10 Tips for Choosing a Good Domain Name (2025)

How thoroughly should you think about your domain name? Is it really that important?

If you have a quality website and business, people will visit your site no matter what the domain is, right?

Well, not so fast…

You see, your domain name is the key element of your website. It can make or break you, so it’s crucial to choose a domain name that works for your business.

But wait, why is your domain name so important?

1. It’s your “first impression”. Your URL is the first thing your visitors will see. A good domain name can make a positive and lasting impression, while a bad domain name can send visitors running.
2. It affects SEO. While exact match domains (EMDs) are no longer a necessity, keywords in your domain name can still help your SEO ranking.
3. It defines your brand. We’ll talk about this in a minute – your domain name is a branding opportunity! The right domain name can increase brand recognition.

These elements are only a few of the many reasons why your domain name is so important.

How do you choose the right domain name? That’s precisely what we’re going to share with you today.

How to Come Up With a Good Domain Name

1. Use The Right Domain Name Extensions (.com, .org, .net)

When you choose your domain name extension, you can be sure of one thing: “.com” is still the best.

According to the latest research from the Domain Name Industry Brief, as of March 2025, .com domains totaled 157.2 million registrations, representing approximately 42.7% of all domain registrations worldwide. The total number of registered domain names has grown to 368.4 million, showing continued expansion of the digital landscape.

Why? Well, “.com” is the most familiar and easiest to remember.

While there are many successful websites with a “.net” and “.org”, your website will probably do better if it has a “.com” extension. It’s the safest bet. Research shows that when people forget a domain extension, they are 3.8 times more likely to assume it’s .com.

Our advice: Go with .com. If that’s taken, try .net or .org. If these are taken too, you’d be better off brainstorming a new domain name. And oh! – Avoid those weird extensions like “.club”, “.space”, “.pizza” and so on.

2. Brandable Over Generic

Creative and brandable are always better than generic.

Remember: Your domain name is how visitors will find, remember, and share your company on the web. It is the foundation of your brand.

Here’s the main difference between a brandable and generic domain name:

A brandable domain name is unique and stands out from the competition, while a generic domain name is usually stuffed with keywords and unmemorable.

For example, do you know the difference between Healthinsurance.net, Newhealthinsurance.com, or Healthinsurancesort.com? Probably not, right?

These are horribly generic. They don’t have any meaning. You won’t hear anyone talking about how awesome “Insurance.com” is. Variations of the word “insurance” will increase the competition and make it blend in even more.

Sites like UnitedHealthCareOnline.com and Anthem.com stand out because they stand for something. When people hear those domain names, there is a trust factor there.

According to recent research from AtomRadar’s survey in September 2024, 47% of respondents answered memorability as a domain’s most important characteristic. This reinforces the value of choosing a name that’s brandable and memorable rather than generic and keyword-stuffed.

Here’s how to find a more brandable domain name:

1. Create new words. You can make up your own catchy, new words. That’s what Google, Bing, and Yahoo did.
2. Use existing words. You can use a thesaurus to find interesting words that fit your brand.
3. Use domain name generators. These tools can help you create a unique, brandable domain name from your initial domain ideas and keywords. (We’ll highlight some of our favorite domain name generators later in this post.)

3. Short Is Better Than Long

In general, when it comes to the length of your domain, shorter is better.

According to updated research, the average length of a .com domain is 13.5 characters, while the most common length is 12 characters. However, the most popular websites have significantly shorter domain names.

Recent analysis shows that the top 50 most popular websites have an average domain length of just 6 characters. As you move down the popularity rankings, domain names get progressively longer, with the top 1 million websites averaging around 10.1 characters.

All of this data shows that you should keep your domain name concise.

Aim for 6-14 characters – and remember the shorter, the better. Most likely the shorter domain names are taken a LONG time ago and sold for thousands of dollars. If you can’t find something short, make it brandable.

Our own site – websitesetup.org is exactly 12 characters.

4. Make Sure It’s Easy To Type

Think of some of the most popular websites in the world. What comes to mind?

Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Yahoo, CNN…

One big thing they have in common is that they’re all easy to spell.

Your visitors should be able to type your domain name without a problem. If you have to explain the spelling more than once for it to be understood, it’s too complicated!

The last thing you want is for the potential visitors to mistype your domain and end up on a different website!

Here’s an easy way to test this…

Tell 10 people your potential domain name and ask them to spell it. If more than a few people struggle to spell it, you need to simplify it.

5. Make Sure It’s Easy To Pronounce

As easily as your domain name rolls off the tips of your fingers, it should roll off the tip of your tongue.

This makes it easier for visitors to share your domain name by word-of-mouth and makes it easier for you to share your site with friends and potential customers.

You can test this the same way as with the “spelling”.

Write your domain name on a piece of paper and ask 10 people to pronounce it. If more than a few people struggle to pronounce it, you should simplify it.

Here’s what to keep in mind: You want your domain name to be passed along easily by you and others. The only way for that to be possible is if it’s 1) easy to spell and 2) easy to pronounce.

