Choosing A Domain Name For Your Small Business

Your domain name can be thought of as the name of your website. It’s the characters that are in between “www’ and “.com” for your website. And choosing a domain name is a very important step for every small business owner.

You want to ensure your domain is clear and easy to understand. Your internet home is a vital part of your business. And so you want to ensure you can point visitors to your site with ease. This post will walk you through choosing a domain name so you can get started.

What Makes A Good Domain

A good domain name is clear and simple. You want to easily verbalize your website name as well as spell it. A good domain name can be heard and spelled easily.

You also want to ensure your domain name is memorable. You don’t want to make it too creative or too simple. A memorable domain that is easy to understand and relevant to your business is key.

Tips for Choosing A Domain Name:

• Make it relevant to your business
• Write it out to ensure there are no hidden words
• Be sure it is easy to say out loud and spell
• Keep it short
• Avoid numbers, hyphens, and symbols

Securing Your Domain via Bluehost

I purchase all of my domains via Bluehost. Bluehost is a one-stop-shop website hosting provider that partners with WordPress. With Bluehost, you can purchase your domain, create your website, and have it hosted all under one account.

And when you create a Bluehost account, you secure your first domain name for free. Plans start at less than $5/month for website creation and hosting. With Bluehost, you can create a mighty WordPress website known for its powerful search engine optimization; or SEO.

Make it Relevant

The first tip when choosing a domain name for your small business is to make it relevant. You want your domain name relevant to your business and not very random. You can do this by using keywords.

Your domain name does not need to be the same as your business. However, it should have something to do with your business. This should also be general knowledge and not “industry knowledge”. This means the general public should understand the keywords relevancy within your domain name.

Write it Out

The next tip for choosing a domain name is to write it out. You want to write it out to ensure that there are no hidden words instead your URL.

Remember, your domain name is characters strung together without spaces. Therefore we want to ensure those characters do not create any other words while strung together that are inappropriate or confusing.

Easy to Say & Spell

Your domain name should be easy to say out loud and to spell. This is especially important when networking or simply telling someone where to find you.

Avoid using homophones, or words that sound the same but are spelled differently. You also want to avoid using any words that are harder to spell for the general public. We do not want to miss out on site visitors due to someone not being able to find our website.

Keep it Short

Try and keep your domain name shorter. You don’t want a domain name that’s very long. This increases the chance of someone misspelling or typing it incorrectly.

The best length for your domain name should be between 6-14 characters total. This does not include the “www.” or the “.com”.

Avoid Numbers, Hyphens, and Symbols

The last tip for choosing a domain name is to avoid numbers, hyphens, and symbols. When we add these to our domain name, we run the risk of creating confusion or having to over explain.

Remember, we want someone to hear or read our domain name and be able to instantly retain it and visit it at a later time. Adding numbers, hyphens, and symbols to this makes remembering the name harder.

Purchase Your Domain Today

Your domain name isn’t something you want to change very often, if ever. That’s why we want to select a name that is simple and can stand the test of time with our businesses.

Keep in mind, that your business may change and evolve over time. Therefore, you don’t want to select a domain name too specific. See if you can use a domain that your business can grow with.

Click here to get your first domain for free when you sign up for Bluehost. With Bluehost, you can enjoy a one-stop-shop experience for your website. Secure your domain name, create your website, and have your website hosted all on one platform.