Domain Name Checklist: Pick a Name That Ranks (and Doesn’t Kill Your Brand)

Picking a domain name sounds like the fun part. Like, finally, you get to name the thing.

And then you realize it’s weirdly permanent.

Your domain is on your email. Your invoices. Your backlink profile. It’s what people type when they half remember you. It’s what Google has to associate with a topic, a brand, a set of pages, for years.

So yeah. It matters.

This checklist is what I’d use if I had to choose a domain again today, with SEO in mind, but also brand, trust, and not creating a future headache.

Not theory. Just the stuff that actually tends to bite people later.

First, a quick reality check about “domains that rank”

A domain name alone does not make you rank.

Google isn’t sitting there like, “Oh wow, this person bought bestseotoolsforlawyers.com, let’s put them #1.”

But your domain does affect:

• Click through rate in search results (people trust and click names that look legit)
• Brand recall (direct traffic is a ranking signal indirectly, and a growth cheat code)
• Linkability (people are more likely to link to a normal looking brand than a spammy keyword pile)
• Future flexibility (if you outgrow your niche, a narrow domain can feel like a cage)
• Deliverability and trust (a sketchy domain can literally hurt email and partnership outreach)

So the goal is not “keyword = rank”.

The goal is “name that earns clicks, earns links, and doesn’t make people hesitate”.

That’s the SEO part.

The Domain Name Checklist

1) Can a human say it out loud without repeating themselves?

Say it out loud to a friend. No context. No spelling it.

If you have to follow up with:

• “No, with a dash”
• “No, two E’s”
• “No, it’s software not softwear”
• “No, it’s .io not .com”

You’re about to lose a lot of brand searches, type in traffic, podcast mentions, word of mouth sharing, and even backlinks (because people will get it wrong when citing you).

A domain that’s easy to say is usually easy to remember. That’s underrated SEO.

Quick test:

• If you heard it once on a YouTube video, could you type it correctly 10 minutes later?

If not, keep brainstorming.

2) Is it easy to type on a phone?

This sounds minor until you watch real people try.

Look for:

• No awkward double letters in the middle (like “seoo” or “contenttt”)
• No long strings with repeated patterns
• No weird spelling that requires autocorrect fights

If your domain is the kind of thing that gets “helpfully corrected” by iOS, that’s friction. Friction kills.

3) Keep it short. But not cryptic.

Short is good. But “xqzr.io” is not branding, it’s a hostage situation.

A decent range for most brands:

• 6 to 14 characters before the TLD (roughly)
• 2 to 3 syllables is a sweet spot

And yes, there are exceptions. There always are. But if you’re not already famous, don’t play on hard mode.

4) Avoid hyphens. Almost always.

Hyphens are still the classic spam signal. Not always, but often enough.

They also cause real problems:

• People forget them
• People misplace them
• People assume you’re the “cheap copy” of the non hyphen version

If the clean version is taken and you’re considering a hyphen, it usually means you need a different name.

5) Avoid numbers (unless they’re clearly part of your brand)

Numbers create confusion:

• “Is it 7 or seven?”
• “Was it 24 or 365?”
• “Is it 2 or to?”

If your startup is “Studio54” and that’s the brand, fine.

But if it’s “bestseo4u.com” then… you already know.

6) Don’t make it a legal or trademark headache

This one is boring, but it’s the kind of boring that can ruin your year.

Before you commit:

• Google the exact name + “company”
• Check the USPTO database (US) or your local trademark database
• Search on LinkedIn, Crunchbase, GitHub, app stores
• Check if a competitor already owns the name in your category

Even if you “get away with it”, you might end up in a situation where:

• You can’t run ads because of trademark complaints
• You can’t get social handles
• You’re constantly confused with someone else
• You have to rebrand after you’ve already built links

Rebrands can be done. But they’re messy. Redirects work, mostly, but you still lose momentum, trust, and time.

