Choosing the Right Domain Name for your Business
Your domain is your business’s nameplate on the web, so take care to choose a domain name that represents your business and is easy to remember. Here are five tips for picking a domain that sticks:
1. Consider Phrases That Describe What You Do
A domain name is your address on the internet, which is why it’s important it is memorable, builds trust in your brand, and—whenever possible—conveys your company’s overarching purpose. Start by thinking about terms and phrases that clearly describe what you do or who you help.
Keep It Short
When you’re figuring out how to choose a domain name, make memorability a high priority. Studies have shown that the human brain, on average, can hold about seven items, whether they be a string of words or characters. By keeping your domain short, potential clients and customers will be better able to remember it with ease, even if they’ve only seen or heard your domain name once.
Pro tip: If your brand name is taken, you can try adding a word before it, like “get,” “try,” “join,” or “the.” For example, The Knot is a very popular website that uses this strategy. Even though they use “the,” their domain is still short, related to their niche, and easy to remember.
Verify the Name Is Easy to Spell
Choosing a domain name that is easy to spell is an important factor in making sure your name is easy to find. The last thing you want to do is give potential customers a reason to click on copy-cat search results that may lead to your competition when they are in a position to buy.
2. Create a List of Alternatives
It can be challenging to find an available domain name, and many businesses will find that their business name is not available as a domain. There’s nothing more frustrating than coming up with the “perfect” domain name, only to discover that someone else is using it. To solve this problem, make a list of 10 to 15 domain name ideas first.
Things to avoid when coming up with alternatives:
Avoid Using Hyphens & Acronyms
Avoid ‘Exact Match’ Domains Whenever Possible
3. Determine Which Extension Best Reflects Your Business
There are a number of domain extensions available, such as .com, .org, .net, .io, and location-based extensions such as .us. The most common is .com, which also means it’s the least likely to be available. For some business types, other domain extensions might actually be more relevant. For example, many tech businesses use the .io extension, whereas an organization such as a nonprofit generally opts for the .org extension.
When to Use .Org vs .Com
The .org extension represents organizations, such as a nonprofit, although it can be used by anyone.
When to Use .Net vs .Com
While .com is short for “commercial,” .net is short for “network.” .net is most frequently used by online service providers, network services, database providers, and online technology companies.
4. Check to See Which Potential Domains Are Available
Even if you think of the perfect business name, you will need to make sure it’s available before you start designing your site around it as it can be surprisingly difficult to find an available domain.
5. Check the Domain’s History
When you are choosing a domain, don’t forget that you might not be its first owner. Before you purchase, you should check into your preferred domain’s search engine optimization (SEO) and backlink history. If there was another website on your domain in the past, there may be positive or negative SEO consequences.
Why Choosing Your Domain Early Matters
The best thing you can do is to choose your domain name before even determining your business name. It may be easy for small business owners to think of a business name, but it will be very helpful to make sure that the domain is available. Having a separate business name and the domain name can complicate things and potentially lose customers or clients.
Bottom Line
While it may be tempting to just purchase the first domain name that comes to mind, these tips show us that choosing a domain name requires careful thought. Domain names should be intuitive, memorable, have a good history, build trust, and speak to your target markets.