Choosing the Right Domain for Your Small Business: Why It Matters

At this point, it should go without saying that your domain name will weigh heavily on the success of your online business. More than 600,000 businesses start up each year in the United States alone, and 64% of them have websites. As that number increases, choosing a unique domain name can get increasingly difficult, especially when you have so many people working in the same niche as you. As you are choosing your domain name, it is helpful to understand that there are several factors that will contribute to the success or failure of your new website. We will start with the basics and go from there.

What Is a Domain Name?

When the internet first became available in homes, the.com address extension was used, which was quickly followed by the.gov and.edu extensions. After that, it was only a matter of a few short years before the majority of domains were used up. Short, easy to remember, and containing targeted keywords, those are the domain names you want. Today, if you can think of a brandable.com domain that someone else has not snatched up and that is also relevant to your business, it would be highly remiss to pass it up. 

This is doubly true when you consider that good .com domain names start at $5,000 and can even cost upwards of $10 million. So yes, even when you do not have to save money without wasting any time, once you have decided on a name, get on it. You do not want any regrets just because you waited too long.

Length

It is always better to have a domain name that is short and easy to remember, ideally between 6 and 10 letters, with 8 being the sweet spot. Simple, concise, and typeable should be your rule of thumb over longer, more descriptive names. Also, avoid using numbers and hyphens, as they might complicate and frustrate any users looking for your website, and you might end up losing potential clients. Not ideal. 

Remember, simple is best. But you might be wondering how to register a domain name, and thankfully, you are in luck, and help is near. Help with deciding, help with registering, and help with paying—all from the same source—so you do not have to hop from site to site like you are jumping trains in the 19th century. 

Vital Info about Small Businesses

Small businesses just starting out have so much more to consider, so much more to lose, and usually no real safety net to save them if things go awry. Some business owners believe that the best policy is to wait until they are financially ready to purchase an a.com domain before developing a website. This is erroneous; there is simply too much, constantly growing competition on the market, and too much business is lost by not having a website up and running. It is also helpful to remember that your website can have more than one domain name, so start off small and maybe change it later on, when you can afford a bit more luxury.

Social Media

Connecting your website with social media pages can be incredibly helpful. Though only a small percentage of businesses succeed with social media advertising, when marketing posts go viral, they go viral and can bring in huge amounts of revenue. To start, you want to have a well-written social media page with high-quality videos and photos for patrons to follow. The more social media accounts that are connected to a web page, the more value the domain will garner. 

Having similar domain name variations that redirect to your website is also very helpful. When potential customers incorrectly type web addresses but get the website they were looking for anyway, it can bring in not only more traffic but also make your website look more authoritative to Google, which will in turn generate more traffic. 

Control and Build your Brand

Once you secure a domain name for your business, you also ensure that you are owning, protecting, controlling, and building your own brand online, as it is basically copyrighted now and unique to you. As long as your domain name is available and not yet taken, it is yours to do with as you please, utilize, grow, and brand to your heart’s content.

Connect with Your Audience

One of the biggest reasons for building your own website is so you can connect with your audience and potential clients in a way that minimizes your effort and input but maximizes output and reward while catering to every need they may have. Domain names are one of the most valuable assets a business can own, so utilize the credibility and visibility they bring.

Impact on Your SEO

If you are online at all, then you likely already know that SEO, or search engine optimization, is vital to be found on the internet. This is true not only for the content you have on your web page but also for your domain name. That is why, if at all possible, make your business name also your domain name, further reinforcing your brand. Even better is if you can manage to incorporate the top keywords your customer base would use when looking for you. 

Appear Professional

A huge reason why you want a good domain name, especially if you are a small business just beginning its life, is that a customized domain name gives you an air of authority and professionalism, something that can prove invaluable when attracting potential customers. This will immediately convey trust to your visitors. In a sense, you are the owner of your business’ identity. For example, you do not want a Facebook page to act as your website, not only because it might look amateurish and cheap, but also because you do not own Facebook or your page on it. 

Starting a business from scratch has certainly gotten easier and more streamlined over the years, but it is still far from easy or simple. Having a good domain name is certainly one of the things you want to take care of first, for all the reasons we have listed and more.