7) Choose the right TLD. Usually, that means .com.

I’m not here to pretend .com is the only thing that works. You can rank on anything.

But .com still wins on:

• Trust
• Memorability
• Backlink cleanliness (people link correctly more often)
• Not having to explain yourself

If you’re in SaaS, the common alternatives are:

• .io (techy vibe, often expensive, sometimes misunderstood)
• .ai (hot right now, but can feel trend dependent)
• .software, .app, .dev (can work, but longer and sometimes less trusted by default)

If you can get the .com without doing something dumb, do it.

If you can’t, pick a TLD that won’t make people hesitate.

Example: the brand SEO software lives on https://seo.software which is a non .com domain, but it’s extremely clear, readable, and matches the product category. It works because it’s not trying to be cute. It’s direct, and the name itself is easy.

That’s the tradeoff. If you go non .com, make the second level name cleaner, not weirder.

8) Don’t stuff keywords into the domain like it’s 2011

Exact match domains had a moment. That moment is over.

Today, keyword stuffed domains tend to:

• Look spammy
• Attract low quality links
• Reduce branded search (people don’t remember a generic phrase)
• Make it harder to expand beyond one service

If you’re building a real company in the SaaS SEO space, your domain should look like a real company.

Now, should you include a keyword at all?

Sometimes. Lightly. Naturally. If it fits.

Like:

• “Notion.so” (product category isn’t in the domain, brand is)
• “ConvertKit.com” (descriptive, but still brandable)
• “seo.software” (keyword + category, but clean and not spammy)

If your domain is a full sentence, it’s probably not it.

9) Make sure it doesn’t limit you in 12 months

This is the one founders ignore because right now they’re 100 percent focused on one thing.

But let’s say you start as “AustinRoofRepairPros.com”. Then you expand to Houston. Then Dallas. Then you also do gutters.

Now your domain is a lie.

So ask:

• If we expand our offering, will this name still fit?
• If we go upmarket, does this name sound cheap?
• If we go global, is it location locked?
• If we pivot slightly, do we have to rename the whole business?

A “slightly broader than current niche” name tends to age well.

10) Check the “Google snippet test” in your head

Imagine your domain in a search result.

Does it look trustworthy?

Because users scan fast. They judge in half a second.

Domains that raise suspicion:

• too many words
• random abbreviations
• hyphens
• weird TLD combinations that look like phishing
• “free”, “cheap”, “best”, “bonus” baked into the domain

You might have the best content on the planet. If the domain looks like a scam, the click never happens. That’s an SEO problem.

11) Check social handles before you buy

This isn’t SEO directly, but it impacts brand consistency, and brand consistency affects branded search, mentions, and link patterns.

Check:

• X/Twitter
• YouTube
• LinkedIn company page
• Instagram, TikTok (even if you won’t use them now)

If you can’t get the exact handle, try close variations. If everything is taken, it’s a signal that the name is either too generic, or already owned.

12) Check the domain history (do not skip this)

Huge one. Especially if you’re buying an expired domain.

Use:

• Wayback Machine (archive.org)
• A backlink checker (Ahrefs, Semrush, etc)
• Basic Google search: site:yourdomain.com (if it’s indexed, what shows up?)
• Search the domain name in quotes

Look for red flags:

• It used to be a casino, adult site, pharma site, or pure spam
• It has backlinks in languages unrelated to your niche
• It has a sketchy anchor text profile (Viagra, payday loans, etc)
• It was part of a PBN
• It was deindexed (hard to confirm, but you can get clues)

A bad history can slow you down, or just make everything harder for no reason.

If you’re starting a brand, “clean slate” is worth more than a few random backlinks.

13) Don’t buy a domain that’s too close to a competitor

Even if it’s legal. Even if it feels clever.

Stuff like:

• SemrushHQ.com
• AhrefsPro.io
• ShopifyThemesPlus.com

It makes you look like you’re piggybacking. People notice. And you’ll struggle to build a distinct brand. Also, it can trigger trademark problems, and platform bans.

