For a long time now businesses of all types have understood the importance of having a website for their business. Even if they don’t directly sell via their website, there are still many benefits to having an online presence, such as using it as a marketing tool or communicating with potential customers or a way to gather feedback from customers, etc.
Having a website is vital for a business. An important factor in this is what website address (domain name) you choose to have. The fact is your domain name e.g. www.YourBusinessName.com can have a massive impact on how your website and business is perceived by customers and search engines such as Bing and Google. With this in mind, it is necessary for a business to think carefully when deciding which domain name to register, since having a bad/wrong domain name could harm your business.
Before registering your business domain name you should consider:
- Does it match your business name?
It’s recommended that your domain name matches you business name, otherwise it may create some confusion with your customers, not to mention look unprofessional. Nowadays, when deciding on what to name your business, you should always check to see if the matching domain name is available. - Brainstorming
Try to be creative when thinking of a potential domain name. Involve other members of staff if possible. Think of specific keywords relevant to your business when thinking of possible business domain names. - Will it be easy to type?
Don’t choose a domain name that is too long or too difficult to spell. If it’s difficult for people to type in, then odds are you will lose some customers. Simple is best. - Easy to remember
Don’t choose a domain which is either difficult to remember or likely to result in confusion. Obviously the shorter the better, but many short generic names have been taken. As for avoiding confusion, try not to have a name such as “GolfingHolidays4U.com” otherwise many potential customers, after trying to remeber what your website address was will end up typing in “GolfingHolidaysForYou.com” – and so you may lose an order. Again, try to keep it short and simple. - Suggests what the business does
It helps if your domain name suggests what your business actually does e.g. Hotels.com, BrittanyFerries.com, Hotmail.com, LondonPets.co.uk, VoucherCodes.com, AutoTrader.com, LuxeNailBar.co.uk, etc.These types of domain names help suggest what the website will be about and particularly when people are looking at a list of search results on Google, it will help them narrow down their search. While there are some websites such as Amazon.com, Zappos.com, Bing.com, Yahoo.com, etc who may be well known now, the fact is trying to start a new website with an unusual name will make it much more difficult to build and establish a brand. - Copyright violation
Becareful that you don’t register a domain name which could breach the copyright of another business – otherwise you could find yourself in court. The UK’s Intellectual Property Office can provide more information on copyright issues.
If you need any advice when choosing a business domain name then you are welcome to call our domain name experts on 0370 755 5088 who can help you choose a business domain name.
