One of the most important steps in starting an online business is picking a domain name for your website. As trivial as it may seem a domain name can make or break a small online business. The domain name you register will be what people associated with your company or brand. It becomes etched into the minds of people and that is exactly what you want. Your entire goal with a domain name is to represent your business in an easy to remember name.
When picking a domain name you should start by writing down some of the words that best describe your company and your products. For example if you are planning on starting a quick turnaround graphic design business you would likely want the words “fast” and “graphic design” in your domain name. When you are done brainstorming lay out several ideas and the hunt for a service provider. I suggest you have more than one idea because domain names are no longer easy to come by so one or more of your ideas will likely be registered already.
You should try to keep the domain name short and simple and properly spelled. I’ve seen hundreds of sites who have attempted to “compromise” on a domain name simply by misspelling the word or changing “i” to “y” and “s” to “z”. It is one of the worst business mistakes in the world. People who are told about your website via word of mouth are going to go home to their computer and type in the proper spelling of the words they have been told. They will inevitably be redirected to an existing domain and thus you will lose a customer forever.
What comes after the dot is just as important as what comes before it. The top level domain is the generic tag that comes after the “dot”. While it’s important to pick an easy to remember name for your site you also want to work hard to ensure you get a .com ending for your website. Dot com is the most popular top level domain and is thus is the most commonly typed ending for websites. For many people, customers included, their fingers automatically type .com after a web address. Not only do people instinctively type in .com they also feel more comfortable and trusting of the domain name. We, as human beings, seem to take comfort in things that are familiar and thus a website that has .biz attached to it seems a bit foreign and untrustworthy. You are likely to see less traffic from a .net or .biz domain name than you are from a .com TLD.
Think long and hard about your domain name before you run off and register it. It is going to be the landing pad for your customers and you need customers to get there and stay so pick wisely and build around your website. The right domain name can make the difference between high site traffic and no traffic at all
Recent Comments