Choose the Right Domain Name for Your Business
During the dot-com boom that occurred around the turn of the millennium, acquiring the perfect, simple domain name (Pets.com, anyone?) became a majorly competitive exercise. In the time since then, many short domains have gotten snapped up.
So what's a small business owner to do?
Here are some tips on getting that perfect domain name.
Clever...or Cleverly Targeted?
Before you spend a lot of time trying to come up with a convoluted, made up word for your business, consider the fact that many SEO experts suggest that studding your domain with keywords might pay off.
Imagine you run a florist operation called "Eve's Floral." While evesfloral.com may be taken, it might make sense for you to choose keywords for your business instead such as "fastfloristdelivery.com" or "creativefloraldesigns.com." That way, you'll capture attention from people searching for your services. You also may want to buy up several variations (including misspelled versions of your business name), to make sure you are capturing all possible traffic.
What to Avoid
If at all possible, work to get a .com domain. While .net and .org are acceptable alternatives, they may present barriers to your customer remembering your domain name. By that token, avoid unusual characters such as hyphens. Avoid words that are difficult to say or spell, or can be easily confused with something else.
Bidding on a Domain that Owned by Someone Else
If you have your heart set on a snappy domain name, and it's registered to someone else, you may want to negotiate to buy it. As with all negotiations, it really pays to do your homework and approach the process calmly and with plenty of preparation.
Make it clear to the potential seller that you have other options but would like to close the deal quickly.
Choosing a Domain Name
Shorter is better, of course, but beyond that, where do you begin? Sit down with a scratchpad and a thesaurus (or thesaurus app!). Jot down words that describe your business. Domainr is a great tool for helping you to come up with available options that are based on words you input into the system.
How About a Branded Short Domain?
On Twitter, you've probably seen a digitally “with-it” big brand or publisher sharing links with a “branded” short link like nyti.ms for the New York Times, or amzn.com for Amazon.
What many people don't know is that having your own branded short domain is not particularly costly or complicated.
What you need:
Find a Unique and Unusual Short Domain
The market for interesting branded short domains really opened up as some of the world's smallest countries have begun to allow ownership of their two letter top-level domains (TLDs). If you've seen the TLD .fm or .tv on a TV or radio station's advertising, you've encountered the TLDs of small Pacific island-states Tuvalu and the Federated States of Micronesia, respectively.
What you need to know about usual TLDs: they can allow you to create unusual short URLs that reflect your brand. Use Domainr to find some suitable ideas.
Next, Get a Bitly Account:
After you are approved for a Bitly account, Bitly will explain how to change the “A” record of your short domain.
Now when you shorten URLs through Bitly for use on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, they’ll match your brand.
So what's a small business owner to do?
Here are some tips on getting that perfect domain name.
Clever...or Cleverly Targeted?
Before you spend a lot of time trying to come up with a convoluted, made up word for your business, consider the fact that many SEO experts suggest that studding your domain with keywords might pay off.
Imagine you run a florist operation called "Eve's Floral." While evesfloral.com may be taken, it might make sense for you to choose keywords for your business instead such as "fastfloristdelivery.com" or "creativefloraldesigns.com." That way, you'll capture attention from people searching for your services. You also may want to buy up several variations (including misspelled versions of your business name), to make sure you are capturing all possible traffic.
What to Avoid
If at all possible, work to get a .com domain. While .net and .org are acceptable alternatives, they may present barriers to your customer remembering your domain name. By that token, avoid unusual characters such as hyphens. Avoid words that are difficult to say or spell, or can be easily confused with something else.
Bidding on a Domain that Owned by Someone Else
If you have your heart set on a snappy domain name, and it's registered to someone else, you may want to negotiate to buy it. As with all negotiations, it really pays to do your homework and approach the process calmly and with plenty of preparation.
Make it clear to the potential seller that you have other options but would like to close the deal quickly.
Choosing a Domain Name
Shorter is better, of course, but beyond that, where do you begin? Sit down with a scratchpad and a thesaurus (or thesaurus app!). Jot down words that describe your business. Domainr is a great tool for helping you to come up with available options that are based on words you input into the system.
How About a Branded Short Domain?
On Twitter, you've probably seen a digitally “with-it” big brand or publisher sharing links with a “branded” short link like nyti.ms for the New York Times, or amzn.com for Amazon.
What many people don't know is that having your own branded short domain is not particularly costly or complicated.
What you need:
- A short domain (Cost depending on which domain you require)
- A Bitly account (FREE!)
Find a Unique and Unusual Short Domain
The market for interesting branded short domains really opened up as some of the world's smallest countries have begun to allow ownership of their two letter top-level domains (TLDs). If you've seen the TLD .fm or .tv on a TV or radio station's advertising, you've encountered the TLDs of small Pacific island-states Tuvalu and the Federated States of Micronesia, respectively.
What you need to know about usual TLDs: they can allow you to create unusual short URLs that reflect your brand. Use Domainr to find some suitable ideas.
Next, Get a Bitly Account:
After you are approved for a Bitly account, Bitly will explain how to change the “A” record of your short domain.
Now when you shorten URLs through Bitly for use on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, they’ll match your brand.