How To Choose Your Domain Name

tech Jul 06, 2020

Introduction

Today is going to be technical. I’m not going to lie to you; if tech isn’t your thing you might struggle a little.

But that’s okay. Because I’m going to make it as easy as possible to help you understand what’s going on here.

>> Click here to get a FREE instant download of the PDF version of this post... I'll throw in my audio narration as a free bonus.

Today we’re going to talk about your domain name. You’re going to learn what it is, the smart way to select your domain name and then we’ll talk about the nuts and bolts of actually setting it up.

My goal is that by the end of this lesson you will have a fully functioning internet web address just waiting to attach a website.

This is your first step toward greatness so let’s go!

Last week we talked about your technology platform and I made the case for New Kajabi. If you haven’t already done so, go ahead and sign up for the free trial now.

Also, if you want to download all the lessons as a PDF E-Book, you can buy the entire thing for $14.97). It also includes the audiobook of all lessons so you can listen to the content on the go.

That being said, let’s dive into your domain name.

What’s in a name anyway?

My name is Vonnie (hence the name of this site is vonimus) but for some reason people still call me “Lonnie” in email communication even though my email signature clearly spells my name as “Vonnie”.

For example, a few years ago I started as a new hire to a Virginia based tech company. A few weeks into my new job, I setup my signature in Outlook and sent an email to Facilities about getting a standup desk in my office.

The sender address clearly shows the email came from "vonnie", the signature showed "vonnie" and I signed it saying “-Vonnie, Best Regards”. But for some innane reason the Facility manager began his address to “Lonnie” and I was like “What the F MAN!”

How hard is it to simply read my name in the email signature!

Have you ever had this happen to you? Someone mispronouncing (or mistyping) your name is annoying right?

Well when it comes to registering your internet presence it is just as important that you get the name right as this will be your digital address, your digital home as it were, where people will step into your virtual business and learn about how you can solve their problems.

Note: Download the FREE PDF Version of this article so you can read offline, anytime and print it for easier viewing. As free a bonus, it includes the audio narration as an MP3 file so you can listen on the go. Just enter your email address to get the entire thing. It's free, instant and available now.

Use a .com address

The first thing we need to understand is that some people overthink this.

When it comes to building a web address, I actually over researched the entire domain name thing.

With my first blog, fixedbyvonnie.com, I spent hours and hours playing with dozens of domain names. My problem is that I wanted it to be SEO friendly (read: Google Friendly) because I wanted search traffic to bubble my domain to the top of the search engine results pages.

I later learned this method of thinking is a bit juvenile as it isn’t necessary to “hack” Google with a search friendly domain name. You really only need to keep five concepts in mind when building a web address:

Only use .COM
Differentiate on Smart Suffixes
Shorter and Simpler Is Better
Cross Check Your Domain Against Social Sites
Make sure the name isn’t trademarked

1. Only use .COM

When you sign-up to register your web address you’ll see tons of options for new “endings”. These are technically called “top level domain names” or (TLDs). .COM is just one of many. There are .NET, .ORG, .CC, .COOL, .BIZ, .XYZ and so on.

My advice to you is this:

Ignore every domain TLD besides .com

Stick to .com and don’t bother using any other TLD. If you can’t find your domain name in .com then you’ll need to find creative ways to differentiate your name.

2. Differentiate on Smart Suffixes

If you find a domain you really want but discover it is unavailable, you can add the following suffixes to stand out:

You can also play with the following prefixes:

For example, a few years ago I built an online business around the CompTIA Security+ Cybersecurity exam. The domain “securityplus.com” was taken so I added the pro suffix to differentiate myself: “securitypluspro.com”

The other important note is that you don’t need to have your desired keyword in the domain name to have a good domain name.

The term “Amazon” has almost nothing to do with what is sold at Amazon.com. It’s not like people are searching for all expense paid trips to the Amazon in South America and then are delighted when Amazon.com pops in the search results!

The reason Amazon.com is so popular is not because of their domain name. It’s because Amazon offers stellar customer service and will go through great lengths to make sure customers are happy.

And that’s what I want you to do.

My thoughts here is that sometimes it’s just best to makeup a name and go with that.

For example, this website, “vonimus.com” is a play on my name “Vonnie” and “Maximus”. By combining both I was able to create a single word that represents my brand.

See how that works? If you exercise a little creativity with domain suffixes, prefixes and blended names you can come up with something that is unique and will represent your brand well.

3. Shorter And Simpler Is Better

When creating your domain name you want to stay away from hyphens and acronyms. If your business is related to cat sitting for wealthy professionals, MillionaireCatSitter.com is better than Millionaire-Cat-Sitter.com. But if you can simplify the domain name even further take the extra effort to do so.

For example, CatSitterPro.com might be better. Or CatsAndSitters.com might be better.

The point here is make the domain short and then try to make it even shorter until you have the shortest possible phrase that represents your brand.

You always want to keep your spelling common and simple.

CatSitterz.com isn’t smart. I mean, just think about the awkwardness of having to explain your business internet address to someone:

“Yeah, I’m at CatSitters.com but replace the S with a Z”

Who the heck is going to remember that! Sure, YOU will but that’s because you care about your business more than everyone else. So try to keep your spelling conventional and unambiguous.

