6 Best Practices For Choosing A Domain Name For Your Small Business Website

 
It's important to pick the right business name, and equally important to choose a great domain name for your business's website. It is one piece of making a business competitive. It targets the right audience and helps attract long-term customers. This name becomes the hallmark of your business's identity, influences your customers' view of your company and attracts possible new clients.

There are many guidelines to picking the perfect domain name, of which some listed below are most vital.

 
Keep it simple

It's best to keep the domain name simple and easy for clients to remember. The spelling of words needs to be within the common knowledge of the customer base. It is good to avoid using "text-ease" in the domain name. For example, instead of "u", it is better to spell out the word "you." The same is true for numbers. It may be catchy to use a numeral like "4" for the word "for" or "four," but it is more difficult for customers to find the website. It is easier for a search query to find a website with a name that uses appropriate Search Engine Optimization (SEO) naming convention that reflects the business. The goal of a well-named website is to attract new customers. A simple name allows the domain to be more easily remembered, reflect what the business is, and make it easier to find.

 
Relevant to the business

The best domain names are relevant to the business. It is good to include what the business is about in the domain name. If it is a plumbing business, for example, it would be good to include the word "plumbing" in the domain name. If the business is local, it would be appropriate to include the city, county, or state in the domain name. An example would be denverplumbing.com.

 
Research the name

It is important to research the domain name to avoid any future legal issues with infringement. It's very important to choose a business name and domain name that is not copyrighted or trademarked by another entity. This upfront research helps prevent costly and timely issues with branding and marketing later on.

 
Target audience

The best domain names are part of a business's branding and reach out to a target audience. One of the most important business questions is, "who is the target audience?" The website domain name needs to tap into the desired audience with its name, language, and domain extension.

 
Build business brand

As with all other aspects of business branding, a domain name reflects the brand of the business it represents. It is good to make the domain name catchy and easy to remember for current and future customers. Keep in mind the previous items of simplicity and using proper words. A good domain name is consistent with other areas of the business marketing and branding platform.

 
Choose a relevant domain extension

With all the different domain extensions available, it is important to choose the one that best represents your business. In general, a dot-com is for a profit-company or commercial business, a dot-net is for a network, and a dot-org is for a non-profit organization. These are the high-level domain extensions. In addition to these high-level extensions, there are a number of other extensions that can be used, such as dot-dance or dot-ca. Each of these represents a specific group or area of expertise.

A high-level domain extension is not more powerful than a specific extension. The choice depends on the business's branding, audience, and business plan. It is best to choose the one that reflects the needs of the company's marketing strategy.

 
 
This article was written by Karen Ulvestad for Small Business Pulse