6. Avoid Hyphens And Numbers

Remember how your domain name should be easy to spell and pronounce? Hyphens and numbers make it more difficult.

Imagine explaining Facebook if it had a hyphen in there…

“Have you seen this new site Face-Book? There’s a hyphen in there by the way, between the ‘Face’ and the ‘Book.'”

Facebook might not have spread so quickly if that was the case.

The bottom line? Your domain name should be smooth and punchy – hyphens and numbers get in the way of that.

Stick to the letters!

7. Consider Using “Niche” Keywords That Reflect Your Website

Our website mainly about web development or helping people to create a website. Hence we chose to add a name that reflects all of it – “website”. Obviously website.com (or .org, .net) was no longer available, we simply chose “WebsiteSetup”.

Keywords can help to improve your SEO – you need to tread carefully here! If you try to awkwardly stuff keywords into your domain, it comes across as generic (like we talked about before).

If you choose to use keywords, put the keywords at the beginning of your domain. That’s where they’ll be the most powerful for your ranking.

You can find keywords with tools like Google Keyword Planner and Keywordtool.io.

8. Think Long-Term Over Short-Term

Are you ready to marry your domain? You should be because it will be one of the biggest elements that define your business and brand for years.

If you decide to change the domain in the future, it will cost you money, branding, and SEO rankings. In short – it’s a huge pain!

When you’re choosing your domain, think long-term.

For example, if your company helps businesses optimize their websites for SEO, you could choose a domain name like, “OptimizedSEO.com”

If you think there’s a chance you might expand to more general digital marketing services in the future, like email marketing, PPC, etc. then it might be wise to reconsider your domain name.

You don’t want to pin yourself down to a certain niche if you think you might expand out of that niche.

Therefore, keep your long-term vision in mind when picking your domain name.

9. Check If It’s Not Trademarked Or Already Used

Before you move forward with a specific domain name, check to see if the name is available on social media sites, as well as if there are any trademarks already registered to the name.

To build your brand, it’s ideal to have the same name across your domain and social networks. This builds familiarity and makes it easy for your visitors, fans, and customers to find you around the web. Interesting findings from AtomRadar reveal that 37% of respondents aged 18–34 consider it important for a brand’s domain name to match its social media handles, compared to just 12% in older age groups.

Avoid legal issues; you should stay away from names that already have trademarks.

How can you quickly check social networks and trademarks for your potential domain name?

It’s quite easy with a tool like Knowem. Search your potential domain name – it’ll show you if it’s available throughout over 25 popular social networks and if there are any trademarks already registered to the name.

If it’s taken, consider tweaking it so that you can create original social media profiles.

10. Use Domain Name Generators When Stuck

At this point, you should have at least a general idea of some possible words to put in your domain. Some of those words may already be taken, trademarked, or just don’t have the “sound” you’re looking for.

That’s where domain name generators come into play. These generators can turn your ideas into fresh, available domains.

Here are some of our updated favorite domain name generators to try out in 2025:

1. Namelix This AI-powered tool creates short, brandable names that are relevant to your business idea. When you save names you like, the algorithm learns your preferences and gives you better recommendations over time.
2. Instant Domain Search This tool provides AI-powered domain suggestions and checks availability across more than 1,600 different domain extensions in real-time, making it one of the fastest domain search tools available.
3. DomainWheel This free AI domain name generator automatically checks availability and provides suggestions for sounds-like, rhymes-with, and random alternatives to help spark creativity.
4. Nameboy The original domain name generator started in 1999, now using AI to combine common words, prefixes, suffixes, and your keywords to create brandable suggestions.
5. Shopify Domain Generator This tool provides domain suggestions with exact matches and creative alternatives, checking availability instantly across multiple TLDs.

New Domain Extensions Worth Considering in 2025

While .com remains king, the domain landscape has evolved significantly. There are now over 1,200 new generic top-level domains (ngTLDs) available, and some are gaining traction:

Tech-focused domains: .ai has surged by 7.8% recently and is becoming popular for artificial intelligence companies. Other tech extensions like .io, .tech, .dev, .app, and .cloud continue to grow.

Industry-specific domains: Extensions like .store and .shop are expanding quickly as e-commerce grows. Creative domains like .art, .blog, .studio, and .design are popular among content creators and agencies.

Professional domains: .pro, .expert, and industry-specific extensions can help establish authority in your field.

However, be cautious with some extensions. Research shows that 72.3% of domains with .surf extensions are associated with spam or malicious content, so it’s important to research the reputation of newer TLDs before choosing them.

Ready to Register a Domain Name?

If you don’t have a domain name yet, it’s worth investing $10-12 to secure it before someone else takes it. Keep in mind that there are now over 368 million active domain names, with about 33,000 new domains registered daily (that’s one every 2.61 seconds!), so the best ones are taken long time ago.

With the aftermarket domain name industry projected to reach $1.17 billion by 2033 and premium domains like icon.com selling for $12 million in 2025, securing the right domain name for your brand has never been more important.

If you need help registering a domain name, follow this step-by-step guide here.