How to avoid 5 UTTER domain registration mistakes every internet entrepreneur makes

There are many internet entrepreneurs (Smart entrepreneurs) who let their brand commit suicide by committing silly domain registration mistakes. This very short article tells you how to avoid it.

Registering the wrong domain name is one of the worst mistakes that a hopeful internet site owner can do. Before you decide to register your domain name, make sure you register your domain in a way that you won't regret later. I recommend you follow the best practices of domain registration to avoid future resentments.

Here are my 5 suggestions.

1) Have a clear idea about branding

In internet, the entry point of your ‘business’ is your domain name; Domain name is the first thing an internet surfer sees about your brand in internet. The perception about your internet presence starts from your domain name.

You need to have a clear idea about your ‘branding’ in internet. What kind of an impression you want to create in your website audience? How your visitors should see you in internet? You should have a clear idea about your branding before you go to register your domain. Otherwise you may regret later. You may find a better proposition to your business after spending hundreds of dollars and months of time to promote the initial brand and domain name. And you then start regretting about your domain and branding. This happens to huge number of interne business owners.

Re-branding your business online is tough and its double work. So think at least 10 times (or 10 iterations) about the way you want to present yourself in internet. Then use that idea to find a domain name or domain names.

This is very simple thing, but many internet entrepreneurs keep on ‘forgetting’ about this all the time.

2) Determine your target geographic location

Always have a clear understanding about the geography of your audience. Understanding the geographic location of your target audience help you in many ways. It will help you to focus your efforts in SEO and promotion of your site to a specific country or a city. The early you start targeting a geographic location, the better results you get in the long run, on both in SERP and targeted traffic. Registering a country specific domain name will help you to do SEO effectively to that country.

3) Find best possible domain name (Choose .com if possible)

.com version is the best domain to register. But if your website purpose is different than commercial, you may choose other TLD’s. Like .net,.org,.info etc.. But for commercial websites, .com is the best option. This is because people like to remember.com version more. Another reason why .com is better is, imagine if your competitor have a.com version of domain name you have, then majority of your visitors hit .com version of your domain and end up in your competitor’s site. If you register a .com version, then also consider buying other TLD (.net, .org and .info etc…) domains too so competitors don't take them

Getting your desired domain name can be tough. It might be already taken by someone else. But you can always come up with new word ideas. There are many tools which help you do that. Here are two good tools.

domain4me.in domain recommendation tool

bustaname.com domain recommendation tool

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4) Try to keep domain name short

How many websites which have large domain name you remember? Many internet entrepreneurs create large ‘keyword’ domains and taste the bitter effect it creates in branding. People perceive large keyword domains as scam. Also long domains are tough to remember.

Make sure your domain name as much short and memorable as possible. Certainly short domain names are more memorable than large ones. This helps promotion and branding. People love short and trendy domain names.

5) Always lock your domain.

You can Lock/Unlock your domains. Locked domains can’t be transferred to another person. Its advised that you lock the domain so you are secure about unauthorized transfer of your domain. You can unlock whenever you want to. Best domain registrars give you a way to Lock/Unlock facility for free of cost.

Additional Tip: Make use of domain privacy protection

After you register your domain, the details of the domain registration will be visible to public. Anyone can see who is registered the domain. If you want to hide your details or your domain association from public, you can do that. Some domain registration companies do this for free. Decide this before you register domain.

Remember these tips when you register domain next time. Good luck for your internet endeavor!