In yesterday’s post, we discussed why you should avoid hyphenated domain names. We said:

Thermo-Insulated-Coffee-Cups.com comes out as “Thermo dash Insulated dash Coffee dash Cups dot com,” and after saying it out loud for the third time, it feels pretty silly.

Also, hyphenated domains are a favorite trick of spammers, so Google looks down on the practice.

Try to find a domain name that’s easy to say. For one thing, you’ll find yourself in plenty of situations where you have to tell people your domain name, like giving them your email. So, SheSellsSeaShells.com may be problematic. It’s not a matter of stumbling as you say it, or that people won’t understand you. Rather, it’s that you’re going to be repeating it over and over for as long as you own it.

Similarly, long domain names may also be a problem. While NashvilleTennesseeThermoInsulatedCoffeeCups.com is certainly descriptive, no one is going to take the time to write it down, and committing it to memory is almost certainly a mental feat worthy of a spot on the local news.

Pick something more descriptive, like the name of your company, rather than what it does. You may find that you no longer want to sell thermo insulated coffee cups because a new technology becomes available, but you’re stuck with the old domain name. StevesCoffeeCups.com becomes a much better choice in that case.

Shorter names will always be easier to say and remember. Plus, as you do more offline marketing — business cards, hats, banners behind planes — you’ll want a domain that is easy to say, understand, and remember.