Whether you are starting a new business or you already have a brand and want to create an online presence, you are going to need a website and a good domain name for it. But, do you know how to choose a website name?

After launching your website with responsive WordPress themes, like Genesis or TemplateMonster, you should think about your brand name. Naming a website is not a small fit. In fact, it is an extremely important decision.

Domain names have a huge impact on the success of your business. It can influence click-through rates, referring links, type-in traffic, online advertising, and brandability.

Another thing you have to keep in mind is this: Changing a name, later on, is a huge hassle that is sure to hurt your brand and search rankings. So, you have to choose the perfect name from the very start.

You might have some name ideas already, but is there something important you have to keep in mind when registering the name? Are there things to avoid? What name is sure to make the most impact on the web?

In this article, we will answer these questions, share some useful tools, and essential tips to help you choose the best domain name for your business and finally register it.

You Want a Brandable Name

You want your domain name to sound like a brand name.

Why?

Well, do you really want to end up with a name that is generic, indistinguishable, easy to forget, and not related to your business? If you want to be successful, choose a website name that is memorable, unique, and stands out.

You Want to Avoid Numbers and Hyphens

Hyphens and numbers in domain names look and sound generic and strange. They definitely do not make good brandable names. They are also often misunderstood.

For example, if you hear a website address with a number in it, you won’t easily know if it’s a numeral (3) or if it is spelled out (three).

And hyphens are easy to forget or misplace.

If you choose a domain name with a hyphen because the one without a hyphen is already taken, you will end up sending your potential customers straight to the competitor. Hyphens are also often used in spam domains and you definitely don’t want to be associated with those.

You Want to Avoid Doubled Letters

Domain names with doubled letters in them have more chances to lose traffic to typos and misspellings.

You Want It Short

When it comes to domain names, the general rule is this: the shorter, the better.

The shorter the name is, the easier it is to remember, type in, pronounce, and share with others. It is also less shortened on social media and search results, which is good for branding.

You Want It Pronounceable

While it is true that most people will type your domain name in or even click a link, psychology makes it important for the name to be pronounceable.

People are more likely to remember and have positive associations with things they can easily say or think about, including pronouncing it in their minds. If the domain name cannot be easily said out loud, the domain is more likely to lose a lot in terms of memorability and brandability.

You Want It Easy to Type

A name that is easy to type is critical to your success online. Words like “u” instead of “you” and words with multiple spellings are easy to forget, misspell and mix up. They can make you lose lots of leads and traffic.

You Want It Intuitive

A well-chosen domain name gives people a clear idea of what the website is all about. If the name of your choice tells people that your business is producing exactly what it is producing or offering exactly what it is offering, then you’ve won big time.

You Want to Avoid Trademark Violation

Try to avoid words used by well-known brands as much as possible. This is not about your domain name being confused with theirs; it is about the possible legal actions they can take against you. If you have any doubts regarding the name you have in mind, better consult with a legal professional to be safe.

You Want to Use Broad Keywords

It used to be imperative to find a domain name with the target keyword in it, but Google does not give any privileges to such domains anymore. They tend to have a negative association, both with the end users and the search engines.

If you can get a domain with a keyword which makes it clear what the website is about, you most definitely should grab it. But, try to use broader keywords instead of the target keywords you want to be ranked for.

You Want to Stick With .com

It is very true that finding a domain name with .com extension is very hard in 2017 as it’s been around for too long. There are plenty of new extensions to use, not only the top-level domains(TLDs) like .com, .net and .org, but such niche specific ones like .pizza and .photography. And while it is easier to get such a domain extension, .com is still the most credible one. People simply trust it more.

Besides, .com domains are more memorable. A lot of users even type .com automatically after every domain name.

If you can’t find the name of your choice with the .com extension, try to stick to the established top level domains. Here are the most established ones and their proper uses:

• .net – Mostly technical sites, Internet infrastructure sites.
• .co – Usually stands for company, community, and commerce.
• .info – Informational websites.
• .me – Blogs and personal pages.
• .org – Nonprofits and non-commercial organizations.
• .biz – Business and commercial websites.

And don’t forget about country-specific domain extensions if your business is centered in one particular country. These are the domains like .it for Italy, .de for Germany, and .uk for the United Kingdom.

The Best Domain Name Generators

All the above recommendations might have scared you off. And yes, it is not an easy task to get a great domain name these days, especially considering there are about 331.9 million domain name registrations in the top level domains this year so far.

But, don’t fret! There are dozens of tools designed to help you out. They are called domain name generators and we will introduce you to the best of them below.

Lean Domain Search

Created by team Automattic, the people who are responsible for the WordPress platform, Lean Domain Search is really easy to use, including country-specific. You will need one seed keyword and we recommend one that defines the niche you work in.

The generator can generate tons of name ideas based on your keyword and chances are – some of them will be available with the .com extension.  Lean Domain Search can filter the results by popularity and length. You can save your favorite ideas, track the history of your searches and share the results with your team if you want.

