The Importance Of Your Domain Name And Choosing Right

Your domain name is a part of your brand identity, like your logo, company name and values. First impressions matter, and sometimes your domain name is the initial exposure to your brand. If you don’t nail your domain name, you’ll put potential customers off visiting your website.

The opposite is also true. If your website address is fun and to the point, people will be excited to visit your website and share it with their friends.

It’s also not easy to change your domain name. It’s time-consuming and can lead to unnecessary downtime and a loss of traffic. So it’s best to get it right the first time.

Important factors to consider when choosing a domain name:

Choose your top-level domain extension carefully.

A Top-Level Domain is the part of your domain that comes after the site’s name e.g. .com,.net, and.org.

There are many newer TLD options, but it’s best to keep it old school and stick to the more common TLD’s that people recognise. If possible we recommend using .com it’s been around the longest and most people are familiar with it.

Of course, the downside to using a .com domain is that you might be unable to secure it. At CWCS, we will not only provide you with a list of alternatives, but we will also negotiate with the current domain holder to see if we can get that perfect domain for you.

Depending on your business, you might need to purchase several domains with TLD’s to protect your brand.

Incorporate Keywords Strategically.

Keywords aren’t just for content. Search engines use your domain name to understand what your site is about and help to determine search rankings. So use keywords where possible to climb those rankings.

Remember the keywords you choose must be relevant to your business. Do not use keywords for their own sake they have to represent your offerings. If you are hung up on trying to find the best keywords for you, try Googles’ Keyword Planner.

This free tool lets you explore keywords by search volumes to help you identify the terms that your customers are searching for. But don’t get carried away people do not trust domain names filled with popular keywords.

Make sure it is easy to spell and pronounce.

No matter how cool your unique domain name looks spelt out, at some point you will have to give it out verbally so, it’s better to stick to an easy word to pronounce.

Avoid hyphens.

Many people use hyphens as a creative solution to getting the domain name they want. But they are hard to express verbally when you are giving out your domain name.

But the biggest downside is that people will forget to add them when trying to get on to your website – and end up on the wrong website!

Avoid using double letters.

It’s asking for typos. Double letters are hard to read and even harder to type correctly. If it happens enough times, you might end up with someone typosquatting and stealing your traffic.

Keep your domain name short.

There are several reasons short domain names work better. They are easier to remember and type. No one wants to type out a small essay to get on to your website. Also, an overly long domain name can make you look suspicious to your customers.

Keep it on-brand.

A unique domain name can help your business stand out. Some of the most successful companies have unique domain names that also happen to be their brand names, like Google, Amazon and Bing.

Make sure it’s flexible.

You don’t want to paint yourself into a box. While you should be specific enough to attract an audience, you don’t want to be so precise that there is no room for your business to grow in the future.

Don’t overthink it.

Domain names are snapped up pretty quickly, so if you find one that suits your brand, don’t hesitate to get it.

Our domain names start from as little as £3.50 for one year, so you don’t have to worry about losing a lot of money if it’s not right for you long term. Plus, you can always let the registration lapse if you don’t need it later on.

Protect your brand with multiple domains.

Once you have found the perfect domain name for your brand, buy it in every TLD.

Even if you have a .com or .co.uk TLD you might want to consider buying other TLD’s and setting up redirects to protect your brand. You can even go one step further and buy common misspellings of your domain names.

To get started use our domain name checking facility and online domain name registration service. We’ll check availability for you, provide you instantly with the options available, as well as the unavailable, and confirm the price to buy for 1, 2 or more years depending on the suffix. Domains start from as little as £3.50 for one year.