Before you start choosing and reserving a domain name, it's important to check the prices, prerequisites and conditions for obtaining the extension (.com, .fr, .org, etc.) you want for your domain name.
Choosing a domain name is important and should be carefully considered
- Which name should you choose?
- What extension should you choose?
- Should you hyphenate or not?
- Should you choose accented characters in IDN?
These are just some of the questions that need to be answered if you are to choose the right domain name.
The domain name you choose will influence the visibility of your website, its search engine optimisation and, more generally, the future of your website. Once your domain name has been chosen and listed, it will be more complicated and difficult to change it without affecting your image and traffic.
That's why we'd like to share with you some best practices for choosing your domain name efficiently and without any pitfalls.
What is a domain name?
A domain name is a unique address on the Internet, used to access websites such as safebrands.com and google.com. Users can connect to websites using domain names thanks to the DNS system. Find out more here.
A domain name is read from right to left.
Structure: (...) . 3rd level . second level domain . top level domain (TLD)
Example: www . yourdomain . com
Why is it important to choose the right domain name?
Often, a domain name is associated with a company, a brand, a product or a service. When this is the case, the domain name you create will and must be based on the name of the brand you use, and on which you will also need to communicate.
Changing your domain name is complicated and strongly discouraged when your website is already online, well-known and referenced, because:
- It's not easy to launch and publicise a website to generate traffic to it; setting up and carrying out communication is long and tedious. Changing your domain name means starting from scratch with your communication strategy;
- The age of a domain name is important for its referencing and traffic. When you change your name, you lose all the referencing advantage due to the age of your domain name.
Our advice on choosing the right domain name
Accredited by ICANN, CIRA, TradeMark ClearingHouse, and even more local registries than any of our competitors, SafeBrands has been offering a tailor-made service based on advice, flexibility and innovation since 1997.
We are one of the very few registrars in the world able to register and manage your domain names in all extensions, without exception, and throughout the world.
Because we are specialists in domain name management and protection, here are a few tips and ideas to help you stand out from the crowd:
- A good-sounding, easy-to-remember name
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Preferably short (or not too long ^^) and easy to write
- Make sure you choose a name that is easy to understand and pronounce and that is easy to spell correctly, with no negative connotations, suggestions or sounds that might make you think of another word with negative connotations. Also make sure that other results close to yours do not (all) have a negative connotation. Don't be afraid to be creative!
- A name that makes sense and relates to your activity, and if possible a general meaning understood by as many people as possible.
- If possible, don't hesitate to make a play on words with the chosen extension or sub-domain, such as radio.fm. This will give your domain even more meaning and make it easier to remember.
- If you don't have a well-defined brand name, try to have a part of the domain name that recalls the theme of your website (keyword). This way, Internet users can get an idea of the type of content relating to your site via the URL.
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Keywords: although it is not advisable to overuse them, keywords are very useful for referencing. They also help to direct visitors around the site.
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Check the availability of your domain name in the extension you want, as well as in the most strategic extensions for your business and the most popular ones, such as .com .net .org .biz .info .name .fr and other geographical extensions where you are present (Data IANA List of tlds-alpha-by-domain & List_of_Internet_top-level_domains#Geographic_top-level_domains). We recommend to reserve all the most popular extensions in order to increase your visibility and protect yourself against cybersquatting.
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The choice of extensions is very important and strategic. Choosing the right domain extension for your website is always a key step. The IANA currently distinguishes between the following types of Top Level Domains:
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- Country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs): .fr .ca .us .cn .de etc. (TLD Map 2019: Nominet registry), see below;
- Internationalized country code top-level domains (IDN ccTLDs): extensions in non-Latin characters (Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Thai, Sanskrit, etc.);
- Generic top-level domains (gTLDs): .com .org .coop .gouv .info .int .net .com etc.;
- New generic top-level domains (New gTLDs):
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- geographical extensions known as geoTLDs (.paris .bzh .corsica etc.) linked to a place, city or region,
- TLDs reserved for a particular community (.gay, .maori, .green ...),
- sector extensions (.hotel, .radio, .music, .bank, .finance), brand extensions and closed company extensions known as corpTLDs: .loreal .sfr .sncf etc.
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- Country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs): .fr .ca .us .cn .de etc. (TLD Map 2019: Nominet registry), see below;
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Country extensions (ccTLD) :
There are TLDs for each country, and these are essential for good local referencing. In France, you should opt for a .fr, while in China you will prefer a .cn, but there are still no extensions for fictitious places.
