Categories
Industry Information

How Many Websites Are Started Every Day?

Since the birth of the internet more than three decades ago, millions of websites have been created. But have you ever wondered how many sites are started every single day? You may guess that the number’s in the thousands, but let’s find out.

So how many websites are started every single day? A closer estimate is that about half a million new websites are created every day. This translates to roughly 547,200 unique websites daily or up to 380 sites each minute – bringing the total number of websites in the whole world to about 1.2 billion, according to a January 2020 survey conducted by NetCraft.

 With all these active sites, the need to set your own website apart from others is even more important. And if you are interested in more internet statistics, facts, and tips on how to create your own website, we’ve got you covered.

Who Created the First Website?

The first website was created by Tim Berners-Lee while he was at CERN (or the European Organization for Nuclear Research). The exact website was restored a few years ago, and you can access it here. The site is aptly called “The World Wide Web Project.”

When Was the First Website Created?

Tim Berners-Lee created the original proposal for the new global information system technology around March 1989. Together with fellow computer systems engineer Robert Cailliau, a more formal management proposal was submitted. The first website, web browser, and server were up and running by late 1990. And the rest was history.

How Many Websites Are Online Now?

Based on a 2020 NetCraft web survey, there are approximately 1,295,973,827 websites worldwide. This is a slight 3 million decrease from 2019 data. Note that the number of websites is not the total number of active sites since most sites are parked domains or are not updated. The actual number of active websites is only about 1.8 million.

How to Create Your Own Website

With all this talk about the history of the internet, it’s only logical that you get curious about making your website. Below, we’ve prepared a short actionable on how you can start your own website quickly.

1. Decide on a Topic or Niche

All websites start with a central topic or core niche. Do you want a personal website where you only share journal-like updates? Do you want to open a crafting supplies website? Or an online tool that allows site visitors to create their funny cat memes?

Choose a niche that you are already familiar with or a topic that you are willing to spend time on and learn more about.

2. Choose a Domain Name

Next, it’s time to choose a domain name. Whether you are starting a personal website or a company site, always keep in mind that the best domain names are short and brandable.

If you are overwhelmed with what domain name to choose, try out our Free Domain Name Generation Tool.

Naming Generator Domain Search Image

3. Select a Web Hosting Provider

A web host is a company who acts as the storage manager of all your website files. Hosting providers typically provide bandwidth, storage, security, and other resource allocations. There are different hosting plans depending on the type of site that you want to run, your budget, and your technical background.

If it’s your first time starting a website, you may choose a WordPress Hosting service that will give you Control Panel access.

Check Out The Latest Deals On Industry-Leading Web Hosts – And Get $1,474 In Free Bonuses!

Check Out The Free Bonuses Here

4. Get a Customizable Website Theme

Now that you have purchased a domain name and a web host, the next step is to get a website theme. Most web hosting providers will include default site builder or theme upon subscription. But if you want your site to stand out, purchasing, downloading, and then customizing your theme is the way to go.

If you opt for a self-hosted WordPress site, it is even easier to download free or premium theme templates. When customizing your site, don’t forget to add your own logo, color scheme, and brand or website name to make the whole site more memorable.

5. Create a Content Plan

To ensure your website’s success, it pays to create a content plan from the get-go. A website content plan lets you decide what kind of content to post, when to publish these posts, and how to promote them. This content plan can be a simple spreadsheet with Topic Ideas, Post Title, Keyword, Date, and Status columns.

Remember, your website’s content will depend on your chosen topic or niche. For example, if you want to start a cooking website, your content will mostly be articles talking about recipes, diets, or meal planning. On the other hand, if you want to start a photography website, your content can be a mixture of text and, of course, your photographs.

6. Start Writing

After creating a content plan, you should begin writing. The sooner you start publishing content on your site, the sooner will your site be indexed by search engines. And, if you want to earn from your site eventually, you need this to occur as soon as possible.

If your resources allow it, you may also hire content writers to write articles on your chosen topics. Doing so is applicable if you are looking to target multiple keywords or if you just want to churn out as many articles all at once.

On the other hand, if you just want to start a personal travel website for every time you go on a trip, then writing the posts and adding photos yourself is doable.

7. Promote Your Website

Upon registering a domain name and signing up for a hosting service, your website is live in the world wide web. But, not everyone knows that your site is live yet. That is why promoting your site is vital.

