How to Choose a Domain Name | Part 1

In my last post, I've explained what a domain name is. This topic discusses how to choose a domain name which is the first step in registering a domain name.

Choosing a domain name is quite a challenging task as far as my experiene is concerned; although I'm sure many will also agree with this. Most people choose a domain name with a dot com (.com) extension or Top Level Domain (TLD). One reason for this, as far as I know, is that the dot com is more superior and popular than the rest of the TLDs. The topic on various types of TLDs will be further discussed in a separate topic.

There are various preferences and reasons being considered by people when they choose a domain name. Some choose a domain name which usually has a keyword or keywords that is the same as to what they want to promote or according to their site's or blog's main contents or theme. While for some, they want to use their own full name or the name of someone very close to them like their kid's name as well as the name of places like cities, towns, provinces, parks, schools, buildings and many more. The others want to use a very unique name which doesn't really give any indication as to what they are promoting or their site's primary theme or objective.

As for me, I always choose a domain name that clearly signifies what my blog's theme is. After having thought of for quite sometime what domain name I want for my blog, I'll check it out at any of the domain registrar's domain name availability checker. More frequently than not, my chosen domain name with the dot com extension is always taken already or not available. So, what I do is to think of another domain name since I prefer a dot com than any other TLDs or extensions. But what if I really like the domain name that I've chosen? Here comes the issue of a "hyphenated" domain name as your other option. Read more on the topic of whether or not to use a hyphenated domain name in Part 2 of How to Choose a Domain Name.