This is a great tool to use if you don’t have any ideas but you have a couple of keywords that define your business.

NameStall

NameStall is an awesome generator that provides amazing flexibility. It allows you to choose if you want your keyword placed at the end or at the beginning of the name. It allows selecting TLDs, including country-specific ones. You can also choose from various groups of words.

For example, there is a word group named “1500 popular last words” or one named “500 popular first words”. By selecting one of those groups, you will allow the generator to add the popular words to the keyword you specified. This is an awesome search customization feature.

NameStall is a good choice if you do not have a specific name in mind, but want to have more ways to customize your search.

Name Mesh

Name Mesh is a versatile tool. It searches for domain names based on more than one keyword. As a result, you get a huge list of names, which can be divided into such categories:

• New
• Common
• Similar
• Short
• SEO
• Fun
• Mix

There are also filters you can use which will sort the results based on extension, unregistered domains, and length. Name Mesh can also suggest other keywords for you if you can’t find a name.

Name Mesh is the tool for you if you are not opposed to spending more time on looking through more choices.

Check Your Names for Availability

Most of the name generators check the availability of the domains automatically. Simply put, there shouldn’t be any unavailable names in the results the domain name generators provide.

But if you want to double check or forgot to check in the first place, GoDaddy is the best tool for it. And if you want to check the availability of your name across the social networks you are planning to use, the best tool is Namechk.

Where to Register Your Domain Name

There are two ways to go about registering a domain name. The obvious first route is to register a free domain name when you get your hosting. And you will need hosting to launch your online business anyway, so why not use all the benefits it provides?

The most trusted hosting providers on the market are  Bluehost.com, HostGator.com, and InmotionHosting.com.

If you’ve already got your hosting and did not register a domain name with it or you’ve already used your free name for another project, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of domain name registrars out there. There are both free and paid options. We will show you the two most popular and trusted registrars here.

GoDaddy.com

GoDaddy has been around for a really long time. It is the go-to name registrar for a lot of professionals. Their prices are not the cheapest on the market, but they often offer promotions and deals.

If you need to claim a name fast, GoDaddy is the best tool for you.

NameCheap.com

NameCheap is another popular registrar. It is slightly cheaper in the long run than GoDaddy. If you are sure you will run your online business for a long time, we recommend registering a name for 5 years as that is the cheapest option.

Both these websites offer hosting as well, so if you haven’t got your plan yet, check out their hosting offers, too.

Final Thoughts

Knowing how to choose a  website name and getting a domain name are very important tasks. They can be really challenging, particularly if you are doing it for the very first time.

However, it doesn’t always have to be a complete hassle. In fact, you can make it a fun and an educating experience.

To get an even deeper understanding of how to choose a website name, make sure to read this free ebook.

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In the bid to outsell one another, retailers come up with several marketing and advertisement techniques. A lot of business managers have now woken up to the benefits of email marketing and they are taking advantage of it big time.

Now, what are these benefits? Read on.

It is cost effective

One of the most effective techniques to maximize profit is to cut down business cost. So, when it comes to business, cost-effectiveness is a big factor to consider.

Email marketing does not require any print or postage cost and there are no fees to be paid in exchange for counted exposure. The biggest part is that it doesn’t require the contribution of an expert.

However, you may need a software to track and evaluate the emails. You may even incur a certain cost for sending millions of emails at once. All the cost put together are nothing compared to how much other marketing techniques will cost you.

It is directed to the right audience

Remember, you will be sending emails to those who have signed up for them. So, it means the emails will go to those that already have interest in your brand.

In other kinds of marketing techniques, you will have to send out your adverts to everybody. This can greatly increase your expenses.

In email marketing, you will also be charged for all the emails you send out. But since they are all going to your target audience, you’ll have a higher conversion rate.

It offers easy market segmentation

The real efficiency of email marketing comes out when you profile your recipients. Your mail will be received by those who likely need your service or product.

For instance, if you have an offline shop that renders certain service in a particular city, you can arrange for the mail to be sent to only your subscribers in that city. If you are marketing female dresses, you might also want to send it to only your female subscribers.

This approach will cost you much less since you won’t have to send emails to all your subscribers. Apart from that, it will also help you retain your subscribers. Receiving several non-relevant emails can make some of your subscribers decide to unsubscribe to your marketing emails or newsletters.

It takes advantage of impulse buying

Some people are impulse buyers. They usually respond to call-to-action on impulse. So, when you end your marketing mail with a compelling call-to-action, you are likely to cut it on them.

To strengthen your call-to-action, you can include a little bit of urgency. You could say they can get a promotional offer if they make an order within a certain period of time.

It is easy

You don’t really require any technical skill or any sophisticated technology to send marketing emails or newsletters. The only work lies in composing the message.

