The Complete Guide to Choosing the Perfect Domain Name

One of the most important choices you will ever make in your business is choosing a domain. A domain is your website address (for example – www.yoursitehere.com), but it is also much more. Join us to explore the why and how, a little history and most importantly – what are the important rules for choosing a successful domain. Many brands focus and invest a lot on the issue of logo and branding, which are of course important and critical, but do not take a second to think about one small point: your logo is going to be refreshed and replaced every few years, while a good domain – usually remains for the entire life of the business.

What will the domain name be?

There are two main approaches to the domain name. The first holds that the brand is the center, and the domain name must be the brand name in a clean, precise, correct and easy to spell way. Such a domain will be memorable, and will strengthen the brand name (for example www.yourbrandname.com). This approach is very suitable for large brands, or brands that aspire to be such.

The second approach holds that it is worth including a keyword in the domain name that will help users understand that the site is relevant to a particular field. Another advantage is that such a keyword will help with organic promotion in search engines. This approach is very common in certain worlds and fields, for example jewelry, but less correct or suitable for other fields.

Trustworthiness is the name of the game

After browsing several tens of thousands of sites in our lives, our subconscious knows how to respond very well to domain names and URLs. Our brain can literally scream when a site looks suspicious, good or trustworthy, just by the domain. Creating credibility through the domain name is literally the name of the game, and later in the article we will lay out a variety of considerations and reasons. A little tip – we are not really in favor of using numbers in the domain name. There are exceptions (like YAD2 who chose a great domain), but numbers generally convey a lack of trustworthiness, and can bring to mind the worlds of phishing and rather shady sites. This is not an internet neighborhood you want to belong to.

Choosing the right extension

It is true that the issue of extensions is up for debate and there are a variety of approaches and positions. Nevertheless, here are some important points:

If about 95% of your activity and income is in Israel, we do strongly recommend the CO.IL extension. The Israeli audience and search engines embrace this extension with love, and it conveys locality, reliability and a connection to the Israeli market. If you are active in other countries, it is worth consulting with an expert for a review of the market and the relevant extension.

Very important – to completely avoid extensions that are not familiar to the eye. Would you buy clothes online at a store whose address is SHOPCENTER.LV? By the way, this is precisely why the CO.IL domain cannot be marketed to an American audience, for example. From their perspective, it is an unfamiliar, foreign and suspicious extension.

The new extensions – Many claim that the new extensions are great for both surfers and search engines, but in most cases we don’t really recommend them. We received a number of clients with TODAY and SHOP-style extensions. Immediately after we changed it to a suitable extension (CO.IL or COM), the site’s results on Google and performance improved. We should also note that there is a strong trend for IO extensions that is gaining momentum in the worlds of innovation and technology, and there are hundreds of projects with meteoric success with this extension. The CO extension is also becoming common and used and can bring good results. So if you are a startup – yes, you can think outside the box. If you are a business, we recommend sticking to what works.

Extensions in Hebrew – can be purchased just in case, in case it is a hit in 10 years. At this stage, we are against using a domain in Hebrew, for a variety of reasons, primarily the fact that a Hebrew domain or URL produces a lot of gibberish when sharing and copying. The result looks very bad on various digital assets and in the various sharing tools critical to your success.

Different extensions, such as .NET, are less recommended in our opinion. An interesting story from the early days of the Internet – .NET domains were significantly cheaper than .COM domains. And in the eyes of surfers, non-.COM domains were perceived as less reliable, and we assume, accordingly in search engines as well. A small difference that created a significant reputation gap that persists to this day. How exciting would it be to surf GOOGLE.NET, or CNN.NET? Just the sight of it creates a different feeling for us, as customers. And don’t even talk to us about the .BIZ extension, we shouldn’t tell you what we think about it.

The minus is a disadvantage

There are exceptions, but for the most part, a minus (-), also known as a hyphen, is clearly a disadvantage in everything related to a domain.

Why? First of all, it is not nice to read the domain in a conversation or on the phone, to mention the hyphen and explain it. It does not work on the radio, is not contagious and is not memorable. In terms of connotation and association, in marketing we always prefer pluses and positive references and prefer to avoid negative minuses in the domain name. A little thought exercise – how do you think a website called FACE-BOOK.COM or YAD-2.CO.IL would go? The feeling they create is certainly less good.

On the other hand, from a practical point of view, we do choose domains with a minus from time to time: for reasons of availability and inquiries of a domain, acceptance for the brand name, or there is a problematic letter combination that does not allow the domain to be read. There are very successful websites that have come a long way even with a hyphen/small minus in the middle of the address. It is not a necessary condition for success, but if you can avoid it – it is recommended.

The length does matter

Short domains are good. They convey credibility. They convey that you have been there before. If you want a short domain, you are more than welcome to consult with us or another expert to find a free 3-letter domain. Such a domain is suitable mainly for acronyms. It is important to remember that an unusually long domain will be unmemorable and difficult to type, so a short and precise one usually does the job. By the way, manually typing the website address into the browser is still common and important.

Does a new brand/business name need to consider a free domain?

Definitely yes. Nowadays, digital makes up the vast majority of the marketing budget – at least in most cases. A free domain can dictate the choice of your next business name. There are quite a few businesses that purchase an occupied domain that is offered for sale. It is a somewhat sensitive process, and we are here to assist you if necessary. It is not always advisable to invest thousands of shekels in purchasing an existing domain if you can purchase a new one for tens of shekels. But sometimes, with proper care and precise negotiations, it is possible and worthwhile to invest in a premium quality domain that is offered for sale.

Another new trend that we have noticed in recent years: businesses, brands and ventures are choosing completely new words in advance – whether invented, or a combination and fusion of two existing words – to create a phrase that is also easy to remember, will be completely available in the domain with the desired extension, and is easier to index on Google. As time goes by, it becomes harder to think of strong and available brand names, and this method is highly recommended and yields excellent results.

Where do you purchase how much and how?

So first of all, it is important to distinguish between purchasing the domain and using the domain. Unequivocally, it is recommended and worthwhile to buy more than one domain. For example, if your domain is available in both COM. and CO.IL, go for it without thinking at all and buy both. The cost is only a few dozen shekels a year. Buying several domains will buy you more flexibility in the future, but your main website must have one leading and strong domain.

Where to buy? We highly recommend the website LIVEDNS.CO.IL, excellent service, support in Hebrew, reliable, convenient and efficient. You may find domains at a reduced rate, but in order to save a few shekels a year, you may encounter technical problems, website crashes and other difficulties.

A good domain is of course not the only or main criterion for the success of a business, but a successful domain can break through barriers and provide excellent field conditions for growth and effective work. By the way, we do not always recommend rushing and changing the domain name of an active website, because it is a somewhat complex procedure.

In conclusion, you shouldn’t rush out and change your domain name at the end of the article.
, but before you choose a new domain, consider the information we have presented and consult us – we will be happy to help.