The domain name is one of the factors that determine the success of a website. A domain name that is unique, short and easy to remember will certainly make a deep impression on visitors. Especially if the website has a very interesting design and content.
Ideally, in choosing a domain name you should pay attention to the following 4 factors:
- Unique, short and interesting
- Easy to remember
- Easy in writing and pronunciation
- Does not violate the copyrights and trademarks of other companies
Doesn’t seem too difficult does it?
But in practice it is not that easy. It is very difficult to find a domain name that is unique, short and catchy and has not been registered by someone else. Especially if the domain name uses a word or phrase in English.
If we have abundant money, this is not a serious problem because we can buy domain names that have been registered by other people. However, if not we have to think hard to find other domain names that are still available.
In principle, the choice of a domain name must be adjusted to the marketing strategy that will be used. SmashingMagazine in one of their articles entitled The Effective Strategy For Choosing Right Domain Names states that in choosing a domain name there are two strategies that can be used, namely Discoverable or Brandable.
Discoverable means a domain name that is easy to find, especially through search engines. If we use this strategy, we need to choose a domain name that contains certain keywords or phrases that are often used by visitors to find information on search engines.
Brandable means a domain name that contains certain identities or ideas that you want to convey indirectly to visitors. In general, domain names like this have unique characteristics, are short, interesting, and seem a bit strange. The weakness is that at first it is likely to get little visitor traffic, but when it is well-known it usually dominates, for example Google, Yahoo and Amazon.
To choose a unique and interesting domain name, you can learn from several world-famous brands. The Name Inspector in one of his articles entitled 10 Company Name Types on TechCrunch: Pros and Cons categorizes various companies registered on the Techcrunch.com into 10 categories based on how the company is named.
Even though the article does not specifically address the issue of domain names, you can also use the company name as inspiration for how to choose a unique and attractive domain name.
Here are 10 ways to choose a unique and interesting domain name.
Real words
Real words means the real name. In general, these names are not directly related to the product that is owned. It can also be words that have been slightly changed (eg misspelled) to give a unique and strange impression.
Examples: Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Live.com, Yahoo!, Digg, Flickr, Google, Rojo
Compounds
Compound words are words that consist of two words as elements. In addition, there are also compound words consisting of one word and one main word as its element. It can also be said that compound words are words that consist of two parts but are written in series.
Examples: Bloglines, Facebook, FeedBurner, Firefox, Netvibes, Newsgator, Photobucket, Salesforce, TechMeme, WordPress, YouTube
Phrases
A phrase is a combination of two or more words that form a unit. In contrast to compound words, word combinations in phrases do not form a new meaning. The weakness of this method is that the domain name that is formed becomes long.
Examples: 37Signals, AdaptivePath, CollectiveX, iLike, Last.fm, LinkedIn, MyBlogLog, MySpace, PayPerPost, SecondLife, SimplyHired, SixApart, StumbleUpon
Blends
Mixing two or more words is a way that is often used to form a name that is short, unique and interesting.
Examples:
- Maxthon (max + marathon)
- Microsoft (microcomputer + software)
- Netscape (net + landscape)
- Newroo (new + kangaroo)
- PubSub (publish + subscribe)
- Rebtel (rebel + telephone)
- Rollyo (roll + your own, or roll + your own)
- Sharpcast (sharp + broadcast)
- Skype (sky + peer-to-peer)
- Technorati (technology + literati)
- Wikipedia (wiki + encyclopedia)
Tweaked words
Tweaked words mean names that are deliberately changed, whether it’s the pronunciation or spelling.
Examples: Attensa (attention), ebay, edgeio, eSnips, iPhone, iTunes, Wikia, Zoho (Soho), Zune (tune), Zvents (events)
Affixed words
Affixed words mean words that are added, either in front or at the end of the word.
Examples: Browster, CoComment, Dogster, Feedster, Findory, Friendster, Napster, Omnidrive
Made up or obscure origin
Examples: Bebo, Meebo, Odeo, Ookles, Plaxo, Qumana, Simpy, Zimbra
Puns
Puns means a combination of two or more words with slight modifications.
Examples:
- Automattic (automatic, mat –> matt, company founder)
- Consumating (consummating, consumm –> consum(e))
- Farecast (forecast, fore –> fare)
- LicketyShip (lickety split, split –> ship, the verb)
- Memeorandum (memorandum, mem –> meme)
- Meetro (metro, met –> meet)
- Meevee (teevee/TV, tee –> me(e), the pronoun)
- Writely (rightly, right –> write)
People’s names
Examples:
- Bix (Bix Beiderbecke)
- Jajah (F. Jajah Watamba, fictional name)
- Kiko (name in Japanese)
- Ning (name in Chinese)
- Riya (the name of the daughter of the founder of the company)
Initials and Acronyms
Examples:
- AOL (America Online)
- FIM (Fox Interactive Media)
- Guba (Gigantic Usenet Binaries Archive)
Conclusion
A website with a unique and attractive domain name is not a guarantee that it will definitely be successful. But at least by choosing a unique and interesting domain name, visitors will be impressed and won’t easily forget.