Today, the most common website promotion tool is the use of social media. Post your site’s domain name or URL on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. You can even start spreading the word about your website by texting or emailing all your friends and relatives.

Or, if you want to promote an online store or company website, you may learn more about social media marketing or search engine optimization. Do what you think is best for your website.

And that’s it! Seven easy and actionable steps that you can do right now if you want to start your personal or business website. Still undecided on what domain name to use? Check out our domain name generator tool and tick one step off this website-making checklist.

Related Questions

What Is a Website?

A website is a group of documents about a specific topic that is connected to each other in the World Wide Web. Each website is differentiated from other sites by its domain name or URL (uniform resource locator). All website data is also stored on a web server.

There can be public and private websites. A public website, as its name implies, is accessible by anyone connected to the internet. On the other hand, a private website is only available within a specific network, location, or server.

What Is the Difference Between a Website and a Domain?

A website is the visual representation of your business, persona, service, chosen niche, or topic online that users see when they arrive on your site. It includes all the web pages, photos, links, headers, videos, gifs, memes, etc. that are available on your website. In comparison, a domain is just the series of letters and numbers that appear on the search bar and acts as an internet address and differentiates your website from other sites.

How Many Websites Has Google Indexed?

As the most popular search engine in the world, Google has indexed about 1.3 billion websites. According to World Wide Web Size, Google has indexed up to 4.4 billion web pages. This number is higher since each website comprises hundreds, or even thousands, of separate web pages.

Who Owns the Internet?

On April 30, 1993, CERN made the internet, and the technology behind it, available free of royalties and open to everyone. All this led to the further democratization of the world wide web and its continuing growth.

Sources:

https://news.netcraft.com/archives/2020/01/21/january-2020-web-server-survey.html

https://home.cern/science/computing/birth-web/short-history-web

https://www.worldwidewebsize.com

 

 

Categories
Domain Names How To Guides

How to Find the Best Domain Name for Your Business

Domain names, just like our names, are crucial in setting a positive first impression on prospects and clients, more so in establishing a business’s online presence. That’s why if you are starting a company website, one of the first things you need to do is find the most fitting domain name.

So, we beg to ask: How do I find the best domain name for my business?  Well, there is no hard and fast rule when it comes to choosing a domain name. But for any entrepreneur to find the best domain name for a brand or company, you must start with your business name. The best business domain names are brandable, memorable, and short.

But, often, selecting a brandable and easy-to-remember domain name may not be enough. You must choose a domain well because this can help your site’s traffic and promote a favorable branding identity.

Want to see how a truly brandable and memorable business domain looks like? Read the rest of the article for five tips and best practices when selecting the most suitable domain name for your business.

How Do You Find the Best Business Domain Name?

1. Start With Your Business Name

First off, consider using your business or company name as your domain name. Remember, a key rule in business branding is maintaining consistency. When your customers see the same company name and website name used, they are more likely able to remember it.

 

Doing so also aligns with another domain selection rule. And that is keeping your domain name short. For example, if your company name is The Good Furniture Company, Inc., just using www.goodfurniture.com as your domain name will suffice.

 

Think of the most famous business websites in the world today. All of them typically use the same domain name as their official company name. Do that for your business too.

 

But, if your business name is too generic, or if someone else has taken your chosen domain name, you need to be more creative in finding a business website URL. One tool that can help you is a website name generator tool. Our free tool allows you to search for different potential website domain names that match your preferences.

Naming Generator Domain Search Image

2. Add Keywords Related to Your Business

Another domain selection best practice is incorporating keywords that are related to your business industry or niche. Pick domain names that readily tell a customer what the site is for.

For instance, if you have a cleaning business, adding the words clean, neat, service, or tidy can work wonders in letting a customer know what your website is all about.

Remember, when selecting keywords to incorporate into your domain name, you must still keep in mind if the keyword adds creativity to your brand and whether or not it makes your brand more memorable. Don’t add a related keyword just for the sake of adding it.

Before fully committing to a domain name, always check how the keywords work with your chosen website name by plugging in the domain to our Naming Generator. This way, you will see how the new name works with different top-level domains.

3. Branding Before Naming

The next essential step when picking a suitable domain name for your business is to ensure that you have established (or plan to establish) a remarkable business brand first.

Remember: A brand name is more than just a name. It’s an image. Look for a brand name that can help your company cultivate a positive image and unique identity that your customers will happily associate with your business.

