People have known for a long time that domain names should be short and easy to remember. Of course, it's great when you can find a short name for your business that works well, but that's not always easy. So why not choose one that is longer?
The idea that domain names have to be short is no longer as true as it used to be. Many successful websites, like FreeCreditReport.com, have long domain names. This article will tell you when and why it is okay to buy a long domain name.
Domain Names: The Long and Short of Them
When your website will only get visitors from online ads like Google's AdWords or from natural search engine results, a long domain name is a good idea. People find your site on the Internet by clicking on links that already have your site's domain name typed in. So if you have a long domain name, your visitor doesn't have to remember it because it's already there.
For example, let's say you own a Web Hosting Company and your specialty is offering cheap web hosting. Why not call your website CheapWebSiteHosting.com? It's long, but it tells the customer a lot, and it may be even more valuable because it tells search engines important things about your site. How you ask?
Search engines use the words in your domain name to figure out what your website is about, which helps them decide where to put you on their list of search results. So, if you have the words "cheap web site hosting" in your domain name, search engines may rank you higher than someone who doesn't have those words in their domain name. So if your site is called "CheapWebSiteHosting.com," you'll do better than SmithWebSiteHosting.com when people search for "cheap web site hosting."
So, if your business is all about cheap hosting anyway, you might as well put those words in your domain name if it means that search engines will match you better than sites that don't have those words in their domain names.
Domain names in the news
What about marketing that isn't online? Can long domain names be used on radio or TV? Yes, as long as it can be remembered. You've probably seen ads for freecreditreport.com if you watch TV at all. Not too long ago, you needed a name like Amazon.com or eBay.com to be successful. That's a pretty long domain name. But as I was writing this, I thought of the domain name freecreditreport.com right away. That's a good domain name, even though it's long. In our example situation, I would say that people who want to save money on hosting will remember a site called cheapwebsitehosting.com. The key is to use words that make sense together in your domain name. "Cheap Web Site Hosting" is a natural English phrase. WebSiteHostingCheap.com, on the other hand, would almost certainly be a problem in the media.
So, when you buy a domain name next time, should it be long? That will come down to whether or not you can find a short version that works for you and how important the small edge in search engine results is to you. But you can at least think about these things when you buy a domain name. You might decide that a long domain name makes sense for your business.
