Choosing the Right Domain Name

After deciding that you want to build a website, choosing a domain name would be the next step you have to take. Choosing the right domain name is a vital decision when you are running an small online business since there are thousands of small business have wrestled with throughout the years. Let’s examine some issues of choosing domain name, from its marketability to financial impact.

Your Domain Name is Tattoo for Your Business

Like a tattoo, you are able to change your selected domain name that have been used in your marketing and business. But like tattoo removal, there are costs associated with trashing a domain name and starting from scratch.

Your Domain Name Is an Investment

Looking at it from a cost perspective, you are investing more than just your reputation in your domain name. This is often overlooked when an impulse decision is made on a domain name. From hiring a website designer to having business cards printed with your domain name, these are just a few of the multiple ways you will be investing into your domain name. Over the course of a few years, the average company will invest thousands into their domain name. Some companies who are unsatisfied with the look of their website often look for a new domain name to create a new look. But you should take this in very cautiously. There is  a company who did not like their domain name, so they let it expire and the competition picked it up. Not only were they stuck with thousands of dollars of printed marketing material with the old domain name, they were also losing business to a competitor who now owns their previous domain name. Scratching an existing domain name puts your business right back at the starting line of the marketing costs for your website.

Choosing the Right Domain Name Extension

A domain name extension is what comes after the website name. The most popular domain name extensions are .com, .net, and .org, however those are just a sampling of the domain name extensions available for your website. It seems like every time you turn around there are new domain name extensions popping up. The best rule of thumb is to stick with a domain name extension that will be recognized by your customer base. The most common of those is a .com or .net extension. Having a .com or .net extension shows stability and makes it easier for your company to be found on the search engines. One of the most common myths about choosing a domain name is that all of the .com extensions are gone. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is still a great deal of .com domain names available. Finding the right .com extension for your business may take a little longer, but the benefits are priceless. A domain name can consist of letters, numbers, and dashes. So while “mycompanywebsite.com” may not be available, what about “my-company-website.com”. There are many variables in domain name extensions, so just because your initial idea for a domain name is not available, that doesn’t mean that the competition has won the war.

Do Not Overpay for Your Domain Name

There are many web design companies which will offer you free domain name registration when you purchase a website package. A word of caution if you got his route, make sure that your company will ultimately own the rights to the domain name. You don’t want to be in a situation where a third party controls your domain name. Most reputable design companies register the domain name on your behalf and you will control the rights to the name. Be sure to ask this question when you are selecting your website designer, or register the domain yourself if you need that extra piece of mind. Use a company like SeekDotNet for your domain name purchase to secure the best rates available to you.