And once you have created a trusted brand name and have established this name as your website domain name, your business will have a smoother online transition. In the same vein, your customers will find your website more reliable.

4. Keep it Original and Typo-Free

Typos are major turn-offs. Spelling errors in a domain name not only shows incompetence, but they could also lead to a potential loss in traffic. That is why you must carefully check if your chosen business domain name for typographic errors, grammar lapses, and originality.

A good domain name for any business should not copy other existing business’s brand names or website addresses. Also, avoid closely related domain name spellings or puns as they can make your business appear unprofessional.

Conduct market and competitor research before using a domain name. Some businesses or organizations may not use a particular phrase or word as their website domain names, but they may already own the copyright or trademark for that phrase or word. Avoid any legal mishaps and always do your research first.

To check for available domain names, use free tools like the Naming Generator.

5. Decide If You Need to Purchase Other TLDs

For some business owners who want to set up their official websites, the best domain name is not one but also all the other matching names in different top-level domains. The main reason behind this is to ensure that all traffic from searches using other TLDs are redirected to the official company website.

Owning all the other TLDs (especially the .net, .org, and .biz ones) is a great strategy, especially if you want to avoid confusion and potential domain hijacking. All the other big companies like Microsoft, Apple, and Google are doing this.

Also, by redirecting all traffic to one business website allows you to control and present unified information to your customers.

Try out the free Naming Generator tool and see all the other available top-level domain names that you can use for your business website.

Bonus Tip: You can also purchase misspelled versions of your business’s domain name. Doing so allows you to capture all relevant traffic back to your official website. It’s a win-win.

Apply all the best practice tips shared above and you are now ready to choose the most suitable domain name for your business. Don’t forget to use our free Domain Name Generator and grab the domain name of your choice right away!

What if my business name is already taken as a domain name?

According to VeriSign, as of Q1 of 2020, there are 366.8 million registered domain names globally – a 4.2% yearly increase. It is highly likely that your preferred domain name may already be taken. That’s why a good workaround when it comes to coming up with business domain names is to think of the following criteria when picking out a domain name:

  1. What variations of my business or brand name can I use instead?
  2. Is it brandable?
  3. Is it unique?
  4. Is it short?
  5. Can it be easily remembered?

Ask yourself these questions and, hopefully, you will come up with a more fitting domain name for your brand.

Is it necessary to incorporate exact match keywords when choosing a business domain name?

No. It is best to choose a more brandable or unique domain name with few relevant keyword references instead. Over the past years, Google algorithm updates have penalized websites that used exact match domains.

If you want to read more about finding a matching your domain name and business name, read this article.

Do I need to use a geographic domain extension for my business?

No, geographic domain extension names are not necessary for businesses. However, they can help if you want to narrow down and target customers or clients coming from or searching for a specific location.

For example, if you want to open an eCommerce store that operates in the United Kingdom only, it is best to choose a .co.uk geographic domain extension instead of a regular .com top-level domain.

Related Questions

What do you really mean by a brandable domain name?

 A brandable business domain name means that your domain name or URL stands out, and customers can easily associate your domain name with your business campaign, company name, product, or service.

What is the optimal length of a domain name?

The optimal domain name length is between two (2) to three (3) words or about seven (7) to fourteen (14) characters or letters. Avoid adding hyphens, numerals, and consecutive letters as they can make your business domain name appear unprofessional.

What is the best domain name extension or top-level domain (TLD) for a business?

It is best for businesses to pick a .com top-level domain name or domain name ending. .com domains are more common and often regarded as more trustworthy.

Source:

https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/dnib/index.xhtml

https://domains.google/learning-center/how-to-come-up-with-a-good-domain-name/

Categories
How To Guides Resources

Best Linktree Alternative: WordPress FREE Templates To Grow Your Brand & Revenue

If you’re an Instagram Influencer then you probably already know the most valuable real estate on your profile, is that single little link. The problem is you only get one of them—enter companies like Linktree. Linktree is a fine company and many people benefit from using their service, but like many other people, you might be looking for a different option.

In this article, we are going to show you why you don’t need Linktree, or any of its competitors, at all…

In fact, we are going to show you a much better alternative to Linktree, (WordPress), that:

  • Has Far More Options
  • Gives You Total Control
  • Allows You To Make More Money
  • Offers Endless Possibilities
  • Is Cost-Effective

Not only are we going to tell you what this better option is, but we are going to show you exactly how to set it up, using this step-by-step guide.

