Which Domain Is Best For Business

What Is A Domain Name

A domain name is the website address your customers type into the search bar to find your business online. Because this is the specific location of your website online, choosing a domain name is a necessary part of creating a website and building an online presence. Its also an important element of your branding strategy. Domain names can be acquired for free, but if you choose to buy a totally custom domain, it will likely cost between $12 and $15 per year.

Wouldnt Something New And Different Help Me Stand Out

Possibly, but going against the grain involves many risks, and its important to know what they are. It may be tempting to go with novelty to stand out, but three decades of trust and ingrained user behavior around established domain extensions may be a large hurdle to overcome.

Many of the businesses and organizations that have been enticed to try out new domain extensions are experiencing unforeseen issues, such as customer confusion about their web address, and the technical limitations that compound that confusion. Reports of clients skepticism and operational problems, like incompatibilities with commonly used email validation systems, browsers, and other websites, has some small business owners urging caution to those interested in adopting new gTLDs.

Even some of the most experienced companies have found that choosing the wrong domain extension can have big consequences. Online retail giant Overstock.com switched to O.co in 2011 and learned this lesson first-hand. Overstock reportedly lost scores of visitors because customers instinctively typed in O.com and were greeted with an error message because it was not an active domain name. The customer confusion prompted Overstock to reverse its rebranding in less than a year millions of marketing dollars lost and customer confidence shaken.

Stop With The Unique Spelling

Everyone is unique and so are businesses.

In fact, you must have a differentiator that sets you apart from your competitors. Just dont make that differentiator a uniquely spelled domain name. You might think that having an interestingly spelled domain means its memorable, but thats usually not the case. Hyphens between every other letter and random numbers at the end of your domain name are difficult to remember.

If you want your domain name to be memorable, make sure it passes the Radio Test.

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Dreamhost Tiered Email Pricing & Features

DreamHost is one of the best business email providers for those who want an ultra-affordable business email solution. It offers low-cost, email-only plans for just $1.67 per month, giving small businesses and solopreneurs with low email volumes a high-quality option. However, it also offers unlimited email addresses and unlimited storage for a fixed monthly fee of $2.95 per month, making it a steal for large businesses in need of many email addresses.

Lock The Domain So It Cant Be Stolen

Even though it may seem odd at first, domain hijacking actually happens more often than youd imagine.

Not going into the boring technical details, your domain can be stolen via several means. Most commonly, this involves either hacking your password or convincing you to give out your password via a phishing attack, plus some other fun things.

Basically, if someone gains access to your registrars user account, they can do whatever they wish with your domains.

Some domain registrars offer a feature in which they keep your domain in Registrar-lock status, which prevents unauthorized attempts at domain transfers. In this state, your registration information and DNS configuration cannot be changed until you unlock your domain name.

Luckily, enabling this option is often very easy and only requires you to select a specific box in your registrars user panel. Heres what it looks like at SiteGround:

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Initial Prices And Renewal Pricing

Most domain registrars require you to pay one year at a time, or you can choose to pay for multiple years to get a discount. The price for your first year of registration is often lower than the rate for subsequent years. So, while a low year one rate might catch your eye, youll want to make sure that the subsequent renewal prices are both affordable and in line with those of other registrars.

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How To Buy The Right Domain For Your Online Store

Choosing a domain name when creating an eCommerce website is one of the most important business decisions you can make. As the URL your customers type into the address bar of their browser, your domain name affects your branding, visibility, search rankings, and more. What with all the competition out there, you need to be memorable, and your domain name can do a lot to help or hinder that.

A bad domain name can make your site hard to find and impossible for customers to remember and a good domain name can do the exact opposite, firmly establishing your brand in the minds of online shoppers everywhere. This is why it’s so important that you choose the right domain name for your business.

Unfortunately, the process isn’t always easy. The registration itself is simple, but the steps leading up to it can present a significant challenge if you don’t know the details involved. Gaining a better understanding of domain names in general can help you grasp why this is such an important choice for your business, and can help you make an informed decision.

This article will explain the important facts about domain names and provide you with tips for choosing one that will serve your business well.

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Net Vs Com And More: What’s The Best Domain Extension

Your domain name is the face of your website and your online brand its the first thing visitors learn about your website. Every domain name is unique, but the best ones are relevant, familiar, and easy to remember.

domain extension

So, whats the right domain extension for your site? In this guide, Ill review and compare some of the most well-known extensions you can use to cap off your domain name. And dont worry if youre unsure what a domain extension actually is. Well start there.

Make Sure Its Easy To Pronounce

As easily as your domain name rolls off the tips of your fingers, it should roll off the tip of your tongue.

This makes it easier for visitors to share your domain name by word-of-mouth and makes it easier for you to share your site with friends and potential customers.

You can test this the same way as with the spelling.

Write your domain name on a piece of paper and ask 10 people to pronounce it. If more than a few people struggle to pronounce it, you should simplify it.

Heres what to keep in mind: You want your domain name to be passed along easily by you and others. The only way for that to be possible is if its 1) easy to spell and 2) easy to pronounce.

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Avoid Hyphens And Extra Characters In Your Domain Name

It happens all the time

Someone cant find their desired domain name, so they decide to add a few hyphens and a couple of numbers, and perfect! Right?

