Domain Name consists of two parts- DOMAIN and NAME. The domain consists of an accessible group of computers that are administered with a common set of rules. A domain name is a name given to a website to make Google understand what the website is about.
What are Domain Names?
A domain name is a specific name provided to a website that exists on any search engine. These names are human-readable that can be easily understood. It consists of 3 parts top-level domain, sub-domain, and domain. The combination of top-level domain and domain name is known as the root domain.
Top-Level Domain:
A top-level domain is a suffix that can be seen at the end of any website’s name. Some commonly used top-level domains are .com, .edu, .net, .org, . There can be many suffixes that can be used depending on the type of business like .book, .clothing, .lifeinsurance, .travel, entertainment, cooking, etc. It can also be made based on the location such as .uk, .ind, etc.
Domain Name:
A domain name represents the name of the website and it is responsible for getting ranked in SERP(Search Engine Results Pages). These names depend on keywords searched by the user. This name should be given after doing some research on keywords, as it has a very significant impact on the SEO ranking. Most of the website owners prefer names of domain based on their business.
Sub Domain:
Sub Domain is the first and the prefix part of the website’s name. It is the separated part of the root domain.
Root domain:
It is a very important part of the website. The root domain name is formed by combining top-level domain and name of domain. A combination of both these names is used in basic conversation. The optimization of the root domain is also responsible for its visibility on any search engine.
Does Domain Name Affect SEO?
Yes, it affects SEO. Every website owner wants to attract maximum web traffic towards their website and to do so the domain name should be understandable and appropriate. If a website owner keeps the name of the domain of his website according to services & products provided, then it’s a good step towards getting a well-optimized domain name.
If there are the number of websites that offers the same services or products, then the name of your domain should stand out as a unique and emerging one.
Types of Domain Name:
Following are different types of Domain Names for a website:
Branding Domains:
The brand names sound similar to your business type. It is preferable to keep a brand’s name as a domain if you already have a well-established brand name and you want to promote it on a large scale. These websites are not viewed for their services or products but for the brand power it holds.
For example: www.peterengland.com
Now Peter England is a very renowned brand. People buy their clothes because of their strong brand value. Therefore, a good strategy here would be to not change the name of your website.
One should use the brand domain name when:
- The brand is well-known and established.
- It has some uniqueness.
- If one wants to promote your brand.
- If one wants to rank one’s brand name high on SERP.
Keyword Domains:
A domain name that has keywords related to your business is considered as keyword domains. For example, if your website provides educational information to students, then you should use keywords such as the best educational websites or best educational blogs, etc.
Always be careful while choosing keyword as a name for your website because it’s difficult to rank higher and optimize your website if you choose keyword-based domains. Google prefers the brand domain compared to keyword domains.
Local Domains:
Local domain names are based on the locations of your business operation. For example, if you run a restaurant in Mumbai, then you can name your domain as mumbaifood.com or mumbaimeals.com, etc. But it has both advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage is that it focuses on the particular location and the main disadvantage is that if you ever want to expand your business, then it may be a point of concern.
Service Domains:
It depends on the services that your website offers. For example, successcoaching.com. These are mainly used by SMEs, who want to highlight their services and products. It also gives you an opportunity to decide your geographical region of operations.
How to Choose a Domain name:
The following are some tips that will help you in choosing a perfect name for your website:
- You can choose any website name you want, but make sure that it does not look like a spam website’s name.
- It should be easily memorized.
- It should be relevant to the content present on your website.
- Don't use synonym names for your website. It’s better to stick with the exact business name.
- Try to keep it simple and easier for the user.