When starting a blog, arguably the most important decision you have to make is which domain you register. Not only will it be the name that people remember your website for, but it will also be an important part of branding the blog for recurring traffic. The domain you pick will be the first thing visitors will notice about your site, so you need to make it good to entice your visitors in to reading the content on your blog.

There are many factors that you should consider before buying a domain, but there are three ‘golden’ rules that you should strive to follow if you want the best possible name for your blog.

1st Rule: The first of the golden rules is to make the domain relevant to the content on your website. The amount of people who buy domains unrelated to their niche is astounding, so by incorporating keywords into your domain you have already given yourself an advantage over the other websites in your niche. As well as that, it lets the reader know what kind of site they’re visiting before they’ve even clicked the link.

2nd Rule: Another rule is to make the domain as short as possible. Recurring traffic is a very important part of blogging, so you need the domain to be as easy to remember as possible. Because of that point, the shorter the domain, the better. As a rule of thumb, try to never purchase a domain that has more than three words in it. If you can find a one word domain you should always try and purchase it for two reasons. Firstly, it will be easy to remember for your visitors, and secondly it will also add a lot of value to your blog, should you choose to sell it.

3rd Rule: The third and final rule is to choose the domain extension wisely. There are many different extensions you can buy, but the advice that all domainers will give is to try and make the extension relevant to the website. For example, if the website is about an organization, the ‘.org’ extension is the best, but if it’s just a general website then ‘.com’ would be best. Similarly, if your blog or website is aimed at a particular country, it is always advised to register the domain with the country’s extension.

In conclusion, a domain is one of the most important parts of any website, and you should consider this when registering one. You can pick a good domain by making sure it is three words or less, relevant to the blog’s niche and has a suitable extension.

This guest article is written by Simon Rogers, who blogs at Teenius, where there is currently an awesome contest where you can win loads of great prizes. To find out more about this contest, click here.