Best practices for naming your website in 2021 include:
- Use a .com extension, if at all possible (which it really is!),
- Choose something that is descriptive of the content you will be creating. Don’t make it too narrow in focus – in that it becomes limiting…
- Use adjectives if the primary name you want is already taken (Epic, awesome….)
- Use a Random Name Generator to get ideas. I like the Shopify name generator, which can be found HERE, and the NameBoy Name Generator, which can be found HERE.
- Combine 2 seemingly unrelated words to create a unique name.
- Make is as memorable as possible.
- Keep it as short as possible – but not too short – as to compromise memorability.
- Better to be a little longer than difficult to remember.
- Nothing too cute that is difficult to remember, pronounce or spell correctly.
- Nothing offensive or vulgar.
- Use keywords that relate to the subject area of your website.
- Don’t infringe on someone else’s trademark or brand name, Check here @ the US Patent & Trademark Office.
Preferred Domain Extension IS “.com”!
Go with .com extension if at all possible! (& it IS possible!) The .com extension has been around the longest and is what people are most familiar with for website addresses. It is what most people think of as the end of a website address by default. So get creative and find a name that you can use that is memorable and relates to the subject area of your website.
Ways to Get & Generate CREATIVE Website Name Ideas
A lesson from my youngest daughter – 4 year-old Sophie – would be to look around your environment for ideas. She comes up with some of the most creative names for her stuffed animals! She has lambs (she is a big fan of lambs!) that are named Carwash, Treeplant, Rainbow, Tablestamp, Shoehorn, Dishwasherstuff, & Concert. Some of the names seem silly in the beginning – but prove to be the most memorable names in the long run!
The second lesson from Sophie is to combine two words. Tree & Plant to get Treeplant. See if you can add a word to an already taken domain name to get something that is just one word longer and still is both memorable and short!
Where to Look if Domain Name is Available
There are many places you can check to see if a website name is available or not. Here are some websites that you can use to see if the domain name you’ve chosen is actually available.
Or – you can check right here in this little applet from Bluehost…
Buying a Name Someone Else Already Owns
I wouldn’t really recommend buying a domain name that someone already owns if you are just starting out – as it is easy enough to just add something to a domain name you want – that is already taken.
However, if you want to go down this path – you can lookup whoever owns the domain at Whois.com IF they want you to be able to know who owns it. If they’ve elected to keep that private (or have it masked) – you won’t be able to learn much from a Whois lookup.
So then you can look at premium domain names – or domain names that have already been registered – and the owner is willing to sell it – yes – at an elevated (“todays market value”) price. There are market places like Domain.com That list domain that people own and have for sale – and the price for the domain. HERE is an example of what comes up when you search their listings of premium domains for names related to “outdoors”….
As you can clearly see – most of these premium domain names are NOT cheap – and a little creativity could save you a LOT of money!
With my example here – you can see you would save yourself nearly $2,300 by just adding the word GREAT to the premium domain outdoorsportswear.com selling for $2,288 on Domain.com.
Considering that you could register greatoutdoorsportswear.com for just ~$12 – that is not a bad way to save some money – especially if you are just starting out!
Best Place to Register a New Domain Name
Cosmotown is one of the cheapest places to register and maintain your domain. It is also less than HALF of what bluehost charges as a annual renewal fee for a .com domain name. Yes – bluehost makes it easy to start up a website, and further entices people with a “FREE” domain name for the first year – but that is the catch! It is “FREE” just for the FIRST year – and then the MUCH HIGHER annual renewal fee for the domain name kicks in – allowing them to recuperate their costs of giving it to you for “FREE” the first year. Save the hassle of having to move your domain name after the first year – by just registering it with Cosmotown in the first place. If you plan on being in this for the long-term – you are better off foregoing the “FREE” domain name for the first year!
Best Place to Self-Host Your New Website!
- bluehost = reliable, inexpensive, extremely easy to get WordPress installed and your website up & running in minutes. (Please note: I am an affiliate for bluehost – and these links to bluehost are affiliate links. However, Keep in mind too that I use and really like bluehost for all of my websites!) I believe that bluehost offers the best overall value to those just starting their journey as a blogger or running a niche website. I have been using Bluehost for almost 3 years (currently on their “Plus” plan) and can personally attest to the excellent customer service they provide!
- HostGator = Another solid choice – that is actually owned by the same company (Newfold Digital)) that owns bluehost and a bevy of other companies in the hosting and domain registration & reselling space! HostGator appears to be positions as the slightly cheaper alternative that offers an alternative to especially price conscious consumers. It appears to offer the cheaper alternative – but not quite as good value that bluehost offers.
- SiteGround = Another solid company that has been around for almost 20 years & provides hosting for about 2,000,000 websites. Prices are a few dollars more per month than either HostGator & blueHost – but include some nice features like daily backup and page builder that the other 2 hosting providers don’t include in their entry level offerings!
HERE is a great analysis comparing the basic hosting offerings of bluehost versus HostGator – where the conclusion was that overall best value was bluehost. Please note that prices do fluctuate a little and there are times when promotional pricing may be in effect and different from what I show here.
| bluehost (Basic Plan) | HostGator (Hatchling Plan) | Siteground (StartUp Plan) | |
| Monthly Cost | $2.95 | $2.75 | $4.99 |
Sincerely,
