What isGreat domain name in Kenya the big deal in choosing a domain name in Kenya, you might ask?

A domain name is the identity by which you or your business will be know by on the internet. It is therefore not a matter of just choosing any name to be your domain name.

Let us look at some guidelines that will come in hardy when you are choosing a domain name in Kenya.

 Important tips on choosing a domain name in Kenya

Identify your niche

What is your website going to be all about? Write down a few words that best describe the activities of your business. This will help you come up with various keywords that you can combine to best describe what you are all about.

A good example would be: if you are all about gardening, then your keywords can be such as garden fair, beautiful gardens, garden of eden, beautiful outdoors, landscaping etc.

  • Availability

After choosing the best combination of your key words, it can be one to three keywords long, then check whether it is available on the internet. Check with sites such as Namecheap.com. If available then proceed to buy.

The advantage of a website such as Namecheap.com, is it allows you to go ahead and purchase the same domain name in Kenya from the same site.

  • Select a Dot – Com Domain

The internet is not a local community, it is global and your website should then have a global identity. Think about this for one minute, when you are searching for a website you always assume it is a dot com.

You are not alone, many other people do the same, so why not be easy for people to find your website, go for a dot com domain.

Remember you may choose a different extension, then your competitor chooses a dot com extension, there is a high likely hood that you will lose traffic to his website.

Once you have bought your dot com domain, and you know your niche is pretty competitive and you have the financial muscle to afford it, then buy the other extensions in your domain names such as dot org and dot net.  This will ensure your competition will have to work a bit harder to get your traffic.

  • Your domain name in Kenya should be simple and catchy

Make your domain name easy to remember. As i mentioned earlier choose the best combination of your one to three keywords to make a catchy domain name as your identity online.

Check availability of the different combinations and settle for the best.

  • Ensure it is easy to type

Again you want people to easily type you domain name, so do not choose a complicated. Avoid using awkward words from an ancient language or words that will require a dictionary to get the spelling right.

Your competitor may have bought the correct version of the word and al your traffic will go to their site instead.

  • Make the domain name short

Even though I indicated earlier that you choose one to three words to make up your domain, limit the characters of the entire domain name to 10 – 15. This also makes it easy to remember and type.

Tips on what to avoid when buying a domain name in Kenya

  • Avoid Making up your own words

Yes you want to come up with a unique name for your website, but unfamiliar words will make it more difficult to remember and hardy to type.

  • Avoid using letters that are considered difficult to type

Letters such as q, z, x, are not favorable to use, since they are considered difficult to type. Also using letter z in plurals instead of s with also cost you traffic.

  • Do not use abbreviations as your domain name

And if you really have to use abbreviations, then let it sound good.

  • Avoid using word separators

Avoid using hyphens or underscores. It is even worse to consider using + or –, these are considered as spam indicators and makes your business look less credible and professional.

After settling for the name that best describes your business, then you need to purchase it from a domain registering service.

Before using a domain registering service, research about it, see what other people are saying about. There many domain registering services and each can be just as good but it is good to hear other peoples reviews on such a service.

Use the above tips to best guide you to choose a great domain name in Kenya.

Written by: 

Pauline is the CEO at Allen Cole, also consults for iWork and Elite Writers Hub. She works with small and medium size organizations to increase their visibility online through corporate blogging, content creation, website development and social media engagement.