Plus, we’ve created free templates you can have and use as a bonus if you decide to use this little known Linktree alternative.  That way you can save time and get going right away.

What Is Linktree & Why Do People Use It?

For those of you that aren’t clear on exactly what Linktree is, Linktree is a FREEMIUM product that was launched in 2016 and quickly took the Instagram marketing world by storm.

Linktree allows IG users to turn their profile link, normally limited to 1 URL by Instagram, into multiple links by simply bringing them to a simple mobile landing page with other links listed. 

A truly simple and ingenious idea at the time.  There was a clear need for Insta users to have more than one link and Linktree made it easy for us to do so.  The Free version lets you set up a simple page, which is pretty limited.

But perhaps the most annoying part of the FREE version is that you can’t remove the Linktree logo from the page unless you upgrade to the paid version.

linktree image

The paid version is only 6 bucks a month, but it’s pretty limited to what you can do.  So, we are going to show you another way to build the same thing using WordPress for about the same money.

But our WP version is just as easy to make, but is way more flexible and has endless possibilities while offering total control to you and your brand.

If you currently aren’t using some type of link landing page to grow your brand and increase your Instagram income you are missing out.  By having a landing page you can monetize your traffic in ways that are simply not possible on Instagram itself.

 Reasons You Should Use WordPress As A Linktree Alternative?

Ok, so there are a lot of Linktree competitors out there.  Why should you choose WordPress over all the other alternatives?  Here are the reasons you should use our WP alternative over Linktree or any of its clones.

 

  • We’ve prebuilt everything for you for FREE, so you can just click and type like you do now with way more control and upside!

 

  • WordPress is the world’s most used content management system for a reason. It makes up about 30% off all websites on the internet. That’s because it’s secure, easy to use, and fully customizable into just about anything you can imagine.

 

  • Building an Instagram site on WordPress means you own it! You aren’t beholden to any platform, Instagram is already a platform, why tie yourself to another platform that can change its terms, fees, or features at any time.

 

  • You have more control with WordPress. WP is a full blogging and website platform, with endless plugin options, that can give you any feature you can dream of. You have endless possibilities when you build your own site on WP, and that includes your new Linktree Instagram alternative.
  • Cost– We will show you how to set it up for about 50% of what you are paying now for the first year!

 

  • Your brand/site will outlive Instagram! It sounds crazy but social media platforms come and go all the time. IG is huge so it will probably always be around in one form or another, but do you really think it will be as popular say 5 or 10 years from now.  A betting man would say it will be replaced by the newest & coolest platform.

 

  • Way more than just a simple links landing page. Once you build out your IG links page using WP, you aren’t limited to just that.  But you can blog for organic traffic, add a store, create a portfolio, engage with your users in so many different ways that just simply aren’t possible using a platform like Linktree.

 

  • Think BEYOND THE LINK! – When you build your IG link page with our FREE WP template, your imagination is the only limitation. Want to add a map to your store—no problem, want to put someone directly into your sales funnel—no sweat.  You are going to increase your revenue, by increasing the ways you can make money and conversions.

 

  • Build a Website that becomes a tangible asset you own. This is the biggest difference. You want to own your assets not just use other company’s platforms because it gives you the ability to potentially sell your website down the road!  Websites are selling for multiples of 30-40 times monthly earnings. So, if you have a branded IG following and corresponding website that brings in money, you could eventually cash out in a big way.  Let’s say you make $1000 month through your website.  You could sell that website for 30K-40K if you want to move on to another project.

 

 Step-By-Step Guide To Creating Your Linktree Alternative Page On WordPress

 Now that you hopefully see and understand the benefits of creating your Instagram link page with WordPress, you are probably leaning towards making the switch.

 

So, we are going to show you exactly how to do it and give you 100% FREE Linktree Alternative templates to make it as easy as possible.

 

Here is a quick rundown of the 5 Easy steps to setting up your Instagram Linking Page on WordPress.

 

  1. Domain Name & HostingWe will show you how to get a domain name for free using NamingGenerator.com, plus a year’s worth of hosting as a fraction of what you are paying for Linktree. Not to mention crazy FREE bonuses—Including FREE Professional Logo!

