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When I registered my first domain name for my town, I did not have any option but to register the name of the town and the name of the province to distinguish it from the other towns with the same name. The name of my town with “com”, “net”, and “org” top-level domain names were already registered but not when attached with the name of the province. Only to realize later on that the domain name was sort of long and that I even registered it with a dash or a hyphen just because I wanted it with the top-level domain name “com”.

When I decided to register more domain names, I thought of registering short and one-syllable domain names and with the top-level domain name “com”. The problem was, a lot of people registered one-syllable domain names with “com” and up to now, they are not even being used. I thought of registering the “net” and “org” but they were also taken. So the best option was to register two-syllable or three-syllable domain names with top-level domain name “com”. But there were instances that the one with top-level domain name “com” was taken too so I decided to register the one with “net” top level domain name. I only registered an “org” top-level domain name without really minding the “com” if the website was for a non-profit organization.

Then I also registered a domain name which is an acronym of my name plus two more words but every time I tell other people about it, I still have to spell it out so they will get the right spelling. It is very short indeed, with five letters and two syllables but it is not easy to tell as I always have to explain to the others that there is an H after E.

So, what top-level domain name is better?

In my opinion, the “com” is still the best. If I have a choice, I would always register a domain name with top-level domain name “com”. The first thing that I search for is a domain name with a “com” top-level domain name. The “net” is always a second choice.

What about choosing a second-level domain name?

If I have the opportunity, I will always register a one-syllable domain name, familiar to people where I do not have to spell it out. If I have no other choice, a two-syllable domain name is fine. A domain name which people will remember right away. For me, the best would be the colors like green.com, blue.com, black.com, white.com, those with one syllable and almost everybody knows what they are. But of course, they are all taken. The domain name must also be short which consists of 4 to 5 letter only, if not 6 to 7 letters are fine.

Regarding domain names with three syllables or more, they are not bad at all but if I will have to ask you, isn’t it nice to just type a five-letter one-syllable domain name?

What about hyphenated domain names?

I try to avoid registering a domain name with hyphen or dash. I feel like I need to make an extra effort for a hyphenated domain name with regard to promoting and marketing it. I would rather say “blue green dot com” instead of “blue dash green dot com”. If I would like to tell my domain name to someone for the first time, I need to explain a little bit. For someone who is not familiar with websites, they will ask about the dash, and I will have to tell them that there is indeed a dash or hyphen between blue and green. In a way it is not bad at all as it will give me an opportunity or a reason to converse with the person.

What about domain names with numbers?

I never registered a domain name with numbers. It is confusing as people might think that I am telling them one instead of 1. I feel like I need to explain again and tell them that what I mean is the number 1 and not the letters o n e. Is that not complicated enough?

But what choice do we have now? Almost all the good domain names are taken. The fact is, almost all of them are just being parked. The domain name owners are probably hoping that one of these days someone will buy these domain names at a certain amount they would like to dictate. Some call it domaining, which is another topic where net professionals also earn money from.

Well then, I have written about making a choice between a domain name and a subdomain name, and about making a choice what domain name is good to register. The next question is, is the process of registering a domain name long and complicated? No, it’s not.

But for the meantime, think about what I just wrote. Are you ready to make a choice now?

Disclosure:
If you register your domain name at GoDaddy using my referral link, I will earn from it.