Maximum length for domain name

when is it too long?

[4string]

At what point is an URL too long to type in?

Would it be wise to create a short forwarding URL for frequent users of a site?

[Frequent]

Frequent users of the site will bookmark it.

If the url is very brandable (and easily spelled) it can be as long as you want.

Freq---

[mcavic]

Having a short URL is nice, but only if it's easier to remember than the long one.

[claus]

Max: 256 characters between any two dots below the top level.
Too long: Depends

[ogletree]

I thought they got rid of the 256 char rule.

[claus]

Pehaps i've missed that... sorry if i have, but no great loss anyway ;)

As for "convenience URL", do you type "altavista.com" or "av.com"?

I have one three-letter abbreviation for one of my domains (15 characters-dot-something) - it's very very few users that actually use it. Less than 1% of the users that type in the 15 chars.

Also, they're kinda hard to promote, as you don't really want to link to them anywhere if it's not the right domain name.

>> wise to create...

If you're thinking about the "tinyurl" type services, it wouldn't be:
[webmasterworld.com...]

If you want to do this, make 100% sure that it always redirects to the main using a 301 status code (see apache forum for that).

[ogletree]

I looked around. Technically there should be no limit but most registrars restrict it anywhere from 26 to 67 chars long. Enom seems to let you have up to 256. I always thought

[4string]

Thanks for the advice. I'm trying to think of a new domain/business name. Anything short that makes sense seems to have been taken. The one I'm leaning towards is 15 characters long. I anticipate people will login a lot from computers other than their main one. That's why I was trying to think of an additional short one. I'm surprised so few people use your shortened URL.

[Gibble]

I wouldn't consider 15 characers long...

[claus]

>> I'm surprised so few people use your shortened URL.

My own guess is that it's because they remember the long name, as that is what is written on all pages in big letters. Just like the Altavista example in my post ;)

You could take a word from another language or make up a word...

[tedster]

Walking around Manhattan a few weeks ago I noticed several signs promoting domain names that were 30 to 50 characters long. But they were always a very easy to remember phrase, complete with "to", "a", "the" and so on.

When it comes to making a memorable impression in offline promotions, I think there's plenty of room for this approach - maybe even an advantage. I had no problem remembering the phrases when I got to my computer, even though I had no way to make a note to myself at the time.

[gpmgroup]

Even if they are memorable most people are lazy and often not fast or accurate typists!

Shorter the better otherwise people will just rely on Google or MSN "to guess it for them"

The rules for domains are

A valid domain name can have 63 characters (excluding the extension).

It used to be 26 including the extension. I think the change occurred about Jan 2000

[claus]

The 256 i referred to above was not for textual domain names, it was the representation of the domain name "on the wire" (whatever that means) - and the maximum number of "characters" in a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) is 255 octets - where any one label can be 63 octets long at most (RFC 2181)

I'm not totally sure what an "octet" is, but i guess it's the binary representation of a single character - correct me if i'm wrong. A "label" is what is between any two dots.

So, the FQDN is 255 while any item between two dots is 63, it seems.

Host names, OTOH, can have up to 255 characters (RFC 1123)

This means that you can have a host name that is too long to become a domain name (ie. a "label" in a FQDN).

Some operating systems and software might not support all this, though.

[1milehgh80210]

Very long domain names seem spammy to me. Especially ones with more than 3 words strung together. Plus hard to remember.
My memory is'nt what it used to be though...)

[nativenewyorker]

15 characters is acceptable if people can remember it. American Express is one of the largest companies in the world, is a Dow 30 component and has a 15 character domain name.