One of the most important aspects of your website also happens to be one that is generally chosen first – the domain name! Your domain name (in other words, the part that goes between the www and the .com), will become your business’ home on the web. In most cases, you will choose your domain name before your site build project even begins. You’re already aware that this isn’t a decision to take lightly – it could seriously affect your website’s traffic and overall success. So, how do you avoid a domain flop? Check out our tips.
Tips for Choosing the Perfect Domain Name
Start Early
Ideally, the process of choosing your domain name will correspond with the process of choosing your business name. It really simplifies things if you have a business name that fits naturally and easily into a web address.
However, if it’s too late for that, don’t worry. You can still choose a perfect domain name for your site! You will want to start thinking about a domain name as soon as you begin seriously considering a website build. Start with some research on available domain names related to your business. You can use domain name finders like GoDaddy to find out what’s already taken and what might be a good option for you.
Keep it Short and Simple
Think about the websites you purchase from most often. You know their url’s by heart, right? That’s no accident. Those domains were chosen with care to attract customers and keep them coming back. We know that the domain names for most uber-successful global brands are a single word – think pepsi.com, ford.com, and sephora.com. Unfortunately, these catchy names aren’t always attainable for smaller businesses, since they can cost many thousands of dollars.
Don’t despair, though! There are several things you can do. If your business name is two words that are easy to spell, it might make for a perfect url as-is. Don’t forget that you can add simple words like “the” or “shop” if the domain name most directly related to your business is already taken.
Whatever you do, make sure your domain name is easy to remember, spell, and say.
Get Some Brainstorming Help
If you’re having a tough time coming up with domain names on your own, you might want to look into a site name generator. While you shouldn’t expect these brainstorming tools to spit out a perfect domain name on the first try, you might get some very good ideas. With a little modification, they can provide the perfect domain name for your site. Check out GoDaddy’s tool here, or a list of generators here.
Buy More Than One Domain Name
If the domain name you have your eye on is inexpensive enough, it’s an excellent idea to buy a similar or adjacent name to accompany it. This way, people have multiple ways to enter your website. You might use one url that has your town’s name in it for local SEO and have a separate generic one, or you might have a simpler domain name and a slightly more complicated one.
Either way, remember that you won’t have to build multiple websites – you’ll just need to choose one primary url and redirect the other domain names to that site.
Choose the Right Extension
Extensions are the part of the url that come after the domain name. While .com remains the most popular, .co, .tech, and others are gaining ground. These alternatives are worth considering because they are generally much less expensive, and they can give your business a personal touch within your industry.
However, keep in mind that if you expect a lot of direct traffic (people typing your url into their browser rather than finding you through social media or search), having an extension other than .com can hurt you, since it’s the default extension most users think of.
What’s your dream domain name? If you need help establishing your business’ home on the web, send us a message today!
