Today, your domain is a place where your brand lives and all of the business is conducted. With this being said, it’s obvious that choosing the right domain name is something every business owner should carefully think through. If you choose an improper one, you’re going to end up stuck with a bad domain name and it will take you ages to change this. Having in mind how choosing the right domain name is important for your business, we have come up with five frequently asked questions that you might find helpful.
Do I have to buy the same domain name as my registered business name?
In short, no. It seems quite simple, right? Well, there’s much more to it than simply choosing a name you like. Even though you don’t have to, you’ll always want to go for a domain name that’s similar to your registered business name. This way, you’ll make it much easier for your customers to search for you online. For example, if your business is registered under the name High Street Plumbing, Ltd., the ideal options you’ll want to consider are names, such as highstreetplumbing.com or highstreetplumbers.com.
Which domain extensions are the best?
There’s no need to say that the extensions .com and .org are the most popular ones in the internet world. But this also means plenty of domain names with these extensions have already been taken and you might have to go for something else. In that case, you can consider another domain name or go for a different domain extension, such as .net or .me. On the other hand, if the domain name you want is available with a .com extension, you might also want to consider having both your localized domain extension (such as .co.uk or .no) and a .com one.
Does my choice of domain name affect SEO?
Generally speaking, your choice of a domain name does matter when it comes to SEO, but probably not as much as you might think. It used to be a big deal in the past, but today, you can promote your website via SEO even if there’s no specific keyword in your domain name. What matters much more is having a quality website your customers enjoy using. Still, you can benefit quite a lot by adding your location to your domain name, especially if you own a small local business.
Does my domain name have to be unique?
One of the things you’ll always want to do when coming up with a domain name for your website is check whether someone is already using that specific or a similar name. Going for a name somebody already has rights to can only get you into all sorts of troubles and potentially cost you a lot of money. That’s why it’s always recommended to check the web for similar names as soon as you get the idea of what you want your domain name to be called. Luckily, there are experts you can buy cheap domains from, who can also help you come up with a unique name for your website.
Can a domain name be too long?
Well, the answer here is yes. No matter how much you like the idea of having a domain name such as bestcheapkansascitydowntownplumbers.com, going for something like this is never a good idea. By having a short, simple name you’ll make it much easier for your customers to remember your domain, as well as your business. In fact, recent studies have shown that an ideal domain name is 8 characters long. While you may not always be able to go for a name like this, keeping it as short as possible is always recommended.
Hopefully, by now, all of the questions you had about domain names have been answered and you possess all the necessary knowledge to choose just the right domain name and help your brand move forward.
Dan Radak is a marketing professional with eleven years of experience. He is currently working with a number of companies in the field of digital marketing, closely collaborating with a couple of e-commerce companies. He is also a coauthor on several technology websites and regular contributor to Technivorz.