 

  1. Install WordPress – We show you exactly how to do it below

 

  1. Get Free Premium Theme and Page Builder

 

  1. Download & Install our Free Instagram Link Page Templates

 

  1. Edit Your New Instagram Link Page- Simple Drag and Drop

 

Ok, let’s take a deeper look at each of these steps…

 

Step 1: Secure Domain Name and Hosting

 

The first thing you will need to build your own Linktree alternative on WordPress is a domain name for your site and hosting to serve your website up to visitors when they click on your domain name.

 

That is what NamingGenerator.com does best.  Our FREE naming generator tool allows you to quickly search for available domain names so you can find something that is perfect for your Instagram brand.

Naming Generator Domain Search Image

 

Secondly, we’ve cultivated a list of hosting providers that offer great deals on hosting, some of which will give you your domain for free, like Bluehost. Bluehost is one of the biggest hosting companies in the industry, they are offering monthly hosting for about 50% of the premium LinkTree cost and a free domain name.

 

But, feel free to use our FREE tool and pick any of the hosting providers you like.   Some are a bit more expensive but are optimized for WordPress which means it’s easier to install and manage, like Kinsta. The choice is yours, but if you want a rundown of Best Bluehost Hosting Alternatives, check out our article here.

 

On top of that, we offer some great FREE bonuses for using one of our affiliate hosting companies by ordering through our links.  So, you will get a FREE custom designed logo and other great FREE bonuses!

 

To secure your domain name and hosting now and then move on to step 2.

 

Step 2: Install WordPress On Your Domain

Now that you’ve secured your domain name and hosting in step 1, it’s time to install WordPress on your host.  This is really easy to do on most hosts as WP is the number one content management system on the internet so hosting providers know they have to make this easily available for customers.

Usually, it’s just a couple of clicks to get it installed.  Here is a quick video on how to install WordPress on Bluehost, if you took my recommendation above.

But, if you decided to use one of our other hosting partners or if you already had hosting, just search their site’s help for installing WordPress, or jump into their customer chat or helpline and they will quickly show you how to install WordPress or even do it for you in some cases.

Once you have WordPress installed move on to step 3 in this guide.

Step 3: Install Premium Theme and Page Builder Plugin

 There are endless themes and plugin options when it comes to WordPress sites.  Ultimately only you can know where you want to take your site and what theme might be best for those goals.

But, don’t worry you can change themes and page builders at any time, but know that if you change page builders the preformatted content from the old page builder might stop working.  So, try not to do this too often or when you have a ton of content on your site.

But, for the purposes of creating your Linktree alternative Instagram links page, I suggest Astra as your FREE premium theme, and Elementor as your page builder.  Both are very popular, Astra is built for speed which is important for your visitors and for Google when it comes to ranking your site.

Elementor is one of the most popular page builders on the market.   The FREE versions are all you need to use our FREE IG page templates.

Here is a quick video on how to install Astra on your New WordPress Site:

 

Here is a quick video on how to install Elementor on your WordPress website:

 

 

Once you have Astra and Elementor installed move on to step 4 to download our free templates.

Step 4: Download and Install Our FREE Linktree WordPress Alternative Templates

Ok, now that you have your website ready to go, download our 3 FREE pre-made ready to use Linktree Alternative WP templates Below.

DOWNLOAD THESE 3 FREE INSTAGRAM LINKING PAGE TEMPLATE HERE

linktree lookalike landing page built with wordpress templateinstagram linktree template 2 store gallary templatelinktree alternative the instagram shoutout page template on wordpress

We’ve already said that creating a mobile Instagram linking page with WordPress has endless possibilities so we wanted to offer a few different options to show you just how flexible your new Linktree alternative page can be.

Here is a closer look at the FREE Templates you are going to get…

FREE Template #1- The Basic Brand Builder Links Page Template

linktree lookalike landing page built with wordpress template

 

This template is your basic links page.  Really meant to help you add as many links as you want to the mobile Instagram links page.  You can’t go wrong with this simple and effective template.

 

FREE Template #2 – The Product/Store Gallery Template

instagram linktree template 2 store gallary template 

 

This template is great if you want to sell products from your links page.  We’ve set it up to have a product gallery as you can see above. You can have as many products as you want.

 

You can sell the products directly on your site using WooCommerce, or link to a Shopify store, or even a print on demand store for some swag.  But this is a great template to show your followers some cool products.

