5 things you should know about choosing a domain name

It’s important to have a domain name that reflects your business. However, with most businesses now having websites, domain names are getting snapped up faster than ever.

If you can’t get the domain name of your choice, it’s possible to try to buy the domain name from the current owner if they don’t have a website already hosted there. Follow these tips to come up with a suitable domain name:

1. Choose a unique domain: Never choose a domain that is the plural or misspelled version of a popular domain – you don’t want your website confused with a site already owned by someone else. Similarly, avoid trademarked or copyrighted names.

2. Make it easy to remember: Short names are recognisable, easy to type and easy to remember. They also allow for more characters in the URL in the search engine results page and are a better fit on business cards and other collateral.

3. Choose your extensions wisely: You can register as many extensions of your chosen domain name as you like, as they can all point to the one website. In Australia the ‘.com.au’ and ‘.com’ extensions are popular, but you could also register ‘.net.au’ and “.info’. It’s a good idea to register these to protect your brand, so nobody else can take them. Businesses can’t have org.au or gov.au

4. Try it out: Whe n you have decided on some available options for your domain name, see what your friends and clients think. Is it difficult to type? Do you have to repeat it? Do you need to explain why you chose the name?

5. Be quick: Even if you don’t have plans for a website yet, get in and register any domains you know you’ll need before somebody else gets your ideal domain name!

by Felicity Zadro | Managing Director of Zadro Communications; a full-service Marketing Communications and Design Agency specialising in integrated marketing communications for small to medium size businesses. www.zadrocommunications.com.au

Tagged as: domain names, websites