Choosing the right domain name is one of the most decisive steps in building an online presence: domain owners and resellers should know what it takes to do it, and should keep their customers informed on how to avoid common mistakes.
In fact, domain name pitfalls create a domino effect that marks the future of a business: in this article we unpack the most common domain name mistakes and show you how to avoid them.
At Openprovider we register and manage millions of domain names for web-hosting companies, digital agencies, and entrepreneurs worldwide. This guide includes experts’ recommendations to make domain-related business smoother as well as bottlenecks that domain investors are often to run into.
Common domain name mistakes that cost you traffic and trust
A domain name is more than just a technical asset: it’s a branding tool, a discovery path, and a trust signal all in one.
But even small missteps can hurt your visibility and credibility: from poor naming choices to technical oversights, here are the most frequent mistakes we see, and how to avoid them.
Mistake 1: choosing a domain name that’s too long or hard to spell
A domain should be intuitive and effortless to type.
Long, complicated names increase the chance of typos and make it harder for users to remember or recommend your website. Avoid hyphens, obscure spellings, and jargon that only insiders understand. A clean, concise domain name is easier to share, type, and search.
Mistake 2: overloading the domain name with keywords for SEO
It’s a common misconception that stuffing your domain name with keywords will automatically boost your search engine rankings. While keywords can play a role in SEO, they are far from a silver bullet, and when overused, they often make your domain look spammy or outdated.
Search engines today prioritize user experience, content quality, and technical performance over domain name stuffing.
That means that the domain should support the SEO strategy, not replace it: a keyword can be helpful if it naturally fits your brand and improves clarity (like including your niche or location), but only if it remains readable and brandable.
For example, a domain like bestwebdesignersinberlin.com might technically include valuable terms, but it looks unprofessional and is difficult to remember. Instead, your customers can aim for a domain that balances clarity and relevance, while staying clean and brandable.
To better understand how to align domain choices with modern SEO logic, we recommend reading our article on how to find keywords for domain names; it breaks down when and how to use keywords effectively in a domain strategy, without compromising on brand identity or user trust.
Mistake 3: using numbers in your clients’ domain name
Including numbers in a domain name often creates confusion rather than clarity. While it might seem clever or unique, most visitors won’t know whether to type the digit or spell it out.
For example, if one of your clients register design4you.com, people may try designforyou.com or vice versa, and end up on the wrong website or face a browser error.
Similarly, hyphens create friction: domains like best-design-agency.com are harder to remember, more difficult to pronounce, and susceptible to typing errors.
Users unfamiliar with the brand may forget the hyphens entirely or misplace them, reducing the chances they’ll reach your site successfully. In a word-of-mouth scenario, hyphens simply don’t translate well.
There are only a few exceptions where numbers or hyphens make sense: if the number is integral to your customers’ brand (like worldcup2025.com), or if the domain would otherwise be unreadable without a hyphen (e.g., preventing misreads like experts-exchange.com).
But as a general rule, the best domain names are clean, easy to pronounce, type, and share. When in doubt, skip the symbols and keep it simple.
Mistake 4: failing to secure variations and related extensions
Registering your primary domain name is only the first step.
If businesses don’t secure key variations such as common misspellings, alternate TLDs (like .net, .eu, or country codes), or hyphenated versions, they leave your brand exposed.
Competitors, opportunists, or even malicious actors can register those variations to siphon off traffic, impersonate your business, or confuse your audience.
For example, if a business owns brandname.com, it’s wise to also secure brandname.net, brandname.co, or regional extensions like brandname.de or brandname.es if it operates internationally. Likewise, buying domains with and without hyphens, or singular and plural versions, helps you protect your digital footprint.
Openprovider customers often use our domain monitoring and bulk registration tools to lock down these variations efficiently and cost-effectively for their customers. It’s a smart, preventative step to protect their reputation, improve user access, and ensure long-term control of their brand online.
Mistake 5: overlooking trademark issues
Choosing a domain name without checking for existing trademarks can lead to serious legal trouble, and potentially force you to abandon your domain after investing time, money, and branding into it.
Many businesses unknowingly register names that are already protected by trademark laws, only to receive cease-and-desist letters or face legal action down the road.
In fact, even if the domain is available to register, that doesn’t mean it’s safe to use. Trademark holders can claim rights over names that cause confusion with their brand, especially if you operate in the same or overlapping industry.
This is particularly risky for startups or resellers expanding into global markets where trademark protections vary widely.
Before registering a domain, advise your client to perform basic due diligence: use trademark databases and conduct a thorough web search looking for existing brand presence.
At Openprovider, we often recommend our resellers and members take this extra step to avoid rebranding nightmares and protect their reputation from the start.
A domain should be a foundation, not a liability. Make sure it’s clean, clear, and legally owned to build on.
Mistake 6: choosing the wrong TLD for your audience
The top-level domain (TLD) plays a bigger role than many businesses realize.
In fact, technical extensions (like .com, .org, or .nl) can signal intent, trust, industry, and geographic relevance.
Picking the wrong TLD can confuse your audience, weaken your brand positioning, or even reduce your visibility in local search results.
For global reach, .com is still the gold standard, it’s familiar, trusted, and universally recognized.
But in many cases, a country-code TLD (ccTLD) like .de, .es, or .nl is the smarter choice, especially if your business targets a specific region. These extensions send a clear location signal to both users and search engines, helping you rank better in local queries and connect more credibly with the right audience.