4. Cross Check Your Domain Against Social Sites

Another smart move you should do is to see if your domain name is available and then do a quick check to see if that exact name is available on the following Social Media sites:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube (or Pinterest depending on your niche)

The reason you want to do this is because it will make your branding strategy appear more professional than it really is.

For example, let’s say your name is Phillip and your site is based on fitness coaching for disabled military veterans. You want PhillipFitness.com but the domain is already taken so you think about it for a few hours and come up with a combination of your name and your niche with:

Phitness.com

But let’s say that’s taken too.

After thinking a little longer you come up with PhitVet.com.

This isn’t that great because “Phit” isn’t obviously spelled so it isn’t easy to pronounce (not a good thing) but you go for it anyway.

The next thing you should do before you buy the domain is to check to see if that exact name is available on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.

Then you can say “I’m PhitVet everywhere” and it will make it really easy for your fans to find you. If you have to say I’m PhitVet on Facebook but TheRealPhitVet on Twitter and PhitnessVet on Youtube, people won’t know where to find you and it makes you look disjointed and unprofessional.

A great resource I’ve been using for checking your name on social sites is namecheck. Check it out by clicking the link below:

https://namechk.com/

You just pop in your name and it instantly scans all the major social sources to see which sites will allow you to register that name (and which ones won’t)

5. Make Sure The Name Isn’t Trademarked

Finally, we need to make sure the name you have in mind isn’t trademarked.

Imagine how embarrassed and frustrated you would become if you registered your domain name and then registered that same name on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest. And then you created all the content, you start selling your product and everything is awesome.

Then 15 months into your business you get a letter about copyright infringement! Not a fun day right.

So let’s get this right from the start: make sure the name you're thinking about using isn't trademarked. This is also one of the reasons why I love making up my own names because it’s less likely to be subject to copyright issues.

You can search your name in United States Patent and Trademark Office here:

https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/search-trademark-database

Registering Your Name

Awesome, now that you understand the concepts let’s actually register your name.

We’re going to use NameCheap to register your domain name because they're cheaper than GoDaddy and super easy to use.

Before we go forward I just want to be upfront with you: I am an affiliate for NameCheap (and almost every resource mentioned on this website including Teachable, Leadpages, Ontraport, New Kajabi, Amazon and many others...) so that means I will receive a commission for every referral I make. Yes, I’m being upfront and honest with you.

I'm tired of all the trickery and dishonesty in this field and I'm trying to make things transparent by being candid with you guys!

Alright so that being said, we’re actually going to go through the entire registration process today:

Registering Your NameCheap Domain Name
Completing A Namechk Social Check
Completing A USPTO Trademark Check

This is actually going to be pretty fun. What this:

First, go to NameCheap.com and search for your desired domain name using the tips mentioned in this guide.

In this example we're going to imagine you have a business helping computer geek bachelors find love online.

You start playing with some domain names:

geekweek.com
peakgeek.com
geeklove.com
peakgeekpro.com
thedatinggeek.com

Ohhh... you really like that last one but it’s taken!

So you replace those double “g”’s with a single “g”.

thedatingeek.com

Yes! Your heart is starting to rush!

You quickly set the gears rolling to buy the domain.

First you create your account:

Then you fill out your address information. I like using a PO Box that I registered for this purpose. For your phone number I suggest putting in a Google Voice number.

The next screen asks you to confirm your details. Make sure everything checks out and then hit Continue.

Alright, let's get ready to pay. I like PayPal so I'll select that option but you can use Visa, Mastercard, Amex or Discover.

But wait! We need to check one thing. We almost forgot...

Let's pivot to namechkr to check the name availability on social sites.

As you can see below, we can use this name on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, Slack and more. That's a great sign.

But let's think about this a little more.

Even though we have name availability across all social sites, our desired domain name, thedatingeek.com is so close to thedatinggeek.com that people might typo our website and land at a competitor.

That’s not good.

So let's say after doing more research and thinking you finally end up settling on:

DatinG33K.com

This is a clever play on the word geek as you’ve substituted “3”s for “e”’s and wrote the domain in what’s known as “geeks speak” which is vernacular your target market is already familiar with.

So you go through the motions and check namechkr and the USPTO and see there’s no copyright issues.

It’s a go!

Yes! So now you have your domain name!

>> Click here to get a FREE instant download of the PDF version of this post... I'll throw in my audio narration as a free bonus.

At this point your domain is parked on NameCheap servers but in future lessons we’re going to show you how to create a website in New Kajabi and then tie your domain name to your New Kajabi page.

It’s going to be awesome

Now It’s Your Turn

This guide is all about your domain name so my goal is that you have a fully functioning domain name by the end of this lesson.

Within the next 48 hours I need you to do 3 things:

Create a NameCheap Account
Buy your domain name
Save your password details as you will need them later.

Your quick action result is you’ve made your first step to building your online business. It always begins with a domain name and now that you have yours we can confidently move into the next stage: building your website and defining it purpose!

I’ll see you in the next lesson!

Congratulations!