Brainstorming the right domain name for your business idea, product, service or blog requires a lot of imagination, strategy, originality, research and good linguistic design practices. Purchasing your domain name is quite similar to buying a piece of real estate as it truly is an investment that can help you make millions from your idea and create the sticky effect every marketer is aiming for.
Essentially, it’s not a decision that should be quick and impulsive. Do your research, take the time to think about the name and the factors discussed below. Whois.domaintools.com is a very useful website that provides information on whether a domain is available for registration or not or you could check the registry through any web hosting provider.
There are 2 types of domain names, those that are “discoverable” and the others “brandable.” The type you choose depends a lot on what your traffic generation strategies will be. A Discoverable domain name is one that can be found by someone who does not know about your business but is conducting searches on keywords and topics that are related to your business. These types of names are generally descriptive and depend greatly on keyword competitiveness.
A Brandable name, however, creates a distinct identity or image and evokes interesting ideas and feelings in the user. Names like Google, Yahoo and Flickr have unique character strings and will be best found on the original website. People who know of your business can easily use a search engine to reach you, though this may not be a great source of traffic initially. This means, however, that when your name is mentioned, it dominates search results and this establishes greater credibility and recognition.
Personally, I lean towards branded domain names. I love the idea of being unique and the equity it brings.
Exact match keyword domains (like www.bestcomputerstoreinparis.com) are somewhat in spammy territory now thanks to Google’s recent algorithm changes. Although the issue is debatable and depends on the naming convention used for your overall business. However, the most common use of exact match is of ill intent and are used by people trying to game search engines. Frankly, this does not work as it used to.
In this old video, Matt Cutts explain perfectly how to approach using exact match for your domain name.
Alot has changed since this video but the key takeaway here is that exact match URL’s have very little value for SEO.
Copying a successful brand or business name might seem like a profitable short term idea since the qualities associated with those brands may be shared but the truth is that this is a recipe for disaster and will prove very unproductive. Copying trademarks will only lead to potential lawsuits that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to mitigate and lots of time wasted.
There may be times that you will come up with a name that has some sentimental significance to you in some way and all your days you dream of launching your business with it. The reality is that if that name is too complicated and does not “roll right” with the tongue it could mean a bad start online. If your domain name requires a lot of attention to detail to type correctly then you’ve-already-lost-some-of-your-branding and marketing value.
Try to avoid using words that contain too many of these letters: “q,” “x,” “z” and “p”
Ensure the name has a nice blend. For example: Codecademy, Farecast, YouTube.
A blend combines part of a word with another word or word part. The name Microsoft combines the “micro” part of “microcomputer” with the “soft” part of “software.” When blends involve a surprising overlap in sound between the two words, they’re a form of wordplay. Farecast is like that. It combines the words “fare” and “forecast,” and “fare” resembles the first syllable of “forecast.” Don’t pile up consonants in ugly ways (like in the name Syncplicity), and don’t use important words to replace syllables that aren’t emphasized (the way the names Mapufacture and Carticipate do).
Hyphens and numbers make it very difficult when giving out your domain verbally. There is the confusion of remembering whether the number must be spelled out or typed in numerals; and hyphens are often forgotten.
When brainstorming your domain name it is good to have 5 – 10 terms or phrases in mind that best describe your ideas. Once you have this list you can start pairing them or adding prefixes or suffixes to create a great name.
When someone hears your domain name it is great if they can immediately correlate it with what your site will do for them and what type of content they will find there. Names like careerbuilder.com, newser.com, hotmail.com and webmd.com do that easily. Google.com, amazon.com, etc. required more branding since they were not intuitive, although they are pretty much now after great investment and hard work.
As domain names become even more scarce, you will need to approach the naming process in a strategic, sensible and rational way. Bearing in mind that your name is an investment in your business and can even help to determine the ultimate value of your idea in the long-term. And with domain suffixes like .guru, .expert, .io and more, there’s plenty of room for creativity.
This privacy policy has been compiled to better serve those who are concerned with how their 'Personally identifiable information' (PII) is being used online. PII, as used in US privacy law and information security, is information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person, or to identify an individual in context. Please read our privacy policy carefully to get a clear understanding of how we collect, use, protect or otherwise handle your Personally Identifiable Information in accordance with our website.
What personal information do we collect from the people that visit our blog, website or app?
When ordering or registering on our site, as appropriate, you may be asked to enter your name, email address, phone number or other details to help you with your experience.
When do we collect information?
We collect information from you when you register on our site, place an order, subscribe to a newsletter or enter information on our site.
How do we use your information?
We may use the information we collect from you when you register, make a purchase, sign up for our newsletter, respond to a survey or marketing communication, surf the website, or use certain other site features in the following ways:
• To personalize user's experience and to allow us to deliver the type of content and product offerings in which you are most interested.
• To improve our website in order to better serve you.
• To allow us to better service you in responding to your customer service requests.
• To quickly process your transactions.
• To send periodic emails regarding your order or other products and services.
How do we protect visitor information?
Our website is scanned on a regular basis for security holes and known vulnerabilities in order to make your visit to our site as safe as possible.
We use regular Malware Scanning.
Your personal information is contained behind secured networks and is only accessible by a limited number of persons who have special access rights to such systems, and are required to keep the information confidential. In addition, all sensitive/credit information you supply is encrypted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology.
