A domain name is the gateway to your website and can bring in a steady stream of visitors, or, if handled poorly, allow your site to languish in obscurity. When choosing a domain name, a few key practices can help ensure you attract an online audience and customers. No matter what your experience level, you have the same opportunity as everyone else to register a great domain name, unless, of course, someone else has already claimed it.
Length vs. Memorability
Characters count when choosing a domain name. The shorter the name, the easier it is to remember, so you generally don't want to go over about 15 characters in your domain name. That being said, if you have an established business, it's always better to go over this arbitrary 15 character limit than have your customers guessing about your domain name. For example, www.JoesUsedTiresAndMore.com is much longer than www.JUTAM.com, but is it easier to remember the full name or the abbreviation? Shorter is better, unless it's harder to remember.
Characters
It can't always be avoided, but when possible you want to avoid characters like dashes and/or numbers. When giving a domain name to someone, it makes it much more difficult to explain that you mean the actual numeral "2," not "two," "to," or "too." The same can be said for dashes. When you give your domain name as www.My-Domain.com, remember that you have to do a bit of explaining that the dash is a dash and not a minus sign or the word "dash." It's much easier to register www.MyDomain.com if it's available or to move on to something a bit longer. Registering domains with numbers and odd characters is hardly ever worth it.
Extensions
Dot com (.com) domain names are the most popular, and many of the best names have already been claimed. You may register using the dot net (.net) or dot info (.info) extension instead. However, people naturally assume dot com extensions when they think of, or try to recall, website addresses, so dot com is still the best choice. You may also want to register your name using all three extensions and routing them all to you website.
Copyright
According to ICANN, a domain name can and will be taken from its owner if it is deemed the owner has violated an existing copyright. For example, if you register the domain name www.Starbucks2.com (since Starbucks.com is obviously taken), the domain name can and will be taken from you if Starbucks should decide to exercise the right to own that domain. The easiest way to avoid trouble is to avoid registering domain names of existing copyrights and trademarks.
Private Registration
Paying the additional money for private registration can keep your personal information off of spam lists. Spammers often use programs known as "bots" to remove email addresses from the public WHOIS registry. The WHOIS registry is a registry of domain owners. It allows you to search for a domain and see the owner and their contact information. Those who register domains privately avoid appearing on this list. Instead, the company you register with appears on the list. The company can forward you any relevant information if someone inquires about your website, all while keeping your information private.