Go to Content

We are the flag of Portugal on the internet

Blog

Tiago Ribeiro
.PT Digital Marketing Specialist
06-10-2020
How to choose the right domain name
Choosing a domain name is one of the most important steps when you want to start a business or a personal project. A credible business has a website and email addresses with its own domain name, corresponding, for example, to your company name or just a word composition that works in terms of marketing.

Domain names have a huge impact on the entire internet and the choice of a good or bad domain name can affect the way consumers perceive the value of your presence in the market or even your brand.

There are several principles that can help you register the perfect domain name for your business.

1. Choose an easily memorable domain
Your domain name is the face of your internet business. Therefore, it is important that your domain name is unique, easy to understand, memorize, write and pronounce. Make sure the name sounds good when said out loud and it is not difficult to memorize it immediately.

2. Choose a short and simple domain name
Less is sometimes more, and this is the case of domain names, where a shorter name is usually better, because it is easier to memorize and reduces the margin of error when typed in an internet browser. In addition, it is perfect for promotional campaigns where printed materials and gifts are used.

3. Avoid confusing names
The use of numbers or dashes in your domain name sometimes makes it difficult to type the URL and the last thing you want is that your customers do not spell your domain correctly and end up in another site!

4. Don't choose a domain based only on keywords
In 2020 it is difficult to find a good exact match domain, and it no longer provides a ranking increase in Google rankings. John Mueller, webmaster trends analyst at Google, in a recent episode of AskGoogleWebmasters, confirmed that there are no special bonus for having keywords in the domain. There are many other factors that should be your focus, such as the overall quality of your site, that is, the purpose of Google's algorithms is to help people find useful and relevant content, in a more natural way and does not benefit the domains of exact match in the ranking.

5. Choose the right domain extension
The domain is your name on the Internet and consists of two parts: the name and the extension. For example, dns.pt, the name is dns and the extension is .pt. The domain extension you choose can have a big impact on how your site is viewed.

The .pt extension is the ideal choice for companies that sell mainly to the national market, that offer services to a specific geographic region in Portugal and that present their country as a proud constituent of their business. But, also, for the international market.

.pt domains allow you to locate your business and, currently, products connected with Portugal benefit from a positive image, both internally and externally, while, for example, .biz, .info, .xyz or .net domains seem less professional and have been linked to spam and pishing sites.

And don't forget, when a site uses a ccTLD like .pt, Google assumes that this site is specifically relevant to the geographic area targeted by the ccTLD and should appear on search engines in that territory, which can result in more traffic to your website. Of course, there are other relevant factors to Google's ranking, such as quality, usability, authority, and other optimizations, but domain extension is always an important factor.

6. Ask for external opinions
Once you have a list of your favorite domain names, vote among your friends, family or virtual colleagues, and ask them which name they prefer. An external opinion may have a different and useful point of view when choosing your domain.

7. Do some research before registering your domain
After defining your preferred domain name, it is worth spending a little time to make sure you have not chosen a legally protected domain. Check the .pt terms and conditions, before proceeding with the registration of your domain name.

Avoid conflicting names with prior rights of third parties and which can be assumed to prevail over a domain name. Please note that the evaluation of the question of possible conflict depends on the terms and conditions that are applicable to the TLD.

I hope these 7 tips are a good help when it comes to finding the right domain name to leverage your digital projects. And remember that a domain name once registered cannot be changed, so your choice must be very wary.
Check now if the domain you want is still free at pt.pt.



Please note: the articles on this blog may not convey the opinion of .PT, but of its author.
Back to Posts