Choosing a Domain Name
Arguably the most important question a small business will face when launching their business online is: “What do you want to call your business website?” In internet speak, that’s your “Domain Name”. It’s your website’s address between the “www” and the “.com” or “.ca” for Canada, “.jp” in Japan, etc.
Choosing your business’ domain name is a foundational step that must not be taken lightly. You want a name that is simple, and memorable. So as with all buildings, it’s best to invest in laying a great foundation for your company.
If choosing a website name wasn’t confusing enough, you can also get a “.biz”, “.me”, “.org” or another option. But do you want one of these other endings for your website name or should you stick with the traditional “.com”?
Practical Suggestions When Choosing a Website Domain Name:
- Start with keywords. If you’re launching an engineering company’s website, consider keeping the keyword “engineering” in your website name. Location keywords like “Hawaii” can also be beneficial.
- Most businesses should, stick with the “.com” It’s what people are accustomed to so it’s the best place to start. Non-profit organizations should consider making a “.org” their main website, but also purchasing the “.com” option. Highly speciallized businesses can consider the other stranger website endings like “.tv” This trend is changing as we now have an abundance of domain names to choose from including: .guru, .photography, .pro, etc.
- Shorter website names are preferred, but don’t let that stop you from choosing a longer more descriptive name.
- Make it memorable.
- Dashes, hyphens, and underscores are not recommended in my opinion. They are more confusing that helpful.
- Capitalization doesn’t matter.
Ok, now that you have some ideas of what you want for your website name, we have to see if they are available.
I recommend a service called Hover.com They offer simplified domain management. If you’ve ever tried to register a domain, mosy companies try to sell you all kinds of upgrades and it makes the process of registering a domain confusing. Hover keeps it simple and gives you premium services included in the price. Use my link to get a couple dollars off your website domain name registration. http://hiwp.me/gethover.
Action Step:
Go to the Hover website http://hiwp.me/gethover and search for a name you’d like. If it is not available, Hover will suggest alternatives you might like.
Go to Hover.com and see what’s available.