Be original. Future you will be grateful.

14) Put the domain through the “email test”

Your domain is your email. That’s part of your brand.

Ask:

• Does [email protected] look professional?
• Would a journalist reply to it?
• Would a B2B buyer trust it?
• Would it get caught in spam filters because it looks scammy?

This matters more than people admit.

15) If you’re doing SEO seriously, plan the site structure early

This is slightly beyond domain selection, but it’s connected.

If you pick a narrow domain because you want to rank for one keyword, you might end up with a narrow site.

Instead, plan for:

• A clean homepage targeting the broad category
• Feature pages (or service pages)
• A blog or learning hub
• Use cases and comparisons
• Programmatic pages only if you can do them well

This is where tools can help a lot. For example, SEO software (the platform) is built around scanning your site, building a topic and keyword plan, generating SEO focused articles, and then scheduling and publishing them automatically. So your domain choice isn’t carrying your SEO. Your content system is.

That’s the healthier way to think about it.

Domain is the sign on the building. Content is the building.

A simple scoring system (so you can stop overthinking)

Give each domain a score from 1 to 5.

1. Say it out loud (easy to pronounce)
2. Type it (no confusion, no corrections)
3. Looks legit in a Google result
4. Brandable (doesn’t feel generic)
5. Flexible (won’t box you in)
6. Clean history (or brand new)
7. TLD trust (or at least not weird)

If a domain scores under 28 out of 35, I’d keep looking.

And if it scores high but you personally hate saying it, that’s still a no. You’re going to say it a thousand times.

Examples of “good” vs “bad” (quick and a bit blunt)

Good:

• Brandable + simple: Zapier.com
• Descriptive but clean: ConvertKit.com
• Keyword present, still readable: seo.software

Bad:

• Keyword stuffing: best-seo-agency-in-london-2026.com
• Confusing spelling: kwikseaux.com
• Hyphen rescue attempt: mybrand-name.com
• Trend chasing: somethingcryptoaiweb3.com

Common mistakes I see (and how to avoid them)

Mistake 1: Buying the domain before you name the brand

A domain is part of the brand. Don’t separate them.

Name first. Domain second. But keep domain availability in the loop.

Mistake 2: Picking a name that only makes sense to you

Inside jokes, weird abbreviations, invented spellings. They feel clever for a week.

Then you spend two years explaining it.

Mistake 3: Thinking the domain will do the marketing for you

It won’t.

A clean domain helps your marketing work better. That’s all.

The actual growth comes from consistent publishing, good pages, and a system that keeps it going.

If you’re trying to build organic traffic without hiring an agency, that’s basically the pitch of https://seo.software. It automates the content strategy, writes the articles, and publishes them on a schedule. The domain doesn’t rank. The output does.

My personal “final filter” before buying

Before I hit purchase, I do this:

• I type it into Chrome without thinking. Did I spell it right?
• I imagine telling someone: “Go to ___ dot ___.” Did it sound clean?
• I picture a backlink: “According to ___” would a writer link to it without hesitation?
• I Google it. Is it already associated with something weird?
• I check Wayback. Was it ever spam?
• I check trademarks quickly. Anything obvious?

If it passes all that, I buy it.

And then I move on. Because the truth is, the best domain is the one you commit to and build on.

Wrap up (and what to do next)

A domain name that ranks is usually not a magical SEO hack.

It’s a name that people trust enough to click, remember enough to search again, and respect enough to link to.

So use the checklist. Be a little picky. But don’t get stuck in naming purgatory for three months.

And once you’ve got the domain, shift your energy to the part that actually drives ranking: publishing useful content consistently.

If you want the hands off version of that, where the platform scans your site, builds a keyword plan, generates SEO optimized articles, and schedules and publishes them for you, take a look at https://seo.software. That’s literally what it’s for.