Today, when someone looks for a particular product or service, Google or Social Media has become the platform for purchasing. It is therefore crucial you have an online presence that helps as you attract customers and at the same time present a background of what you offer. Your website for your business is very crucial and choosing an appropriate domain name will add value.
Here are some of the issues that you need to consider before you register your domain;
- The domain name should be unique
The fact that there are around 200 million registered domains requires you to be very creative to be able to come up with a name never thought of before. This is because you cannot use a name that belongs to another person. If you do, it could result to trademark issues that could lead to you being forced to give it up to the ‘rightful owner’ or pay damages with you being sued.
However, if someone has the domain that you want, you can buy it from them. If buying is your option, you need to be careful to check on the history of the owner because it may have been used in the past and might have expired now.
A Domain hosting company will typically tell you if a domain name is available or not. Usually, if it is taken, they will recommend domain names that are available.
- Use appropriate domain extension.
If you are starting a small profit business, you can stick to the usual .com as most extensions require extra cost that may be a waste of your money. It is only necessary to purchase extensions aside from .com if you are trying to trademark or patent your brand. If you are building a site that is non-profit, you can use the extension .org and if it is education related, you can use .edu. This solely depends on the nature of the website you’re creating.
- Avoid unnecessary characters/abbreviations or combine names
Since you are trying to develop your business on the web, you cannot afford to register the wrong name for your website. Small mistakes of unnecessary hyphens, abbreviations or numbers will lead to people being confused. Also try to avoid using words like “a,” “an” or “the” to start your domain name as it tends to lengthen it unnecessarily. Same goes for using “to,” “but,” or “or” when connecting words.
- Efficient Registrars
After you have come up with a suitable name, you should register with a reputable platform. For this to be done, a website hosting fee has to be paid. You will need either a credit card or a PayPal account to pay for the domain. This is a requirement of most registrars. It will allow you to claim and get the domain name immediately on application. It is however important you research on the rates of the different registrars as they differ. Registration of your domain will cost on average 10- 35 US dollars and this will allow you to use it for a year before you renew again.
Final thoughts on domains
Your domain talks so much about your business. Look for a reliable webpage that can bring you the necessary security you need to be protected at any cost in the future. Check out Memset.com to establish what domains are the most secure for you to take. It is what people can identify you with. It is your brand. So choose wisely.