Just had a client ask me to register a new domain name for them and it was roughly 40 characters long.

Now it can be a good thing to try and incorporate some keywords that you want to rank for in the search engines into your domain name. The search engines favour domains that include a keyword or two because it indicates a little more relevance and when other sites link to you, it’s a lot more likely you’ll get keywords mentioned because many websites will use your URL as the anchor text.

But there is definitely a point when you can try and cram too much stuff into a name so that it becomes ridiculous.

Having a website should be designed to make things as easy as possible for your clients, making it easier for you to sell your products. To provide a resource that’s available 24/7 to answer all your clients frequently asked questions so they don’t have to call or email you. To reinforce your brand, reputation and authority.

Having a domain name that is too long doesn’t help achieve any of those things and you’ll often find that:

• It makes it more difficult for people to spell (and the longer the name, the greater the chance that people will misspell it)
• It makes it harder for people to remember
• Sometimes if a name is too long, it will deter people from wanting to contact you simply because it takes too long to type
• It could raise red flags from the search engines and savvy users who are aware that placing a keyword in your domain can be a good thing… but when the domain is very long and appears to include multiple keywords, it can make your site appear spammy

At the end of the day, your site should be an aid for your business, not a hindrance and if your choice of domain name is too difficult, you’ll be seriously limiting your potential success online.