Choosing a new domain name
Picking a new domain isn't easy when people want to know what's best for SEO or best for Google. The real answer to that, it's complicated. You have many things to consider.
- keywords or exact match domain (EMD)
- generic and country code top level domains (gTLD and ccTLD)
- branding
- Length of domain name
1. keywords or exact match domain (EMD)
Many SEOs will argue over whether or not EMDs are good or bad for SEO. As much as Google has been trying to encourage webmasters to avoid EMDs and go the 'branded' route, following Google's advice might not always get you where you need to be. Google in the past has tried to push websites down in the rankings that had too many keywords in them and for a while it happened but to say keywords are not important in a domain is probably a wrong statement. If you want proof of how important keywords are for a domain, just do a search for anything and look at the domains that show up in your results. You might find 50% of the listings will feature 1 or more keywords in them. You'll have to decide if you want one or more keywords in your domain but keep in mind, many people have probably done the same so finding an original domain name that is available to register, is becoming more difficult these days. One thing that most established webmasters agree on are hyphenated domains where you have keyword-keyword2 or keyword1-keyword2-keyword3.com. It just doesn't look so natural and these domains you don't see them rank well and probably won't ever be as good as the domain without those hyphens.
2. generic and country code top level domains (gTLD and ccTLD)
Generic top level domains (gTLD) are things like .com, .net, .org, .info and a bunch more while country code top level domains (ccTLD) are domains that are associated with a country like .co.uk, .ca, .pt, .de and a whole lot more. Your decision on which extension to use might have more to do with domain availability than preference. If your website or business is location based then you'll want to take the extension into consideration. A domain with a .co.uk is probably going to have an easier time to rank in google.co.uk and it will probably look more appealing to UK residents. This will come at the expense of maybe not ranking as strong for rest of world markets. You can always do a search and check to see which sites have any ccTLDs in them.
3. branding
Branding could easily be a whole other topic but we will try to stay on topic of how it relates to your choice of domain. Not everyone can be as big as Google where your name becomes a verb, you can search for something or you can google it. Branding helps with you want to work at building a name, reputation and become an authority. You can build that reputation in numerous ways but it takes years of earning that reputation. Looking at a selection of casino sites, branding helps but it's hard not to notice some keywords that are naturally in place.
The first 3 domains have at least a keyword in them but they are easily 3 of the most dominant casino portals around and they have dominated a lot of competition that have more keywords in their domains. If you are going to make up a crazy name that has never been used before, it's taking a risk but when you are building a new site, ask yourself, does your domain explain what you do or hint at what you might do? If the answer is no, then you might struggle early on to win over those new users where it might become a constant problem, new users that have never heard of you before, they might not understand what they will get when they click on your domain. Whatever your business is about or the location, sometimes having either or both keywords in place can help.
4. Length of domain name
How long should your domain be? Many webmasters would probably agree that a shorter domain is better than a longer one. If the domain is 3 or 4 letters, you probably won't ever see one of these available unless you pay a pretty penny for it. If a domain has too many keywords in it, it's probably going to hurt more than it helps. When a domain gets too long, it probably loses it's appeal and makes it more difficult for people to remember it, type it let alone write it down.
Searching for domain names using bulk search
You'll want to make use of a bulk search tool and type in many domains at once to see which ones are available rather than do the search one at a time. If you use namecheap.com you can use their bulk search tool and most domain registrars have some type of bulk domain search tool.
Final tip on picking a domain name: Having a domain that explains or hints at what you do is helpful but ask yourself, will you be taken seriously with your choice of domain? You can treat this like the choice of using gmail or having a business email to use.
Buying an existing domain
For those that are either fortunate enough to have a budget to spend on domains or are savvy domainers, buying an existing domain. There are many domainers out there but domains are worth whatever someone is willing to pay for. Some domainers ask for too much while others you might be able to find great value for someone looking to make a sale.
2 great resources and places to find gambling domains
- gamblingdomains.io
- gamblinginvest.com
gamblingdomains.io are better known for casino related domains while gamblinginvest.com are better known for sportsbook and sportsbetting domains.
Where to buy domains
We offer some advice on where to buy domains and some companies we don't particularly recommend. It isn't easy determining which domain registrar is better as many comparison sites are incentivized for promoting all of them but best advice is to pay attention to complaints on twitter to see if others are not happy with a registrar and you could also check with the larger mainstream forums too.
Best Domain Registrar - Namecheap
Namecheap might sound like a 'cheap' place for domains but it is exactly that. Just because it has cheap in it doesn't mean they they compromise in quality and it's far from the opposite. Namecheap built their business by not gouging the hell out of webmasters compared to companies like GoDaddy.
Possibly another good registrar domains.google
We haven't used domains.google yet but it seems webmasters are happy with them and they offer domains for $12/year and that includes the domain privacy.
Not so recommended places to register domains
GoDaddy
These guys are the biggest but it definitely doesn't mean they are the best. They are very good at billing and they tend to attract a lot of newbies that don't know where to start so that is the upside of godaddy but should you run into problems, their technical support will often bill you when you get stuck. They might look cheap to start but they bill you on everything. If you want domain privacy for example, the cost for that alone is about the same cost as registering a new domain with Namecheap. Namecheap offers free privacy for the first year and charges just $2.88/year.