 

FREE Template #3: The Sponsored Post Booster Template

linktree alternative the instagram shoutout page template on wordpress

If you are Instagram then you know sponsored posts (shoutouts) are big money.  Well, we wanted to create a template that would help you make more money with your shoutouts!

 

How much could you charge if you were not only able to offer a sponsored post but for an added fee you were able to highlight your advertiser’s product or offer on your new mobile Instagram links page.

 

This template will allow you to charge more by allowing your sponsored posts to have their product on your links page. So, your followers can click the link find their offer, and take advantage.

 

Imagine how that improved conversion for your customers would improve your repeat orders! Not to mention what you could charge if you could tell people how many clicks they got and they could better track their ad money ROI!

 

Now, you don’t have to limit yourself to our templates, you can blend elements of all of them, or create your own from scratch, that’s the power of building your mobile Instagram Links page on WordPress.

 

I hope this has shown you some of the potential of using this method, let your imagination run wild.

 

Now that you’ve downloaded our free templates – install them into your WordPress site.

 

Here is a quick video on how to upload your templates.

 

 

Once you’ve completed this step, move on to the 5th and final step.

 

Step 5: Edit Your New Instagram Links WordPress Page

Remember we created these templates for mobile since the majority of Instagram users are on their mobile devices.

So, if you want to know how to edit these templates for desktop, tablet watch this video.

 

https://youtu.be/-rErfXXbsPI

 

Once you are on your page by clicking edit with Elementor, select the mobile page as shown above, and simply click on the element you want to edit.

You can then edit the images, links, and text like most drag and drop editors.

Good luck with your new Instagram WordPress links page!

 

Categories
Domain Names Industry Information

What Symbols/Characters are Valid in a Domain Name?

Your domain name is everyone’s way of remembering and finding your website. Your domain name refers to the name of your website and internet users can use your domain name instead of the web address (or IP address – a string of numbers) to access your website. A domain name could be any combination of letters and numbers and attached to domain name extensions, such as .com, .net, .org, and more. But, there are some rules around the characters and/or symbols that can be used in a domain name.

What characters or symbols are valid to use in a domain name? A valid domain name character would be derived from a set of alphanumeric ASCII characters, such as letters (a-z, A-Z), numbers (0-9), and dashes (-) or a combination all of these. A domain name can be any combination of such letters and numbers with up to 63 characters – 67 if you count the domain extension (.com, .net, .org, and others). The hyphen (-) is the only symbol that can be included in a valid domain name. There are no spaces in a domain name, nor is the use of the underscore ( _ ) allowed. Other common symbols such as exclamation points (!) and asterisks (*) are likewise not allowed.

Anyone who has been using the internet for a long time has likely encountered the acronym ASCII. This acronym is short for American Standard Code for Information Interchange and this is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other digital devices.

There is a lot of technical jargon in order to explain what ASCII is and how it is used in internet language. We will not be discussing that here at this time. What’s important for everyone to know is that, essentially, ASCII prescribes the characters or symbols that are valid for use in a domain name.

This information, while seemingly trivial, is a crucial element in everyone’s quest for the perfect domain name. Read on for a further understanding of characters and/or symbols that make a domain name valid.

Defining the 3 Types of Characters Allowed in a Domain Name: Letter, Number, and Special Characters

Valid characters that can be used in a domain name are A-Z (both upper-case and lower-case allowed), the numerical digits 0-9, and the hyphen (-).

  • Numbers: all ten Arabic numerals from 0 to 9.
  • Letters: this is divided into two blocks: upper-case and lower-case.
  • Symbols: only the hyphen or dash (-) can be included in a valid domain name.

How Many Characters Are Allowed in a Domain Name?

Domain names can be divided into two parts – Label and TLD. Let’s take amazon.com as an example. The label is amazon, while the TLD is .com. Top-level domains or domain extensions are the strings of text that come right after the label. A valid domain name has a minimum of 3 characters and can be up to 67 characters long — including the 4 characters used to identify the Top Level Domain (.com, .net, or .org, etc.). Remember to NOT type the “www.” before your domain name (label) when registering.

Can a Domain Name Have an Underscore?

Historically, search engines are not able to parse (analyze) punctuation marks. From an SEO standpoint, it is fortunate that Google has the ability to parse the underscore and the dash, along with a couple of other punctuation marks. But from a wider perspective, this is not the case.

