to your business or it may simply be a set of initials. It could also be a word or words in English or in a foreign language. What's important to remember is that this domain name will represent everything your company does or sells and that you must build up your brand around it.Whilst Google has traditionally ranked keyword rich domains higher – branded domain names are becoming more favoured as less emphasis is placed on keywords being part of a website's URL.
- Make the Domain Unique
Having your website confused with a popular site already owned by someone else is a recipe for disaster. Thus, I never choose domains that are simply the plural, hyphenated or misspelled version of an already established domain. I still believe that Flickr desperately needs to buy Flicker.com – I hear kids in their 20's tell parents in their 40's and 50's to see photos on Flickr and always envision that traffic going straight to the wrong domain. - Only Choose Dot-Com/co.uk Available Domains
If you're not concerned with type-in traffic, branding or name recognition, you don't need to worry about this one. However, if you're at all serious about building a successful website over the long-term, you should be worried about all of these elements, and while directing traffic to a .net or .org (as SEOmoz does) is fine, owning and 301'ing the .com is critical. With the exception of the very tech-savvy, most people who use the web still make the automatic assumption that .com is all that's out there – don't make the mistake of locking out or losing traffic to these folks. - Make it Easy to Type
If a domain name requires considerable attention to type correctly, due to spelling, length or the use of un-memorable words or sounds, you've lost a good portion of your branding and marketing value. I've even heard usability folks toute the value of having the letters include easy-to-type letters (which I interpret as avoiding “q,” “z,” “x,” “c,” and “p”). - Make it Easy to Remember
Remember that word-of-mouth and SERPs dominance marketing (where your domain consistently comes up for industry-related searches) both rely on the ease with which the domain can be called to mind. You don't want to be the company with the terrific website that no one can ever remember to tell their friends about because they can't remember the domain name
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