With so many hosting companies available on the internet, it is quite easy to get a domain name but with so many options out there it is easier than ever to make a mistake while obtaining a business domain name. Following are some do’s and don’ts that you should keep in mind while choosing a business domain name.
- If your business is local and you are operating in a specific geographical area then make sure the business domain name you get has the location in the name. Especially if you are offering services to a particular area then it is very important to add the location in the domain name. For example if you have a business that provides plumbing services in Manhattan then ManhattanPlumbers dot com is the best you can get.
- Don’t use hyphens and numbers in the business domain name. These things make your domain name look unprofessional and more importantly people find it hard to memorize the URL. The same rule also goes for abbreviations, fabricated and made up words. You business domain name has to be easy to pronounce and easy to remember so people can easily and correctly recommend that to their friends.
- Make sure your business domain name is registered on your own name. There are countless examples where business owner didn’t reregister the domain name on his/her own name and finally lost the valuable domain name and website to the person who was the real owner of the website.
- Always go for the dot com domain; the reason is pretty straightforward and simple. People by default remember the websites with dot com domain. But when you buy the dot com domain name, also buy exact name with other domains like dot net and dot org. Also don’t forget to renew your domain name registration when needed.
As mentioned above, .com top level domain is the most popular one however you can make exception here. Many new TLDs have been released in last couple of months and internet is now more than .com, .net and .org. You can not only buy regional domain names like .com.au and .uk.co but you can also get professional domain names like .law, .medical etc.
Another trend is city domains like .London, .Moscow and .Madrid. There are thousands of such domain names and of course with the right marketing and advertising strategies, you can carry a successful campaign. As you can anticipate, these new TLDs can help you boost you business and a catchy domain name can also help you in marketing and branding. But unfortunately they cannot help you in SEO because search engines like Google have already cleared that point.
Why there are so many new TLDs?
There are two types of new TLDs; regional and professional. Both of these types help websites and companies define themselves more clearly to their visitors. Regional TLDs like .Madrid, .Barcelona and others could be used to define the geographical location of a business. For example, a business that operates in 10 different cities all around to world can obtain 10 different websites with their regional TLDs to present a better version to their visitors.
This way, users would be able to type abc.london to go to company’s London store and abc.madrid to go to Madrid store. This is a much better and easier way to market and advertise your business. The same goes for professional TLDs like .app, .medical and others. Google has made clear that these new TLDs won’t affect its current algorithm and Google’s behavior toward websites using those TLDs. To understand the advantages of these new TLDs, you must first understand the difference between a brandable and SEO-friendly domain name.
What is the difference between a brandable and SEO-friendly domain name?
Branding refers to building a cult around your company or product. A brandable name refers to something which is catchy, interesting, and easy to remember and it may or may not relate to company’s core values and philosophy. For example, Apple is a brandable company name. On the other hand, SEO-friendly names refer to company names or domain names which are easier to advertise on the internet.
For example, Apple makes best phones in the world; Apple.com is a brandable domain name and bestphoneintheworld.com is an SEO-friendly domain name. People who want to buy best phone in the world would be typing the exact same phrase in search engine and of course websites with the most relevant URL would get the most hits and better ranking.
Brandable and SEO-friendly domain names have their own pros and cons but comparing their advantages and disadvantages is like comparing apples and oranges. It depends on how you want to portray your company’s image, how you want to reach to your target customers, how you want to convey your message and what type of business you have.
Is it okay to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a domain name?
In almost every scenario, the answer is yes. Let’s see what factors influence the name of a particular domain. Usually shorter domain names sells for a much higher price. If you are about to launch an internet based company then you should always go for a shorter domain name with 3-5 letters. As the majority of your customers would come from the internet, you should make your domain name easier to remember and easier to type.
In some cases, a domain name sells for higher price because it has keywords or natural traffic. That is the best case scenario where you can invest a relatively lesser money and the domain name would get its hands on traffic naturally. A shorter domain name usually sells for $500-$10,000 depending on its demand and number of companies trying to acquire it.
Spending $10,000 on a domain name might seem weird but actually it is an investment. Additionally, the prices of shorter domain names always go up because of their demand so you don’t have to worry about their depreciating value.