If your startup wants to succeed, you must be ready to enter more parts of your market and open your business to reach more customers. And you can achieve both of these by taking your business online.
To give your business a solid footing in the online market, it’s advisable to choose a reliable domain name that will help you stand out from the competition. But without the right knowledge, deciding on the right one can be overwhelming.
However, it is no news that having a domain name that stands out, is memorable, and speaks volumes about your brand is essential to success. And regardless of how difficult it is to find, your business should have one.
That said, let’s dive into how to select a domain name that’ll give your brand an edge in the online space.
Get a Great Business Name for Your Brand
The success of any domain name ties heavily to the quality of the corresponding brand name. You’ll need to come up with unforgettable company name suggestions to select a domain name that will make your brand memorable.
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Think of it like this, your business name is the identifier of your business offline, while your domain name is its identifier online, and both should work together for the best result.
So before you get an exact-match domain name for your business, get a unique name, whether by brainstorming, crowdsourcing, or using a naming agency.
Take Your Brand Positioning Into Account
Your domain name is your business’s address in the online space. And since it serves to identify you online, it’s only reasonable that you consider your business and brand before picking a domain name.
Your brand, tone, and positioning should greatly influence your choice of the domain name. Let’s say you have a tech business; you may want to consider a domain name that reflects that business niche, say, techsavvy.com or any other tech-related keyword containing a domain name.
Consider Using Your Business Name’s Exact Match Domain
When selecting a domain name, you would have to decide between two name styles: using your brand/business name to create an exact match domain name.
This is the most common domain name style, and it has been used by the majority of top businesses in the world. The most significant advantage of this style is that knowing the name of your business equals learning your domain name.
For instance, if you want to go to Microsoft’s website, typing out its name followed by its ‘.com’ domain extension would lead you to it. This shows how exact-match domain names grant easy access to the websites they’re used for.
Consider Using Phrase-Based Domains (General Keywords)
The second domain name style is the phrase-based domain name. As the name implies, this isn’t usually just a word but a phrase describing a company’s offerings.
A phrase-based domain is a great way to let your customers know what you offer by just looking at your domain name. For example, a company specializing in web hosting might use the phrase “web hosting” in its domain name.
This style grants your website some benefits by telling customers the exact services you offer. Because of its SEO qualities, it also makes it simpler for customers to access your website, even if they are unaware of your company or its name.
When picking a domain name for your website, remember that you don’t have to pick just one style. If you can afford to, it would be advisable to use your exact match domain name as your primary web address and a phrase-based domain name as the secondary.
Pick a Proper Extension
It’s one thing to choose a domain name, but another to determine which domain extension to use. A domain extension can increase or reduce your domain name’s value in the online market, so choosing the best one for your web address is essential.
When selecting a domain extension, stick with popular extensions like .com, .net, and .org. However, depending on your industry, other extensions may be more appropriate. For example, if you are in the medical field, .health or .med might be more appropriate.
Remember that you shouldn’t pick extensions that aren’t popular, as this might make your domain name more difficult to remember.
Extra Tips for the Road
When selecting a domain name, it is vital to consider the following tips:
- The domain should match the brand or be similar. You want to ensure that the domain conveys the same message as your brand.
- The domain should avoid trademark conflicts. It is essential to make sure that it is available and that you can get it registered. You don’t want to select a domain name that is already in use or could be confused with another brand.
- Use audience testing before choosing your domain. By testing the domain name with your audience, you can ensure your domain name will be memorable and meaningful.
- Consider the impact of the domain on search engine optimization (SEO). Make sure your domain name will help to boost your ranking in search engine results.
We’re confident that diligently following our guide will lead you to the right domain name for your website.
Grant Polachek is the Head of Branding at Squadhelp, a 3X Inc. 5000 company. Squadhelp is well-known for being one of the greatest crowdsource naming agencies. And after reviewing over one million submissions, we’ve established an extensive collection of solid business and domain names.
Grant Polachek is the Head of Branding at Squadhelp, a 3X Inc. 5000 company. Squadhelp is well-known for being one of the greatest crowdsource naming agencies. And after reviewing over one million submissions, we’ve established an extensive collection of solid business and domain names.
