Domain names can be tricky. All too often, a domain name ends up with some sort of wacky, unintended double entendre of meaning that may detract from your overall branding message. One famous faux pas is Speed of Art’s website, found at www.speedofart.com. With a second look, you can see how this might be a little uncomfortable.

When you choose your domain name, it’s important to follow some simple guidelines to ensure that your website upholds your branding image.

1. Type it out. Sit down in front of your word processor and pick a couple of different fonts. Type the domain in each font and see how it looks. Look at one letter at a time, and see which letter combinations make words that you hadn’t expected.

2. Say it out loud. Watch yourself in the mirror and use a couple of different tones as you say it. Pronounce the letters one at a time and change your inflection.

3. Ask other people. Get a third-party opinion on the domain you’re considering. Call your hosting provider, your advertising agency, or a trusted friend and ask them to look at it from all angles.

You’ll likely want to keep this domain active and engaged for a long time—it’s important to choose wisely.

If you have seen other websites or domain names that might have benefited from a second look, I’d love to see what you’ve found! I know there are a couple in our area that are notorious for neglecting that final proof edit–just stick them in the comments for me.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably already in the online business game. So, chances are that you’ve already chosen the domain name that defines your company.

But is that domain name exactly what you wanted it to be? Do you suspect that your sales might be better if your domain name was shorter, or more memorable or intuitive? After all, your domain name is the very foundation of your online business. A good one can boost sales just as surely as a weak one can sink them.

But choosing a domain name is also the very first step in kicking off your online business. So, unfortunately, because it’s first in sequence, it’s also often rushed and not given the amount of thought and research that it should be given. Many people who rush to get a website up and running often don’t spend a whole lot of time or thought into getting a domain name that’s just right … and suffer for it later as the customers flock to the competition.

The good news is that it’s never too late to get a better domain name, especially if you’ve yet to break through with big sales or a huge customer base. After all, that’s what redirects are for. And this time, with your business already up and running, you have the time to sit down and really consider what your domain name should be. What’s going to have the best effect on your customers? What name is going to stick in their minds, and what’s easy for them to type in when it’s time to go shopping?

By way of answering these questions, BNET recently offered up a valuable article on just what you should consider if you want your domain name to be a “home run” — that is, if you want it to be the kind of domain name that defines your whole company. The article offers up these four points as key elements when re-thinking your domain name:

1. Brand Recognition: Ideally your domain comes before your corporation. All the best e-commerce sites started with a home-run domain name (think Amazon, Google, EBay, and Yahoo). But for the corporations that already have an established name, it’s often best to retain the corporate name as your domain. Later, you can get creative with your sub-domains, or even alternate domain names, but the a priori choice should be your corporate name.

2. Length: Research shows that domains with 2-7 characters are the best best. Anything more than 10 letters begins to lose its strength with visitors.

3. Imagery: The majority of the population thinks more with their visual part of the brain rather than their logical, speech-related part.

4. Keywords: In search engine marketing — the keyword still reigns supreme in many domain names. This is an unfortunate situation, because nobody wants to name their web site, “easyipphonesetup.com,” but they’ll often feel obligated to do so, in order to capture search engine traffic. Despite the fact that keyword-specific domains serve search engine traffic well, they often don’t resonate with consumers, nor do they look very professional. In this case, i recommend nixing this pitfall. Besides, the good keywords are likely already bought up.

Check out the original article here, and, as always, let us know what you think in the comments.