Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about choosing your domain name. Becoming an entrepreneur is one of the most lucrative endeavors that you can take part in. In fact, it’s a primary method that people use to achieve financial freedom.
But, it’s also rife with pitfalls that many people aren’t sure how to navigate. Fortunately, it’s not as difficult as you may think.
Not sure where to start? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Make it Brandable
One of the most important aspects of properly naming your business is to ensure that you’re able to properly brand it. For example, a site like ‘www.americansportswear.com’ is likely much harder to brand than ‘www.VictoryAthletics.com’.
Fortunately, you have plenty of flexibility when it comes to choosing your name. If necessary, you can even make up a word entirely (or choose an obscure one) to use as your business name.
This is, after all, this is the path Google chose to take and they’ve become one of the largest companies in history.
Use The Correct Extensions
It can be tempting to get a bit creative when choosing your domain extension. Things like ‘.space’ or ‘.fun’ may seem like a unique way to brand yourself, but they can actually be counterproductive.
The top three extensions that people are most used to seeing are .com, .org, and .net.In general, choosing an extension other than these could cause your audience to second-guess the legitimacy of your site.
So, it’s best to stay on the traditional route.
Is It Easy to Spell and Type?
Even if you have a creative, brandable name for your company and website, you’ll likely encounter difficulty getting traffic if people aren’t able to type it on their own.
For example, take a look at a few of the heavy-hitters like Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, and CNN— each domain is notably easy for users to spell.
On the contrary, a company like Daemon Tools (pronounced like ‘demon tools’) could easily run into trouble in this regard despite providing a quality product and service.
When in doubt, choose a simple, memorable option— just make sure that it isn’t generic.
Keep the Length at a Minimum
As with simplicity, you’ll want to keep your domain name on the shorter side. As a general rule of thumb, you’ll want to aim for somewhere between 4 and 16 characters, and you should strive to choose the shortest possible option.
Unfortunately, it’s highly likely that all of the relevant short domain names are already in use by other parties. People saw the value in these names years ago, and some people even ‘collect’ them and attempt to sell ownership of them afterward.
If you encounter a name that’s already taken that you simply need to have, you can attempt to contact its owner to see if they’re willing to transfer the rights to you. For example, a cybersecurity firm named ‘Network Defense Systems’ would highly benefit from using the domain ‘www.nds.com’.
Check to See If It’s in Use Already
In order to brand your company effectively, you’ll need to have the same name across multiple platforms. This can easily become a complication, though, if the name that you choose for your domain is already in use by other brands on social media.
Similarly, choosing a domain name that’s trademarked can also cause issues in the future.
If you do find that your desired domain name is in use on other platforms (or find that it’s trademarked), consider making slight alterations in order to ensure that your use of the name is as consistent as possible.
Plan for the Future
One of the most frustrating processes to deal with as a business owner is having to change your domain name after you’ve already established your website. This becomes increasingly true as time goes on, as larger sites are notoriously more difficult to migrate.
Not only will it impact your company’s branding, but your SEO ranking will also take a hit. As you may assume, this can easily impact your future revenue and overall performance.
The most common scenario in which this occurs is when a business begins to expand to offer different products or services. Their original domain name may imply that they’re confined to a far narrower niche.
People who encounter this site may assume that it the company isn’t able to cater to their needs despite the fact that it’s able to do so. Instead, consider your long-term plan for your company and strive to ensure that your chosen domain name conveys what you can do for your customers.
If You’re Having Trouble, Try a Domain Name Generator
It’s not uncommon to encounter a serious creative block when attempting to come up with a domain name. After all, this decision is one that requires plenty of deliberation, and choosing the wrong one comes with plenty of negative consequences.
Fortunately, domain name generators provide you with the opportunity to quickly browse different ideas until you find the one that’s best for you. They typically work by providing suggestions based on the text that you enter, so it won’t be long before you come up with a relevant option that’s suitable for your company.
Choosing The Right Domain Name Can Seem Difficult
But it doesn’t have to be.
With the above information about choosing the right domain name for your business in mind, you’ll be well on your way toward making the decision that’s best for you and your business.
Want to learn more about how we can help? Feel free to get in touch with us today to see what we can do.
