Creating a new brand is about being distinctive and memorable. The idea is to build a dynasty and leave a legacy. Nowadays, a website’s domain name is a very important part of a brand. Brandable domain names are a powerful marketing tool.

In many cases, it is the brand. Here are some tips on how to choose brandable domain names.

Having a strong domain name is crucial for driving both organic and direct traffic. The easier your website is to remember, and the more relevant it is to your industry, the more business your website will attract.

Today, we’ll look at how you can implement this fact. Let’s start with the basics.

What is a Brandable Domain Name?

Essentially, a brandable domain name is when you name your website after your business or some other element of your brand – for instance, a slogan, tagline or core product benefit.

Essentially, there are two ways to do this:

• Basing your domain name on your existing brand,
• Creating a new brand based on a solid domain name.

Let’s take a look at each.

What Makes a Domain Brandable?

A brandable domain name is short, memorable, and evokes the product, service, or company it represents.

Ideal qualities of a brandable domain include:

• Short enough to easily remember and type (typically 1-3 words)
  
• Easy to spell and pronounce to improve recall
  
• Relevant meaning that relates to the brand or product
  
• Unique words that stand out from competitors
  
• No negative connotations in other languages
  

Statistics show brandable domains can boost trust and credibility. One survey found that 74% of consumers feel company.com domains are more trustworthy than generic .com or .net domains. Additionally, domains containing a brand name can result in over 60% higher traffic, indicating increased user recall and engagement.

Strong examples of brandable domains include Google, derived from the term “googol,” Uber, an abbreviation of “ubercab,” and Instagram, combining “instant” with “telegram.” These names effectively communicate the brand identity and are easy to remember.

Tips for Brainstorming and Evaluating Brandable Domains

When developing a brandable domain, follow these best practices:

• Identify keywords and qualities related to your product and target audience. Build names using…
  
• Check trademark databases to avoid conflicts with registered marks. Search for domains already using your name…
  
• Consider misspellings, alternate spellings, and international usage. Does the name work globally?
  
• Evaluate domain extensions like .com vs .net. Which strengthens branding?
  
• Use domain suggestion tools like Domainr to discover fresh, available options.
  
• Consult marketing experts on proposed names to identify issues.
  
• Research any negative connotations for foreign languages or audiences.
  

Choosing a Domain Based on Your Brand

This is the best option if you have an established business with strong brand recognition. The goal is that if someone searches for your business name, your branded website should be the first thing that shows up.

This lets you take advantage of navigational search intent, where people use search engines instead of typing out the URL for your website.

The downside to this approach is that it’s hard to get organic traffic if users aren’t familiar with your brand. That is, you can’t take advantage of branded searches if no one is searching for your brand.

The Brandable Domain Selection Process

Follow these steps when researching and choosing your brandable domain:

• Brainstorm keyword lists and qualities that express your brand identity.
• Use online generators and thesauruses to create domain name ideas.
• Research availability, trademarks, and costs for top options.
• Evaluate alternatives like different word orders or extensions.
• Consult marketing experts on the shortlist of names.
• Check for prohibitive hidden meanings in other languages.
• Register your final domain choice for 1-2 years initially.
• Forward the domain to your existing website to establish trust.

Helpful Tools for Picking Brandable Domains

Domain suggestion tools can speed up finding and evaluating possible brandable names:

• Domainr – Generates brandable name ideas with definitions. Checks availability.
• NameMesh – Searches domains by product type and relevant keywords.
• WordLab – Creates domains from related words and suggests alternate TLDs.
• LeanDomainSearch – Filters domains by length, vowels, and other criteria.

These tools provide a starting point of available, relevant domain options to research further.

Things to Avoid When Selecting a Brandable Domain

Steer clear of domains that are:

• It is overly long, complex, and hard to remember. Stick to 1-3 words.
• Generic terms with no connection to the brand.
• Hyphenated or capitalised in non-standard ways.
• Misspellings of everyday words.
• Overly quirky or cutesy names with no meaning.
• Using trademarked terms owned by other companies.
  

Creating a Brand Around a Strong Domain Name

If you’re building a new brand, it’s often better to name your company after your website. This may sound counterintuitive, but it’s based on strong SEO principles.

The idea here is to use keyword research to figure out the unbranded search terms that users search for when looking for the kinds of products and services you sell.

Once you’ve got a keyword list in mind, you should base your domain name around these. Your domain is one of the key places where search engines are looking for keywords. You’ll be at a strong advantage if you have this brandable domain name.

Here are five tips for creating effective brandable domain names.

Create a New Word for Brandable Domain Names

Make up a word that does not exist. Search the Internet to check to see if it is used anywhere else. It can still be used for a new brand if all other commerce uses are unrelated.

Tech companies have been doing this for years.