Apart from that, sharing news about your business is also easy. The recipients of your email can conveniently forward it to their friends who might be interested.

It is easy to track

Apart from online videos that show the number of views, no other marketing platform can provide you with the information on the number of people you have reached with your marketing campaign.

Some videos can even give a misleading number of views sometimes. For example, when a particular person watches a video four times, it will be counted as four views. Although it is four views, one will assume that “four views” means four people have viewed the video.

In email marketing, you can find out who has read your email and who is yet to read it. You will also get notified of the emails that were not delivered for some reasons.

Important Precautions

A lot of people still don’t get good results from email marketing. If you are one of those people, here are some important precautionary measures to take to guarantee success.

Segment your email list

It is not likely that all your subscribers will be interested in all your products or services. In fact, the information of certain products may be “garbage” to some people. They find it annoying, so they simply unsubscribe.

Before you send out your email, make sure that they are targeting the right audience. Segment your list, so only those people who need your email will read it.

Keep your emails short

Long emails scare people off, so make it as brief as possible. The shorter it is, the more recipients are likely to read it. You should also put the most important information first as not every recipient will read it up to the end.

Use catchy captions for the subject of your emails

No matter how good your content is, people may not really go through it without an attractive caption. People generally assess emails with their subjects.

A boring subject is always seen as a boring content even though it is not always true. So, no matter how many emails you are sending, each of them should have an attractive subject. Otherwise, only the ones with a “worthy” caption will be read.

A very good idea is to make the benefit of the product your subject. For instance, if you want to advertise an anti-aging cream, you should use subjects like “You can now look as young as you want”.

The subject of your email should let your readers know what’s in it for them. If they don’t see any benefit, they would probably just ignore the mail.

Finally, the content of your mail also matters. It should be good enough to get them to take action. So, take the time to compose great content for every marketing email. That’s how you can get all the benefits of email marketing.

See Also: 6 Steps To Get A Flood of Phone Calls With One Email

 

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Years ago, science predicted that the electric home of the future would have an automatic dishwasher and an electric stove that would eventually become remote controlled. Today, those predictions are coming true.

There are refrigerators that can message you a shopping list and stoves that you can turn off from the airport if you forgot to in your haste to make it to your flight. You can order groceries to be delivered to your doorstep as you cook using your Amazon Echo. You can even tell your Google Home to run your robotic vacuum cleaner.

Smart home features are big on the holiday shopping lists this year, so 2018 might end up being the year we are all living in the home of the future.

How To Turn Home Into A Smart Home

So, how do you get started creating a smart home for yourself?

There is a multitude of options out there. You have to start by figuring out just exactly what you want your smart home to be able to do. Some of the possibilities include:

• Thermostats that learn and save you money
• Locks that can be controlled by an app
• Security cameras that allow you to talk to and see who is at the door
• Robotic vacuum cleaners you can start remotely
• Ovens that can be preheated remotely
• Lights that can be turned on and off with your phone
• Window coverings that can be raised and lowered from your device
• Mattresses that track your sleep
• Music that can be paused in one room and resumed in another

First, start by deciding which features are most important to you. The good news is that most systems are compatible with each other. So, even if you start off controlling everything through your Nest thermostat, you can add on a Google Home or Alexa later to expand your home’s capabilities.

If Security Is Your Main Concern

If this is the case, one of the easiest ways to get started is with the Nest system. With it, your smart thermostat will not only help you save money but it can also allow you to set your lights on a timer or connect them to your doorbell camera.

If you can turn on the lights when someone rings your doorbell even when you’re not at home, then you’re going to have greater peace of mind about your home’s security. You can also set your locks to give people temporary access to your home while you’re gone and monitor when they come and go.

If Convenience Is Your Thing

Alexa and Google Home are both great options for making your life easier. Both can order things for you with simple commands, like “Alexa, add butter to the shopping list.”

Both systems can connect to an iRobot vacuum cleaner, so you can start the vacuum remotely or with a voice command. You can also ask both systems to preheat your oven or run the dishwasher with compatible appliances, play relaxing music when you need to unwind, and many other things.

Smart Home Tech Is Catching On

In 2016, 45% of homeowners installed at least one smart home feature. Security and safety equipment are some of the most popular options, followed by entertainment, climate control, and lighting.

But just a year later, the possibilities have grown substantially. You can make your smart home tech work for you and take a lot of the load off yourself. And with all the security tech, you could find yourself saving money on your homeowner’s insurance, too!

Men, Millennials, and the wealthy are the groups most likely to adopt this tech. In fact, more than a third of men want or plan to get smart home tech compared with just over a quarter of women. People between 18 to 34 years old lead the market in smart home tech adoption as do those with incomes over $100,000 a year.

Every day you have to make around 35,000 decisions. Wouldn’t it be nice if your home can take out a good chunk out of that number? It’s so simple you don’t even need instructions to get started most of the time. Learn more about the smart home of the future from this infographic!

Source

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