3 Tips for Choosing Your Domain Name

No business can get away without a website anymore. And the most important part of bringing your business online is choosing the right domain name. Your domain name needs to be easy to remember, easy to say, and bring customers directly to your business. The wrong domain name can end up sending customers away from your business and towards your competitors.

When choosing the perfect domain name for your business, you want to consider all these particulars as well as the common mistakes that many others have made in the past. Your online presence is critical to your business as a whole, thus it’s integral that you choose the right domain name the first time around.

Use Your Business Name

The easiest way to choose a domain name is to use your business name followed by a “.com” extension. Though this isn’t always available, you want to get as close as possible. Customers won’t remember an extensive domain name. You need to make it as easy as possible for customers to find and talk about it – word of mouth marketing is important and free.

• • Customers want to be able to write out your business name, add “.com” to the end, and be automatically directed to your webpage. If that domain name is already taken, consider taking part in a domain auction in order to claim it for your own.
  • Whereas “.com” is the most common domain form, you can also use “.org” and “.net.”

 

Use Your Keywords

Sometimes the domain name with your business name is taken or otherwise unavailable. It may be long, difficult to say, or confusing to find. In that case, try using your branded keywords to create a domain name, rather than the name of your business.

With proper keyword use, you can keep your domain name closely tied with your business so that people know what you do and who your company is.

• • • Some suggest restricting your domain name to fewer than 7 characters. That may not be possible given your keyword choices, so just be sure to keep it as short as you can.
    • Make sure the name you pick is unique to your business alone – never try to use the plural, hyphenated, or misspelled version of another domain
    • Before committing to your chosen domain, check with the US Copyright website to make sure it isn’t an already established name. Using someone else’s copyrighted name in your domain can result in a copyright infringement case and the shutdown of your website.

 

Avoid Common Mistakes

The internet is full of misspelled, awkward, and unwieldy domain names that don’t bring their owners traffic, customers, or business. Be sure to thoroughly vet your domain name before committing.

• • • • Avoid using numerical substitutions such as “1” for “one” or “4ever” for “forever.” These types of substitutions are difficult to remember and can lose you traffic.
      • Avoid choosing an overly long domain name. These can be difficult for customers to remember and to type out in their address bar. Keep it short, sweet, and unique.
      • Be careful of homonyms – words that sound the same but are spelled differently. You want your business name to roll off the tongue, making it easy to promote and easy for customers to spread via word of mouth.

With more and more business being done over the internet, having a good domain name is critical for the success of your company. It needs to be easily found, easily promoted, and instantly recognizable. The best way to accomplish this, whether your domain is the name of your business or composed of keywords, is to keep it short, simple, and thoroughly unique.

Megan Webb-Morgan is a web content writer for Resource Nation. She writes about small business, focusing on topics such as internet service providers. Follow Resource Nation on Twitter and Facebook!