Quick Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to some of my favorite web design resources. Basically, if you click on a link and purchase a service/product from any one of the mentioned affiliates, I may receive a small commission. ?
Finding the perfect domain name for your small business can be a bit trickier than you think. It’s very similar to figuring out your business name.
Your domain name is pretty much how you’ll be identified online. For this reason, it’s crucial to get a domain name that is tailor-fitted to your small business and easily allows you to promote online.
The below guidelines will help you get the perfect domain name for your small biz website:
Make it easy to type out and remember
If your domain name is too long, it may be tough for folks to simply find you online. Try your best to keep it short, simple and easy for visitors to remember.
Plug keywords into your domain name
Using keywords in your domain name automatically improves your ranking in search engines. For instance, if you sell custom-made leather wallets, a domain name like fancywallets.com or customwallets.com can be a good starting point on building your online identity.
Stay away from numbers and hyphens
Just no. Unless it’s apart of your business name (like 99designs.com) avoid this. Your domain name can get easily misspelled or a dash can be misplaced or not used at all if needed!
Go with a .com
There are TONS of website extensions these days. As tempting as it is to have a .cat domain extension (okay, maybe that’s just me) going with a .com is the way to go. It’s simply easier to remember a .com domain name which makes it more seamless to be found online.
Research, research, RESEARCH!
It’s super important to make sure that your domain name isn’t already trademarked, copyrighted or being used by another business. Using the USPTO Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) tool can help you find out if you’ve chosen a domain name that is close to or just like someone else’s.
Bonus! A good ol’ Google search is great to check for social media name availability.
Use a Generator!
A great way to find cool domain name ideas would be through using an online domain name generator. Two of my favorite tools for this would be Lean Domain Search and Name Boy. Using tools like these will give you some cool starting points on building out the right domain for you!
When you’ve found the right domain name, it’s super important to act fast when purchasing it! Thousands of new domain names are registered every day; don’t wait on getting your domain idea purchased.