10 Common Mistakes When Buying a Domain Name

There are literally millions of websites out there on the web, which means that there are quite fewer domain names to choose from. Too often, in a rush to build a website or simply be relieved by the availability of a domain name, business owners buy domain name or pick the one that doesn’t suit their websites or online business well. 

It’s always better to avoid these tiny mistakes to prevent huge losses that might occur in the future due to lesser ROI or traffic on your website. Read on to know about those 10 mistakes that are quite common, but should be avoided while buying and selling domain names.

Too close for comfort

Choosing a domain name close to that of another company may seem like an advantage, with indirect access from people searching for the other site. This actually makes your company look like a “knockoff” of the original. It can also cause legal problems. Hence, it’s better to buy domain name that is unique and not a replica of someone else’s domain.

Setting for obscurity

If you want to use a specific name, but it is used in .com and .net addresses, choose a different name. Commercial companies that choose some other extensions are generally forgotten easily as people are quite adapted with the common extensions such as .com and .net.

Easy to remember

Some company names are actually your domain names, like Buy.com. Even if this doesn’t have to be the case in your situation, you need a name that people can easily remember and pass on to their friends and co-workers. 

Make it too long

Keep it short (a word or two) or people will misspell or forget the domain name. It might also happen that people might land on some other website and end up getting frustrated because they can’t even find your website! That’s why when you buy domain name keep in mind to buy the one that’s relevant and also short.

Paying too much money to be generic.

The philosophy that someone looking for a book or auction site should try book.com or Auction.com first is outdated today thanks to sites like Amazon.com and eBay and because generic sites were bought years ago. While it’s not necessarily “a mistake,” spending a fortune on a generic domain name doesn’t always pay off when you can use that marketing and branding money to identify yourself as an independent company with a memorable name. 

Weird spelling

Weird spelling can be a disaster. Companies like MovieFone thrive on your unique spelling. However, along with moviefone.com, they also own the domain name moviephone.com. If you cannot register all the similar spellings at the same time, do not use strange spellings. 

Attempt to adapt a domain name to a company. 

When starting a business, too many people say, “I’ll worry about the domain name later” and then they get stuck with a wrong domain name because there is nothing available near their business name. While older companies simply had no choice but to consider and research your domain name when starting a business, consider your domain name when choosing a business name. That way, you can include your domain name in all of your supplemental materials right from the start. 

There is no comprehensive research done

Aside from the obvious need to find an available name, many people don’t research similar domain names to see what happens if people forget a letter or use .com instead of .net. Many business owners have lost customers to their competitors, while others have had complaints that a very similar domain name leads to some other website. 

Hyphenated domain names frustrate people

Many companies have learned this the hard way and it’s better to avoid using hyphens in your domain name. Hyphens make it tough for a person to remember the domain name exactly and that’s why they get frustrated. It also becomes harder in buying and selling domain names of such kinds as people generally tend to avoid them.

Choosing a name out of frustration

It is difficult to find a good unregistered domain name. However, if you settle for something that is easy to forget, you will hurt yourself, so don’t do it, keep thinking or buy a domain name from its owner if you can’t think of anything else.

Conclusion

We hope this blog would have helped you in understanding a few mistakes that you should avoid while buying and selling domain names. Picking the right domain name for a business can be challenging but it’s always crucial for the growth of one’s online business or website. You can check out the latest arrival of domain names at our website, GoDomainers and who knows, you might find the perfect domain for your business?