When you’re setting up an online business, your domain name will matter more than you think. After all, you are trying to rise above your competition on the internet and generate some steady traffic for your company. It’s not an exaggeration to say that a bad domain name can make or break your business.
Think of it like naming your child or your pet – you won’t just pick any name, right? You want something simple but memorable, especially because your business will be completely online. If you haven’t created a website for your business yet, it is best to decide on a domain first before you go about it. Here are some things you should look into while you’re deciding on the perfect domain name:
1. Spelling and Meaning. Keeping your domain name short is extremely important for recall and name retention, especially when you’re starting your own ecommerce business. Predictability is also important for your domain name, so it is a good idea to stick with popular spelling conventions so users will have an easy time typing it on a search bar and saying it out loud to others. Moreover, your domain name should match your brand. You can totally get away with being punny or using numbers in your domain name as long as it’s done for branding purposes. Otherwise, don’t do it just to stand out.
2. Your Social Media. Like it or not, social media plays a huge role in boosting the visibility of your brand. With the amount of time that the average person spends on any kind of social media platform, they will most likely search for your business and find you there first. It is in your best interest to ensure that your social media handles are also similar to (if not the same as) your domain name. Get creative with branding and use prefixes and suffixes to make your profile stand out.
3. Availability. A unique domain name is important because you want to make sure that no one else has the same one as you. Otherwise, you might have to resort to buying similar-sounding domain names just to keep customers coming your way.
Additionally, it can be costly to buy an already existing site if you insist on a specific domain name that is already taken. It might also be an added challenge to redesign and optimize the site according to your branding and needs if you find that the domain’s history is less than ideal after you purchase the domain.
4. Your Service Area. It is common knowledge that any site ending in “.com” is a top-tier domain that everyone should be gunning for. However, this doesn’t necessarily apply to your business. While a website with “.com” as the domain extension is sure to boost your visibility, reaching your target audience is more important. If you want to stay local and only serve local customers, opting for a website that ends in your country code can be a better thing to do. This keeps your site laser-focused towards your ideal customers and helps them find you better when searching for local businesses.
5. Your Domain Registrar. You worked hard on creating a unique domain name that you can legally own, and now you’re ready to make things official. It is important to find a reputable domain registrar that will register and host your domain name for you while giving you full access to it. Remember to register your domain name yourself, too. This ensures your domain remains fully under your control. You can search for and register a .shop domain using websites such as NameSilo to make it easy for customers to instantly recognize your online shop.
Many domain registrars also offer you the option to lock your domain so you can prevent any hijacking or theft from people who may want to take your domain name by force. Some domain registrars worth checking out include NameCheap, GoDaddy, and more.
6. Registration Period. Domain names work like a subscription, they expire and require a renewal every so often. If you’re into the ecommerce business for the long haul, it’s a really good idea to set your domain name to auto-renew. This way, you don’t have to go through the painstaking process of manually renewing your domain name every 1 or 2 years, and you make sure that your domain name does not get taken by another business or domain broker.
Now that you know what to take note of while you’re trying to decide on a domain name for your business, you can confidently think of and eventually settle on one safely and effectively!