Much like a newborn baby, a new business requires nurturing to grow healthy and strong. There are myriad factors to consider when birthing a business, and a staggering amount of deliberating, reflection and analysis to develop a viable business model. Among the initial steps to launch a new venture is selecting the quintessential domain name for your newborn business. Unfortunately, naming a business isn’t as easy as perusing lists of trending or traditional baby names.
Optimally, your domain name (excluding the portion following the dot) should be identical to your business name (think Amazon, Etsy or Home Depot). But often, that’s not an easy task. Finding the perfect name takes time, a critical eye and a fair amount of dogged research.
Consider these important factors if you’re launching a new venture, business or brand.
Short and succinct make a strong domain
There’s power in brevity. A key goal for your domain name (and your website content) is to get your point across effectively and efficiently. That means an intuitive URL, with as few characters as possible. While a domain name can be as long as 253 characters (before the extension), resist the urge. A good target length is 15 characters.
Pack those characters with keywords that express your industry, unique value proposition or geography. A meaningful web address piques interest and invites exploration by prospects interested in your business.
Easy as 1-2-3: Memorable. Understandable. Crystal clear.
As we shared in a prior post … In your quest for a shorter URL, don’t forget that your domain name needs to be memorable and understandable. Resist the urge to abbreviate your company name in your domain. While referring to your business by its initials might be second-nature to you, it’s unlikely that prospects and customers will make the connection.
To make a website easier to remember and share, when spoken, the URL should be simple to pronounce. Dreamhost suggests using a four-letter pattern consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel (like Meta) or consonant-consonant-vowel-consonant (like Snap). Names using these patterns are easy to verbalize and remember.
Be the master of your domain
Your business website serves as the hub of your online presence, which also includes your Google Business Profile, social media activity, and content that you publish elsewhere on the web. When executed well, content published on these outposts finds new audiences and drives traffic to your website.
However, a “starter website” that is not hosted on your own domain, such as a Facebook page or sub-domain of a free website builder (like this >> https://some-other-domain/yourURL), does not drive your site’s long-term visibility. If you don’t own the domain, you’re just renting space … and in fact, your hard-earned marketing traffic is benefitting their platform, rather than your site.
Cover all your bases, and take a long-term view
When choosing your domain name, look beyond the website itself. Think broadly about social and other online platforms where you may want a presence for your business. To ensure that your brand is consistently represented, web hosting company Blue Host recommends checking to see if your business name is available on all the platforms you wish to use, and claim[ing] your name on each platform (even those you’re not actively using yet).
Also consider how your business may evolve or expand over the coming years. While you may not be able to envision your company’s future, don’t box yourself into a corner when choosing your domain.
While you should be specific enough to attract an audience, you don’t want to be so precise that there’s no room for your website to grow. Think about how your site or business may expand over time when choosing your domain. Make this decision with long-term vision, and you’ll be less likely to limit yourself (and your business) in the future.
Web hosting company Dreamhost
Ready to nurture and nourish a new business?
Download our free guide. It offers four key areas of focus, with 12 tips to consider when selecting your domain name.
Your guide has really good tips. I honestly never thought of these things before. The long-term view one is really key, as a lot of businesses evolve over time. Thank you for this guide.