The original extensions :
Finally, there are also ccTLDs that have been marketed as generic extensions because of their originality. Like .tv, dedicated to the Tuvalu Islands, which is now the preserve of the media, or .fm, which originally designated the island of French Micronesia. Examples: skyrock.fm and D8.tv.
To help you make the best possible choice for your extension, you can explore more than 1,000 TLD extensions: EuroDNS has published a complete guide to all the best domain extensions organised by sector!
See also the Afnic tips for more information
- Finally, the domain name you choose must not infringe the rights of any third party: other individuals, companies or institutions. This could be the case, for example, if the name you choose causes confusion and is too close to a domain name that has already been reserved, such as the name of a particular person or registered trademark. Adding a keyword is often enough to remove the ambiguity. These checks will also ensure that your domain name is the one you need to stand out on the Internet.
Why and when should a hyphen be used?
When the domain name, or your business, is based on a compound name, it is possible and often recommended to use a hyphen to separate the words or expressions. For example, you can choose between montblanc.com and mont-blanc.com. If the 2 domains are free, buy both and redirect the one without the hyphen to the one with the hyphen. Or vice versa.
Several SEO tests have shown that the hyphenated version is preferred by Google in particular.
NB: for generic terms, names without hyphens are (very) often already taken.
When the domain name is entered into a browser/search engine, errors can occur and some of the traffic can go to a competitor's site or simply to a URL that does not exist.
For this reason, it is strongly recommended to reserve all the main spelling variations of your domain as well as all the strategic extensions. And to set up 301-type web redirects from these secondary domains to the main domain name.
Insert a keyword (descriptive term or geographical indication) or your brand in the domain name?
Below are a few points to help you make your choice, highlighting the advantages of each option.
Keywords, descriptive terms or geographical indications
Examples:
mon-domaine-web-agency.com, mon-domaine-web-marketing.com or mondomainewebagency.com.
plumber-michel-paris.fr, plumber-michel.paris, other examples of uses of .Paris on afnic.fr
- A direct advantage for natural referencing outside Google: the keywords present in the domain name are used by search engines to sort and classify results by relevance, a criterion that is more or less important depending on the search engine (little used for referencing on Google but important for Microsoft Bing).
- Indirectly, this can lead to the creation of links based on the domain name and thus improve positioning in search engine results.
- Finally, it allows web users to quickly understand the purpose or theme of the site.
Brand
Example: safebrands.fr or mailclub.fr
- First advantage: it's easier to create and implement a marketing strategy around a brand than around a domain name.
- Google has updated its algorithms so that it no longer gives as much weight to domain names containing keywords.
- A brand name often gives a site a little more credibility, provided that the brand is (somewhat) well-known.
Mix of the 2: trademark and keywords
- More choice and availability at registration
- Easy to understand and remember
- Improves SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
NB: Where trademarks coexist, the addition of generic terms and.or geographical indications makes it possible to clearly distinguish the activities and therefore the trademarks attached to each domain name.
To find out more about search engine optimisation (SEO)
If you'd like to find out more about search engine optimisation (SEO), here are a few links you might find useful:
• Google Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide
• Analytics Training and Support
• How to prepare for Google Analytics IQ
• Free online marketing courses - Google Digital Workshops
• Google certification: get certified by Google!
Trademark
Before registering a domain name, we advise you to check that your domain name does not correspond to a trademark already registered with the INPI (Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle) in France, or with the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation) internationally. This will enable you to check quickly whether or not it is possible to register this name, and subsequently your trademark. If you have not registered a trademark, don't forget that your domain name could very quickly become one!
Protect your domain names and your brand
A clearly defined strategy is essential for building a strong brand, as the choice of a name has implications that go far beyond mere marketing considerations. Risk management must be at the heart of this strategy, from both a legal and a business perspective.
Domain names and trademarks are closely linked and need to be treated together, as two facets of the same reality, in order to understand the protection process as a whole and ensure effective protection of your rights.
Read more on SafeBrands.fr...
As prevention is always the best cure, the assistance of a team of expert and experienced professionals is strongly recommended when implementing a protection strategy, in order to avoid the pitfalls that could ruin your efforts to build and maintain a strong brand.
Contact the SafeBrands team of experts