Often, when writing in a format that does not allow spaces, people resort to the underscore ( _ ) to_write_something_with_spacing_that’s_human_readable. However, this is not necessarily how a computer will interpret the said symbol. Computers will typically use the hyphen (-) as a spacer, or-something-like-this. The underscore might be able to distinguish words for humans but could not differentiate them for computers. A_phrase_like_this will be parsed as Aphraselikethis.

As far as valid domain names go, there are no spaces in it, nor is the use of the underscore ( _ ) allowed.

Underscores are not allowed in domain names (labels) but are allowed in subfolders. Take this free online domain name generator tool, for example, www.naminggenerator.com/sub_folder/. The underscore in the URL (that is, anything that comes AFTER the .com) will work just fine.

Naming Generator Domain Search Image

Can a Domain Name Include a Hyphen or Dash?

A valid domain name uses the English character set and may contain letters (a-z and A-Z), numbers (0-9) and hyphens (-), or a combination of these three sets. However, there are particular guidelines to the use of the dash (or hyphen) in a valid domain name. A valid domain name:

  • Cannot begin nor end with a hyphen (-).
  • Does not contain a dash in the third and fourth positions (e.g. www.uv- -yz.com).
  • Multiple hyphens can be used but two hyphens cannot be used together. (e.g. www.this-is-okay.com but www.this- -is- -a- -no- -no.com).

Hyphens are allowed in domain names themselves, yes, and as a matter of fact, hyphens are likewise allowed for use in subdomains and subfolders. www.Your-Domain-Name.com/sub-folder-1/ is, theoretically, a perfectly valid URL.

Can You Use the Ampersand Symbol in a Domain Name?

Again, characters that you can use in your domain name include letters, numbers and hyphens. Unfortunately, you won’t be allowed to use the ampersand (&) as a part of your domain name. For example, the following domain name will not be allowed:

Take a look: this author actually typed “bacon&eggs.com” on the search box. Even Google wouldn’t hear of it.

Can a domain name start with a number?

For a domain name to be valid, it needs to begin with a letter or a number and end with a letter or a number.  So to answer this question: yes, a domain name can start with a number.

But some might also ask a follow-up question about “should”. In a previous article, we touched on the aesthetics of domain names, particularly in offline media (such as letterheads, business cards, and marketing materials). A few online experts are of the opinion that it might be best to just stick to alpha-texts when coming up with a domain name. It’s hard to verbally communicate a domain name that has a number in it. When your website travels via word-of-mouth (a viable marketing channel, believe it or not) it might be hard to determine if the number (or numbers) are written out as words or are numeric in form.

Your domain name may very well be the bedrock of your website’s success. Domain names are considered as the “real estate” of the vast worldwide web. Everyone who wants a piece of it will want “prime property”. An ideal domain name is often short and always easy to remember. Not many website users create bookmarks and would just remember the names of their favorite websites. These types of users just type the domain names out whenever they want to visit them. With this said, use all the valid domain name characters and create a unique name for your website, which is easy to spell. So that users could easily type it out without mistakes or without landing on an entirely different page. Domain names should always be more than good that it leaves a lasting first impression. The first step to all of this is finding that smashing idea of a domain name – then finding out if it’s available to register. Luckily, you have resources like this FREE domain name generator tool to help you get started on building your dream website.

Sources

https://www.website.com/beginnerguide/domainnames/8/1/What-is-a-domain-name?.ws

https://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/what-special-characters-can-you-use-in-a-domain-name-271485/

https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/server/know-how/ascii-codes-overview-of-all-characters-on-the-ascii-table/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII

https://www.whogohost.com/host/knowledgebase/308/Valid-Domain-Name-Characters.html

https://www.saveonhosting.com/scripts/index.php?rp=/knowledgebase/52/What-are-the-valid-characters-for-a-domain-name-and-how-long-can-a-domain-name-be.html

https://www.seoblog.com/hyphen-dash-hurt-seo/

https://www.quora.com/What-characters-are-not-allowed-in-a-domain-name

https://www.ecenica.com/support/answer/can-i-use-ampersand-in-domain-names/

https://www.appypie.com/faqs/what-characters-are-allowed-in-a-domain-name

https://www.verticalresponse.com/blog/8-mistakes-to-avoid-when-selecting-your-domain-name/