Five Tips for First-Timers Choosing Domain Names

Getting into the game of the world wide web has never been a better idea for anyone. Whether it's promoting a club night, trying to get a band more shows, or trying to establish a presence for a new shop or brand, having a proper home on the web is a way of connecting with more people and netting more fans or customers. And with everyone getting into the business of having an online identity, those who are making their sites for the first time need to establish themselves and set themselves apart from the pack. One of the best ways to do this, besides choosing a savvy and contemporary design for the site itself, is ensuring that the domain name being used is one that people can remember. After all, it's crucial to know the URL to even get to a site in the first place before Google search results knock a page to the top of the list. Here are five tips for first-timers picking out their domain names that maximize the effectiveness of the online experience.

#1 - Keep it as short as possible. Don't overdo the brevity, but don't make potential visitors have to remember something that is excessively long and therefore difficult to type properly on the first go-round. Consider the success of Twitter: the less characters that people use, the more likely others are to actually pay attention. The same goes with choosing a URL that works: don't opt for something that is going to potentially trip up visitors and keep them from the proper information.

#2 - Make sure it's not already associated with something negative. Whether it's a previous domain owner who had the site blacklisted because of bad business moves or the uncanny resemblance to another URL pitching something less than savory, it's important to poke around the web and figure out if there are better options, or if the choice being made is one that is unsullied from the mistakes of others. Websites can get reputations, too.

#3 - Don't go the .net route. People are going to check out the .com first, and that is where the site should be. If there is the option for a .net, try to avoid it. It's just not going to be as helpful or as effective, and people might not end up in the right place.

#4 - Remember to stick close to the name of the business or the band. Having an esoteric URL address might seem cool at first, but people might not make the connection between the pithy phrase and the actual identity of the business or product, so don't create that kind of disconnect.

#5 - Stay away from all of the rookie mistakes. When choosing domain names for the first time, people tend to get overly detailed with the kind of information that they tack on. If there is a store, it can be as simple as adding the neighborhood or the city to the URL so that people get there right the first time (i.e. www.katesboutiquenyc.com), but going further than that can be a bad mistake (i.e. www.katesboutiquevintageclothesnyc.com). As this is the most common mistake that people make, it's an important one to learn to avoid right off the bat.

Network Solutions and their packages can make upgrading to an online presence that works a whole lot better. Whether it's VPS hosting or something else, finding one's identity online has never been easier.