5 Reasons Why a Good Domain Name is Your First Step towards Online Success

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When choosing a name for your business in the past, the process would have been to create the business idea and check out any related trademarks, the information at Companies House and conduct local business searches to make sure the business name is unique. With the advent of the internet as an exceptionally powerful marketing tool, today the starting point is making sure you have the right domain name, a name that provides customers with an easy way to remember and find you. It's your location, brand and email on the web.

1. Helps Build Credibility: Using your domain for your website and to personalise your email helps establish credibility and professionalism. For instance, an email address such as tim.roberts@i-com.net is a lot more professional than timroberts.icom@googlemail.com! This kind of consistency creates authority for your brand and builds trust in clients, as they can see the direct relationship between you and your website.


2. Protects and Builds Your Brand: Purchase the domain name that best represents your business name. This is the starting point; you should then secure alternatives to protect your brand and increase your reach. This is achieved by directing the associated domains back to your website; you can direct as many as you like back to the one website.


3. A Good Domain Raises Your Profile Online: By choosing domain names that are catchy, short, and easy to spell, say and remember, you could potentially increase the amount of traffic to your website and ultimately, the amount of revenue your business generates. Potential clients are much more likely to opt for the short and catchy URL; they are also much more likely to remember it. When choosing your domain name pronounce it three times aloud. Does it sound natural? Imagine yourself telling a potential customer about your website. Is it easy to convey and remember? Ask family and friends what they think of your potential domains – give them a few options and see which one they remember in a few days’ time.


4. Pay Attention to the Extension: .com/.co.uk are the most popular. Others that are well-known and can deliver value such as .net, .org, .biz, and .info. If you sell products to an international market, consider country-code domains. In this case, you might secure the .com, the .net, and the country-code, as appropriate (e.g., .fr, fi etc). It’s important that you choose the right extension for your business, as the wrong one could give internet-savvy clients the wrong impression about your business.


5. A Good Domain Should Indicate the Nature of Your Product or Service: This is a benefit from a client perspective as they have a good idea what they’re going to get out of your site; it’s also good from a search engine perspective. Search Engines such as Google like to see good descriptive domains that link up with page content – if you have a domain name that hints at your product or service, your website will appear more authoritative to search engines and is therefore more likely to rank well in the results.

A good domain name for your business’ website can help you acquire more traffic, particularly if you choose to buy a domain that already receives a good amount of traffic rather than coming up with your own, and can vastly improve your brand’s strength online.

It’s also important to remember that, from an internet perspective, your domain name is often the first thing potential clients find out about your business – make it a good one and watch the conversions come rolling in.