Think of all the apps and startups which use complete nonsense for their brand names. Examples include Facebook, Google, YouTube, Skype, Badoo and more. There are three key benefits to this approach to brandable domain names:

1. This type of brand name is incredibly memorable,
2. There will be no competition for search engine positions,
3. These domain names tend to be incredibly cheap.

Of course, building awareness of your brand is still challenging.

Choose Easy to Spell Words for Brandable Domains Names and Capture the Typos

Not only should your new brand name be memorable, but it should also be easy to spell. Avoid words that have alternative spellings, especially when heard by someone. Examples of bad choices include words such as right, which can be spelt as write and write.

For audio, it is best to choose words with a single way to spell them.

Another thing to watch out for is typos, from hitting the wrong keys or typing letters out of order. An example of this is gamil.com, which is a website that gets tons of web traffic from those who type gmail.com incorrectly.

If you use a word that could be spelt wrong, then it will be important to register the possible domain names of the misspellings.

It is better to avoid this trouble for a new brand. If the word you make up can be confused with any other popular brand, it is better to choose another word.

Check Trademark Registration and Apply for a Trademark

Trademark registration only protects a trademark in the jurisdiction where it is registered. This means if you plan to use the trademark in more than one country, it needs to be registered in all the jurisdictions where there is intended use.

Each country and unified trade area, such as the European Union, has different rules and expenses to file for a trademark.

Other countries have their registration process, which is easily found by searching for the country name and trademark registration.

For those who do not want to handle the trademark registration themselves, third-party companies and attorneys do this work for a fee. It is very expensive to have a global trademark.

Registering a trademark in every country internationally costs about 100,000 Euros. This is why most companies register their trademarks in the U.K., the E.U., and the U.S. for under 5,000 Euros.

They may also register in Japan and Switzerland if they intend to sell in those countries. Registration in other Asian countries, especially in China, is pointless due to the lack of enforcement of laws regarding intellectual property.

Trademark protection not only includes the brand name but also the design of the logo. Some trademarks are simple logos without words, such as the Nike “tick”.

Register the Brand Name with Social Media and Directories

Once you decide on your brand name, you will want to register it with as many social media platforms and directories as possible. This will accomplish three things. First, it establishes a commercial use of the brand, which is important for trademark registration(s).

Second, it prevents others from capturing any of the natural searches of these systems for your brand name, and third, it improves the search engine optimisation (SEO) results to help get your brand name listed at the top of the search engine results page.

This is especially important for local SEO.

NAP citations are a key ranking metric for local SEO. Here, NAP stands for:

• Name,
• Address,
• Phone number.

In other words, the more your contact details are cited on credible directories. However, there are a few formal requirements here. The key is that all NAP citations must be the same.

For instance, if you list a different phone number on some directories, search engines will be unsure of which is the correct one, so you’re less likely to show up in Google My Business.

Localise Your Brand Name Using Long-Tail URLs

There is a technique to use with long-tail URLs to get web traffic to your website if you offer products or services targeted towards a local area. Long-tail URLs use keyword phrases as the domain name if it is available.

You can use a keyword generator tool or the Google Keyword Planner to find long-tail keyword phrases.

Here are a few examples:

• Auto body repair {insert local town here},
• Auto-dimming mirror repair {local insert town here},
• Auto glass repair in {insert local town here},
• Auto glass repair{insert local town here}.

For example, if you offer auto repair services in Birmingham, you would want to register as many URLs as possible in this format, such as carrepairservicebirmingham.co.uk.

Each of these local websites has a landing page boldly featuring your brand name and with a little content, around 800-1,000 words.

Each landing web page should be completely different to avoid being penalised by the search engines for having duplicate content.

There are pros and cons to this approach to brandable domain names. This isn’t a good approach if your target keywords are competitive—search engines base rankings on the authority of your domain.

This is hard to achieve if you have many different domains. You’ll also suffer from poor opportunities for internal linking to build page authority, as well as a low overall content volume on your site.

You’ll also struggle with key marketing strategies, like content marketing or optimising your Google My Business correctly.

For competitive local keywords, it’s better to choose your highest priority geographical branded domain name and use Google My Business tags to rank highly for other keywords you’d like to go for locally.

How to Use Brandable Domain Names

Choosing a new brand name is fun. It is a valuable effort to choose one wisely that has no competition for its use. However, the importance of your brand can’t be overstated. Regarding your domain name, this has a concrete impact on your ability to drive traffic.

Do not be worried if it sounds like a made-up word that nobody has ever heard of because that is exactly what you want. No one knew about Nike when it started either, except a handful of people and the woman who created the logo for about 35 Euros.

Brandable Domain Names Conclusion

Choosing a brandable domain is a key branding decision that can pay dividends regarding trust, recall, and engagement. While the process takes creativity and research, the ideal brandable name is out there. Using domain suggestion tools along with an evaluation checklist can help zero in on available options that will represent your brand in the best light.

If you’d like advice on any aspect of starting and running an online business, from digital advertising to website development, contact ProfileTree today.

Brandable Domain Names FAQ