Picking a domain name

Picking a domain name that will engender trust and drive traffic your website is a critical step in building a successful website.

Factors in Picking a Domain Name:

  • An easy to type and spell domain name is the most important factor.
  • A short domain name, less than 10 letters is preferable.
  • A one or two-word domain name with keywords helps: PizzaMilton.com
  • Have relevant words in the domain name.
  • Avoid numbers and hyphens.
  • A memorable domain name helps people come back.
  • Do some Keyword Research and see what domain names that your competitors are using.
  • Use a trustworthy domain name extension.
  • People trust .com and .ca domain names in Canada and the USA.

.ca is the ccTLD for Canada. Google (http://Google.ca) ranks .ca websites in Canada on par with .com websites, with a similar keyword, content, and back link level. Pick from one of the many .ca TLD domain names that your audience will remember and trust.




gTLDs (generic TLDs like .vip, .bank, .gift, .lawyer, etc) are still in their infancy; they are unknown amongst most audiences.
That said, use a TLD that your target audience will trust.

Expired Domain Names

CIRA releases a list of 3000 to 8000 expired domain names each week, which is a great place to find good domain names.

Buy Domain Name 

Buy a brandable or generic domain name.

 

By David Michaels

David Michaels, J.D., B.Eng., CHRM is a trained attorney who holds certificates in Canadian Trademark Law (2012) and Canadian Patent Law (1996) from McGill University. He has worked in the area of trademark law in Canada since 1995 and in the USA since 1993. David is a legal blogger, brand consultant, an eCommerce entrepreneur, and an aeronautical engineer. http://ca.linkedin.com/in/davidtmichaels/ Warning & Disclaimer: The pages, articles and comments on trademarkpro.ca do not constitute legal advice, nor do they create any attorney-client relationship. The articles published express the author's notes of the current state of trademark law and should not be attributed as opinions of the author, his employer, clients or the sponsors of trademarkpro.ca. The author does not warrant that these notes are up-to-date. Trademark law is constantly changing and it varies between jurisdictions and even within jurisdictions. This website should not be relied upon.