Selecting a good domain name for your business is the first step for setting up your website. The domain name is the online identity for your business. Whether you are adding an online presence for an existing business or establishing a new ecommerce site, choosing the right domain name is important.
Selecting a Domain Name – Factors to Consider
If you are creating an online presence for your existing business, you may want to buy yourbusinessname.com. However, things are not that easy, you might find that someone else is using yourbusinessname.com, when you search domain names on a domain registration site.
In that case, you have to find other solutions, alternatives.
Getting It Right
For an existing business name, you might try things like adding “online” at the end of your business name to get the .com domain you want. You might also choose an alternative to create a unique online presence. If it is a new business,, you have more freedom to pick a name.
Make it Short and Catchy
You want your business name to stand out and be memorable. You want people to like it and remember it. You also need to keep it short. A long name might sound like a good idea, but remember, on the Internet, people want everything to be quick. No one wants to type in a long name to get to your website. Keep it short, simple and as far as possible, unique.
For example, if you are planning for a tech tips blog, then techtipsblog.com will do it and that’s why we choose TecAdvices.com as the domain which easily says that the blog is all about tech advices.
Keep it Simple and Pronounceable
Never choose a complicated name. Including number, hyphenated names, abbreviations, wordplays, double meaning, etc are not very good ideas for domain names. Say it out loud and see how good it sounds.
You want your target customers to easily remember the name and pass it on in conversation, social media shares etc. Word of mouth or social media mentions account for 20 to 50% of purchase decisions. So, help yourself by keeping things simple, and pronounceable.
Keep it Relevant
Choose a name that tells people what you do, what your website offers. If you cannot get the right business name like fashionfootwear.com, try something closer like trendyfootwear or trendyshoes, or even add your name and try something like joesfootwear. Try an associated keyword. Use a domain name generator tool like the one provided by Shopify. Keep it simple and to the point. The customer should ideally understand what you are selling or offering on the website from the name of the website.
Choose the Right Extension
You must pick the right Top Level Domain (TLD) for your website. This includes extensions like .com, .net, .biz, .org. There are now hundreds of TLDs available. Some have specific associations, like .org with nonprofits, country extensions like .us, .uk etc.
But there are many other uniquely identifying extensions, and more new ones being added each year. Continuing with the footwear example, there is a .shoes TLD. You can register a domain name like trendywear.shoes, or shopandsave.shoes if you are selling footwear at lower prices.
Avoid Tweaks of Famous Brand Names
Even if your name is McDonald, don’t try to register something near mcdonalds, a top brand. Selecting tweaks like macdonald, TLD alternatives like mcdonalds.shoes etc might still get you into copyright and trademark issues.
Businesses spend a lot of money on building brand value and name associations. So, they will not welcome someone else trying to utilize the value they have built up.
Be Creative
If the word or phrase you want is taken by another business, try some tweaks when you search domain names. Two-word combinations work well, example TripAdvisor. Try to combine two words innovatively like Travelocity. Even misspellings work sometimes, like in the case of Flickr. However, misspellings and other trendy names might need a lot of work, as people naturally associate the correct spelling with the website and your marketing and promotions might be directing traffic to nextstep.com instead of your nxtstep.com.
Finally
When you buy a domain name, even if you decide on a new and relevant TLD like .shoes, .biz, .info, or .photo, search domain names with .com TLD available. This is still the default association people make for a website, and all the marketing you do for your unique extension will also benefit yourbusinessname.com. So, buy the .com too and use 301 redirects to direct it to the same website. You can also use your.Shoes for the store front end and the .com for your business page and backend.
Most important, when you have finally picked a good name with the TLD you want (ideally, also including the .com TLD), buy it up fast. Domain names sell quickly and you do not want to lose your ideal pick to go to someone else. Use Shopify Domain Name Generator to generate good domain names, pick one that you like. Shopify itself is a great place to register your domain name and an ideal platform to setup your ecommerce website.