A good domain name is short, easy to spell, and easy to say out loud. It should tell people who you are or what you do, and it should still be available to register. Getting this right before you register a domain saves you from having to rebrand later.
What Makes a Domain Name Good
Before you check availability, narrow your options down using these guidelines:
- Keep it short. Shorter names are easier to remember and less likely to be mistyped.
- Match your business name or brand. If your business is already known by a name, use that name in the domain rather than a variation.
- Avoid hyphens and numbers. "my-shop-254.co.ke" is harder to say and remember than "myshop.co.ke," and people often forget the hyphens when typing it from memory.
- Make it easy to spell. If you have to explain how to spell your domain name every time you say it out loud, customers will mistype it and land on the wrong site.
- Avoid words that are easily confused. Homophones and words with multiple common spellings cause the same problem as hard-to-spell names.
Choosing the Right Domain Extension
The extension (the part after the dot) matters too, especially for a Kenyan business.
When to Choose .co.ke
A .co.ke domain signals to Kenyan customers that you are a local business. It tends to build trust faster with a local audience and is a natural fit if most of your customers are in Kenya.
When to Choose .com
A .com domain is a better fit if you sell internationally, serve customers outside Kenya, or want a name that is recognizable to a global audience regardless of where they are.
If you are not sure which one to pick, you do not have to choose only one. Many businesses register both their .co.ke and .com versions and point the one they are not actively using to their main site, so a competitor or unrelated party cannot register it instead.
Checking Availability and Avoiding Conflicts
- Search for your preferred name to confirm it is not already registered.
- Check whether the name conflicts with an existing trademark, especially if you plan to expand beyond Kenya.
- Check whether the matching name is available on the social media platforms you plan to use. A domain and social handles that match are easier for customers to find and remember.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Choosing a name that is too close to an existing, unrelated business, which can confuse customers or invite legal trouble.
- Picking a trendy spelling (dropping vowels, adding extra letters) that looks clever but is hard for people to recall correctly.
- Waiting too long to register a name you have settled on. Domain names are registered on a first-come, first-served basis, so someone else can register it while you are still deciding.
Once you have settled on a name, the next step is confirming it is actually free to register. See How to Check If a Domain Name Is Available Before You Register It for how to do that.