Not even a little bit.

Lets revisit Garys Coffee Shop and see what wouldve happened had he done this when choosing a domain name. If instead of selecting garyscoffee.online or garyscoffee.shop hed selected garys-coffee-736.com, he wouldve made a big mistake.

Take your customers and site visitors into account when choosing your domain name. The more random characters and numbers you have in your domain, the less likely it is for them to remember it. And that means they could misspell your domain name and end up on a competitors site, or assume your website is no longer functioning and youve gone out business.

Unless your business name is hyphenated and has numbers, and your customers are very familiar with it, dont include them in your domain name.

Tips To Choose The Best Business Domain Name

Yahoo Small Business

3 min read · 4 years ago

Brainstorming business domain names is an exciting time. Its the first step to launching your online business. But how do you choose the right one thatll stick with searchers and contribute to your overall growth?

Deciding on a domain name isnt something you want to do frivolously. The name you choose can impact your ability to rank for certain terms, affect how likely searchers are to click on your pages, improve your paid advertising, and even make it easier for searchers to type in your website directly, bypassing the search bar altogether.

The last thing you want is to be stuck with a website on a domain name that hinders, not helps, your online and offline marketability.

So get your thinking cap on, search for available domains, and check out these five tips below.

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About the Author

Alexandra Leslies interest in website administration was sparked in her teens, priming her for a fast-paced career in managing, building, and contributing to online brands, including HostingAdvice, Forbes, and the blogs of prominent hosting providers. She brings firsthand experience reviewing web hosts, perfecting website design, optimizing content, and walking site owners through the steps that add up to a successful online presence. Today, she combines her extensive writing experience with technical understanding to unpack some of the most complex topics that daunt novice website owners, as well as the subjects that excite veteran technologists within the HostingAdvice readership.

Choose A Brandable Name

We all know that branding is crucial to long-term success, but what exactly makes a domain name brandable? There are many factors that come into play here, but the most important ones are as follows:

• A brandable name has no specific meaning .
• Its unique your competition doesnt use anything similar.
• Its easy to memorize not too wordy, no complex vowel combinations.
• Its easy to pronounce and dictate over the phone.
• It sounds trustworthy some names can be a little shady by definition, for instance, WinTheLotteryToday.com may be too bold, but Lotterio.com sounds way better.

To make the brainstorming process easier, you can experiment with some combinations of actual words and random suffixes, like I did with the Lotterio.com example above. The main goal here is to create a potential for the domain name to build brand value over time.

In other words, as much as possible, try making sure the name has a good ring to it. It should be fun to say out loud, and not difficult to memorize immediately. Think about the likes of Uber: Its short and snappy, and theres no confusion as to how to spell it even when mentioned in passing in a conversation.

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Here’s The One Domain Registrar I’d Recommend And Why I Use It

Want to jump straight to the answer? Need hosting too? Get a FREE domain name with the best web hosting. You can instantly get a free domain name when you This is highly recommended if you need a hosting account for your new domain name, which most people do.

Just need a domain name without hosting? Domain.com is the best domain registrar for people that just need a domain name and already have hosting. Its the most affordable and easy-to-use. QUICKSPROUT.

A domain registrar can make or break your website building experience.

Luckily, you dont have to sweat it.

Below, Ive reviewed it along with six solid contenders based on years of experience. Over the course of my career starting, running, and selling businesses, Ive bought hundreds of domain names.

How Does The Domain Name Generator Tool Work

A domain name generator tool contains different algorithms that are used to find matching results for the users search query. When a user enters a keyword or a query in the search bar, it uses the algorithm to find different combinations of domain names similar to that query that are available to register.

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Avoid Cutesy Names And Abbreviations

Dont use cute shorteners like 4U and 2U in your domain names because:

• Theyre hard to remember.
• They look unprofessional.
• Only Prince could get away with that, and 4 real UR not Prince.

If you think people might have trouble remembering long URLs, know that theyll have a field day trying to remember your text-speak domain name! Steer clear and look for alternative domain names that convey your companys brand messaging without resorting to tricks like these.

What Privacy Concerns Should You Be Aware Of With Domain Names

Don’t neglect privacy concerns when choosing your domain name. Anyone can perform a whois search, and if the domain name does not have whois privacy enacted, all sorts of information including home addresses, email addresses, names and phone numbers can be displayed for anyone to see.

Some people try to get around that by registering their sites under fake names. But that can end up being against the terms of service, and the site can be shut down. Avoid that by registering for whois privacy for your domain names, especially for popular TLDs, such as .com, .net. and .org.

Additionally, if you need to ensure that your website maintains customer privacy for online purchases and credit card transactions, you may want to secure an SSL certificate for your domain name. An SSL certificate binds a domain name to a host name while keeping data secure between servers.

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Dot Com Ensures Your Site Is Recognized On The Web

Having a strong and bold online presence is the goal of all bloggers and having such an established top-level domain is just like the icing on the cake. Hence why many dot com websites are sold for millions, especially if they have become established brands with significant domain authority and web traffic. Think of it like your property, but on the web. Invest in it, improve it, build it and it will provide you with a great return. The more content and functionalities you add, the more possibilities evolve. Most online magazines are more than just content platforms. They provide self-publishing options, advertising, and networking opportunities, or even business directories.