How to choose a good domain name: a practical checklist

Your domain appears on every business card, email and advert, and changing it later is costly. A few minutes of checking up front saves years of misspelt emails and confused visitors.

In short

• Short, easy to say and easy to spell.
• Unique enough to be a brand and free of trademark conflicts.
• On an extension that fits your audience.

The checklist

1. Keep it short. Under 15 characters is ideal; fewer words are easier to remember.
2. Pass the radio test. Say it aloud to someone: can they type it without asking how to spell it? Avoid numbers that could be words (4 vs for) and double letters at word joins.
3. Avoid hyphens. They are forgotten when spoken and look less trustworthy.
4. Brandable beats keyword-stuffed. Exact-match keyword domains no longer give a real ranking boost; a distinctive name is easier to build trust around.
5. Check trademarks in your country and markets, and search social media handles at the same time.
6. Read it as one word. Make sure the letters do not accidentally form an unwanted word.
7. Choose the extension. See TLDs explained.
8. Check its history. A previously used domain may carry spam penalties; look it up in web archives.
9. Secure variants such as other extensions or common misspellings, and redirect them to the main site.
10. Register it in your own name, not your web designer's, so you always stay in control.

Next steps

• Check if your domain is available
• Domains with local characters (IDN)
• What is a domain name?