Finding a Domain Name
Key Takeaways:
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Power of the .Com: While .com domains still hold significant value and credibility, alternative domains offer new avenues for creativity and relevance.
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Best Practices: Follow best practices for domain naming, such as keeping it simple, avoiding complicated spellings, and ensuring availability and security.
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Stay Informed: Stay updated on technological advancements to maintain a robust and flexible online presence.
Navigating Domain Names in the Age of AI
In today’s digital landscape, domain names play a crucial role in establishing your online presence. From the dot-com boom to the rise of alternative domain extensions like .ai and .io, the world of domain names has evolved significantly. In this blog post, we’ll explore whether the .com still reigns supreme, discuss the dos and don’ts of choosing a domain name, and outline steps for registering your domain. Let’s dive in!
The Rise and Evolution of the Dot-Com Era
The Early Days
When the internet was first becoming mainstream, the concept of a website was novel and often misunderstood. Early websites were little more than digital sales brochures, lacking the interactive and engaging content we expect today. However, as people began to recognize the internet’s potential, the value of owning a .com domain became apparent.
The .Com Advantage
During the early years, owning a .com domain was seen as a mark of legitimacy and credibility. Search engines like Google favored .com domains, often placing them at the top of search results. This bias towards .com domains established them as the gold standard for businesses looking to build an online presence.
The Shift to Alternative Domains
The Rise of .AI and .IO
In recent years, startups and tech companies have increasingly turned to alternative domain extensions like .ai and .io. These alternatives offer several advantages, such as shorter, more memorable URLs and a greater availability of names. But does this mean the .com is no longer necessary?
Weighing the Benefits
When choosing between a .com and an alternative domain extension, consider your overall digital presence. A shorter, catchy URL (even without a .com) might be more beneficial than a lengthy .com that’s prone to typos. Moreover, search algorithms are evolving, and the importance of having a .com may diminish as AI and smarter search technologies become more prevalent.
The Dos and Don’ts of Domain Naming
Keep It Simple and Clear
Do: Choose a domain name that is easy to spell and pronounce. Avoid using hyphens, numbers, or unconventional spellings that can lead to confusion.
Don’t: Overcomplicate your domain with awkward word pairings or excessive length. A simple, memorable name is more likely to resonate with users and avoid typos.
Ensure Availability and Security
Do: Regularly renew your domain registration to prevent it from lapsing. Losing your domain due to an expired registration can lead to significant issues, including potential cybersecurity risks.
Don’t: Neglect to secure ownership of your domain. Ensure that the registration is under your name or your company’s name to avoid complications if you need to sell or transfer the domain in the future.
Brand Considerations
Do: Check for trademark conflicts before finalizing your domain name. Owning a domain doesn’t grant you trademark rights, and you could face legal challenges if your domain infringes on an existing trademark.
Don’t: Limit your potential by choosing a name that’s too geographically specific or narrowly focused on a particular niche. While including location or industry keywords can help with local SEO, it might restrict your growth if your business expands.
Tips for Registering Your Domain
Choose a Reliable Registrar
Use reputable domain registrars like GoDaddy or Domain.com. These platforms offer user-friendly interfaces and robust customer support, making the registration process straightforward.
Opt for Long-Term Registration
Consider registering your domain for multiple years. This not only ensures you won’t forget to renew but often comes with discounts. It’s a small investment for peace of mind and continuity.
Explore Creative Naming Strategies
If your desired domain is taken, think outside the box. Adding a short, action-oriented word like “go” before your brand name can create an engaging and available URL. Alternatively, incorporating suffixes like “team” or “group” can help secure a .com without losing brand identity.
The Future of Domains in an AI-Driven World
Adapting to Changing Technologies
The rapid advancements in AI and search technologies mean that the way we find and interact with websites could change drastically. While a .com domain is still valuable today, it’s essential to stay flexible and adaptive to new trends.
Holistic Digital Presence
Your website is just one part of your digital footprint. Strong presences on social media platforms, video channels like YouTube, and other online spaces are equally important. Diversifying your online presence ensures you reach your audience, regardless of changes in domain importance.
Transcription:
Ashley Elliott (00:10):
Well, hello and welcome to naming in an AI Age. Today we’re going to talk about the.com. Do we still love it? Did we ever love it? Do we need it? What are some do’s and don’ts when we come up with a domain name and maybe some steps on how to register your domain? So Mike, welcome. Tell us your experience with the.com craze or how you think it’s changed over the years.