We implement a variety of security measures when a user places an order enters, submits, or accesses their information to maintain the safety of your personal information.
All transactions are processed through a gateway provider and are not stored or processed on our servers.
Do we use 'cookies'?
Yes. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer's hard drive through your Web browser (if you allow) that enables the site's or service provider's systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information. For instance, we use cookies to help us remember and process the items in your shopping cart. They are also used to help us understand your preferences based on previous or current site activity, which enables us to provide you with improved services. We also use cookies to help us compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future.
We use cookies to:
• Keep track of advertisements.
• Compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interactions in order to offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We may also use trusted third party services that track this information on our behalf.
You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies. You do this through your browser (like Internet Explorer) settings. Each browser is a little different, so look at your browser's Help menu to learn the correct way to modify your cookies.
If users disable cookies in their browser:
If you disable cookies off, some features will be disabled It will turn off some of the features that make your site experience more efficient and some of our services will not function properly.
However, you can still place orders User Login over the telephone .
Third Party Disclosure
We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information unless we provide you with advance notice. This does not include website hosting partners and other parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others' rights, property, or safety.
However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.
Third party links
Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third party products or services on our website. These third party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.
Google
Google's advertising requirements can be summed up by Google's Advertising Principles. They are put in place to provide a positive experience for users. https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/1316548?hl=en
We use Google AdSense Advertising on our website.
Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site. Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to our users based on their visit to our site and other sites on the Internet. Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.
We have implemented the following:
• Remarketing with Google AdSense
We along with third-party vendors, such as Google use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookies) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) or other third-party identifiers together to compile data regarding user interactions with ad impressions, and other ad service functions as they relate to our website.
Opting out:
Users can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Settings page. Alternatively, you can opt out by visiting the Network Advertising initiative opt out page or permanently using the Google Analytics Opt Out Browser add on.
California Online Privacy Protection Act
CalOPPA is the first state law in the nation to require commercial websites and online services to post a privacy policy. The law's reach stretches well beyond California to require a person or company in the United States (and conceivably the world) that operates websites collecting personally identifiable information from California consumers to post a conspicuous privacy policy on its website stating exactly the information being collected and those individuals with whom it is being shared, and to comply with this policy. - See more at: http://consumercal.org/california-online-privacy-protection-act-caloppa/#sthash.0FdRbT51.dpuf
According to CalOPPA we agree to the following:
Users can visit our site anonymously
Once this privacy policy is created, we will add a link to it on our home page, or as a minimum on the first significant page after entering our website.
Our Privacy Policy link includes the word 'Privacy', and can be easily be found on the page specified above.
Users will be notified of any privacy policy changes:
• On our Privacy Policy Page
Users are able to change their personal information:
• By emailing us
• By calling us
• By logging in to their account
• By chatting with us or sending us a ticket
How does our site handle do not track signals?
We honor do not track signals and do not track, plant cookies, or use advertising when a Do Not Track (DNT) browser mechanism is in place.
Does our site allow third party behavioral tracking?
It's also important to note that we do not allow third party behavioral tracking
COPPA (Children Online Privacy Protection Act)
When it comes to the collection of personal information from children under 13, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) puts parents in control. The Federal Trade Commission, the nation's consumer protection agency, enforces the COPPA Rule, which spells out what operators of websites and online services must do to protect children's privacy and safety online.
We do not specifically market to children under 13.
Fair Information Practices
The Fair Information Practices Principles form the backbone of privacy law in the United States and the concepts they include have played a significant role in the development of data protection laws around the globe. Understanding the Fair Information Practice Principles and how they should be implemented is critical to comply with the various privacy laws that protect personal information.
In order to be in line with Fair Information Practices we will take the following responsive action, should a data breach occur: We will notify the users via email
• Within 7 business days
We will notify the users via in site notification
• Within 1 business day
We also agree to the individual redress principle, which requires that individuals have a right to pursue legally enforceable rights against data collectors and processors who fail to adhere to the law. This principle requires not only that individuals have enforceable rights against data users, but also that individuals have recourse to courts or a government agency to investigate and/or prosecute non-compliance by data processors.
CAN SPAM Act
The CAN-SPAM Act is a law that sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have emails stopped from being sent to them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.
We collect your email address in order to:
• Send information, respond to inquiries, and/or other requests or questions.
• Process orders and to send information and updates pertaining to orders
• We may also send you additional information related to your product and/or service.
• Market to our mailing list or continue to send emails to our clients after the original transaction has occurred
To be in accordance with CANSPAM we agree to the following:
• NOT use false, or misleading subjects or email addresses
• Identify the message as an advertisement in some reasonable way
• Include the physical address of our business or site headquarters
• Monitor third party email marketing services for compliance, if one is used.
• Honor opt-out/unsubscribe requests quickly
• Allow users to unsubscribe by using the link at the bottom of each email
If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from receiving future emails, you can email us at
• Follow the instructions at the bottom of each email.
and we will promptly remove you from ALL correspondence.
Contacting Us
If there are any questions regarding this privacy policy you may contact us using the information below.
Next Big Biz
1808 Hewitt Ave
Everett, WA 98201
privacy@nextbigbiz.com
(425) 320-4020