How to Choose the Best Domain Name for Your Business

Written on 01 February, 2022 by Melissa Toh
Categories Domains Tags domain names

how to choose the best domain name

Your domain name serves as the headline for your business – it is essential that you give it the time and thought it deserves. Whether your website is for business or personal use, there are a few helpful tips you can take on board to make your domain name choice a lot easier and the outcome more effective.  But first, let’s clearly define the function of a domain name.

What is a domain name?

Domain names make it easier to remember and find a website than relying on IP addresses made up of a series of different numbers. In layman’s terms, a domain name is what you put after the “www.” in the URL bar. For example, webcentral.com.au is our domain name. Instead of typing in a numeric IP address to visit a website, you can do a domain search by typing in the domain names.

Choosing the right domain name

how to choose the right domain name

Until recently .com has been the most memorable domain a person or business could have. But if your audience is primarily in Australia, you may have wanted to opt for .com.au as it signifies that you are located and are operating within Australia. This is very important, considering the internet is increasingly emphasising geo-location.

But things are changing. In March 2022, Australia will launch a brand new domain name extension, .au. Now you will no longer need to include the .com section of the extension. It will be shorter, easier to remember, Australian and your brand will become a more prominent part of your domain name.

But let’s think about what appears before your domain name extension. Before you start the domain registration process, it is crucial to think about the following:

  • Spelling
  • Marketing appeal
  • Keywords
  • Availability

 

Spelling

To avoid any confusion, choose a domain name that is easy to spell. The last thing you want is for your audience to mistype your domain and land on a site that is entirely different from yours. Keep your domain name simple to avoid any missed opportunities.

 

Marketing appeal

If you can use your brand name in your domain, you should do so. It makes no sense to do otherwise.  If you must create a new domain name, keep it short and sweet. Think about any domain search activity you have engaged in before. The longer the domain name, the more likely people are to misspell it or forget the order of the words. If you keep it brief, it will be more memorable and easier for branding. You want to find a domain name that turns heads.

Be wary if you choose to go with an abbreviation. This should only be an option if you are known well in that abbreviated form. The Commonwealth Bank could use terminology such as CommBank, but your brand may not stretch to such an abbreviation.

Wherever you can, avoid ambiguous spelling. If your business name has a unique spelling, use it, but you may need to engage in marketing support, so your target customers know that spelling.

 

consider seo keywords in your domain name

Keywords

It is extremely effective to use keywords within your domain name for SEO purposes and increase prospects for your business. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to find your business and know what it’s about. For example, if you have a carpet business, use the words ‘carpet’ or ‘floor covering’ in your URL to signify your business trade.

There are boundaries to using keywords. Domain names that are too long or use excessive hyphens can be seen as spammy by Google and web users, so try to avoid long, keyword filled domains.

 

Availability

Don’t start spending money developing support materials for a domain name before checking if it’s available. It is probably better to brainstorm your domain name choices and compare them with the domain names available simultaneously.

Protecting your domain

There exist many URL extensions such as .net, .org, .biz, and .co. All of these provide others with the opportunity to create confusion about your brand, whether they be direct competitors or not.

Wherever possible, we would advocate the purchase of any associated domain name extensions in a bid to protect your business brand. Purchasing all domain name extensions ensures that you won’t have to pay top dollar later on if somebody else has already swiped up your highly effective domain name. It’s also a wise move to boost sales. Simply redirect all extensions to your preferred domain extension, and visitors to your website will be maximised. We can help with that.

These are just a few reasons why domain names are so important. Not only do they help potential customers find your site, they also have the ability to seriously boost your rankings in search engine results. If you are ready to buy a domain – Webcentral is ready to help. Contact us today on 1300 638 734.

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