Mike Carr (00:32):
Well, I think when the internet first started becoming established, folks didn’t really understand what a website was, and so people would just put sales brochures out there, and it was just a regurgitation of what you would normally see in print. And then people got a little bit smarter about the power of the internet and the value of A URL and.com became sort of the defacto standard that is Google bias search results to where if you were the.com owner and someone were to enter in the name, they’d put you at the top of the list because you own the.com.
Ashley Elliott (01:11):
I know a lot more companies are now, especially startups, are straying away from the.com. Maybe because there are so many out there that it’s less obtainable or there are other alternatives. I wonder what your thought would be on settling for a shorter.ai.io name versus a very lengthy.com.
Mike Carr (01:32):
I think what one needs to think about is your digital presence, whether that’s a website, a Facebook page, a presence on X, or Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, et cetera. I think for most people today, and probably for the foreseeable future, having a website is important. It’s not that expensive. And to have sort of a sign, it’s like your sign in front of your business. If you feel like Facebook’s a better place to take them or LinkedIn, you can sort of redirect them that where most of your content is having the.com versus the dot something else. While it’s still important, it will become less important as AI gains more of a foothold in search and the search algorithms get a little bit smarter and answer your question. I would say shorter is better even if it doesn’t have a.com on the end of it, as long as it’s relevant, engaging and cuts through all the clutter
Ashley Elliott (02:35):
And cutting through that clutter is a good point and not misspelling or mistyping. So we do have some domain and don’ts when thinking of a domain name. One of those specifically would be not using characters such as a dash or numbers in your domain name just for the sake of clarity, not misspelling, not misusing or mistyping like FOR versus four can become really confusing. We also have, don’t forget to renew your registration. Letting that lapse is just asking for an issue. Another thing that they said, don’t overcomplicate or awkwardly pair words. They gave some faux pause of words that you would definitely not want to combine because visually it looks like an inappropriate word, and that was one tip I never had thought of.
Mike Carr (03:20):
Certainly you don’t want to register something that could be offensive in another language, and that goes for your name itself. But we’ll have clients where the shortest, most intuitively spelled form of the.com is unavailable, right? So instead of just having the name by itself, you put something like go in front of it. So now your URL is still pretty intuitive and pretty obvious, and now the.com almost plays double duty, right? It’s still your URL address. Putting go in front of it all of a sudden makes it registerable because no one’s registered that particular variation. And it’s also a call to action and lets you do some pretty cool things in copy. The other thing is putting something at the end. Most of our B2B clients are sophisticated enough that they aren’t overly concerned if you don’t have the.com. But for B two b2c, especially if you’re going after millions of people having that shortest, most intuitively spelled form match your brand without the go or without anything after it is sometimes worth more money.
Ashley Elliott (04:25):
Another thing to be sure to make certain of is that you are the owner of the domain that you register. This becomes important when you are looking to sell, when you’re looking to make sure you’re renewing.
Mike Carr (04:39):
More importantly, you want to make sure from a trademark standpoint that you’re not infringing upon someone’s rights. And a lot of folks don’t understand this. They say, well, I’ve got the.com, I just paid a thousand dollars or $5,000 for it. I’m good to go. no.com registration has absolutely nothing to do with trademark registration. So you could easily be infringing upon someone else’s trademark even if it’s not spelled the same way, and you may have to stop using that.com. So I would say the most important thing to do is check trademark registration before you decide to buy a.com or before you put your shingle out there on the web with a.ai or.io, whatever it is, just make sure you’re not infringing upon someone else’s legal rights in that name before you move forward.
Ashley Elliott (05:28):
To tie into the do’s and don’ts and really to wrap up length matters when it comes to a very, very long URL versus a short, easy to spell, easy to say URL without characters, without symbols or numbers. Specifically making sure that your domain is available and not infringing on someone else’s trademark or specific brand name, as well as aiding in that cybersecurity by making sure that you’re using a good domain registrar like GoDaddy domain.com or updating your renewal as you should
Mike Carr (06:05):
Register the.com for five years. For right now, I would still recommend doing it, but things are changing quickly. Come back to our podcast in six months and we may have a different point of view.
Ashley Elliott (06:17):
We’ve talked about domains, we’ve talked about domain names and registering, but we’re going to talk a little bit more next week about social media handles and how do they relate? What should you do and what should you consider when you’re naming social media handles, specifically targeted for your audience, whether you’re B2B, B2C, and so on and so forth. Thanks for joining us. Thanks, Mike.
Mike Carr (06:36):
See you guys.