Monday, March 25, 2024

Why Do I Need A Domain Name For My Business

Don't Miss

Do Consider Memorability + Readability + Seo

What You Should Know Before Buying a Domain Name

Some marketers swear by 6 letter domain names. Some like to make the domain name a word like or del.icio.us .

But there are other sites like IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com or CopywritingCourse.com that violate nearly every best practice but are still successful. Its good to have a memorable domain name, and one that is easy to type in, and maybe has a keyword, or not but the main goal of buying the domain is to allow people to get to your site.

If your site is good and well-promoted, then people will come, and if notthen it really doesnt matter what domain you have or how many you own.

Dont Buy The Domain If Its Not For A Unique Site

Heres a typical scenario youve got an existing website. You have new content, or new products that you want to promotebut it does not quite fit under the domain that you have.

You consider buying a new domain name for that new content or new product instead of using your existing domain.

Dont buy that new domain just yet.

Why? Well, you will be starting from ground zero in terms of audience, search engine indexing, and content. If you use your existing domain, youll get to build off its existing equity.

However, other companies/bloggers/people obviously do this all the time , so whats the best practice? Here we go Sponsored Links

  • If the new site has a 100% different target audience, voice, or brandthen buy the domain name.
  • If the new site is a one-off content feature if the content appeals to the same type of people who read your site now if its really just a categorization issue for youdo not buy the domain.
  • Instead, look at ways that you can expand the description of the site to catch that one-off topic because you arent writing for a topic, you are writing for the types of people who are interested in that topic.
  • If you dont have a whole new audience, dont buy the domain, especially because it is usually associated with Rule #2.

You’re Not Stuck With Paying Forever If You Want To Quit

You are under no obligation to keep paying for the domain name. That is, if you decide in the end that you want to close yourwebsite, simply don’t renew your domain name. Normally, when your domain name is about to expire at the end of its registration period,the domain name registrar will send you an email message to remind you that it’s time to renew. If you don’t want to keep the domain,just ignore the email and don’t pay for the next year’s fee. Their system will then automatically terminate your domain name atthe end of that period, and that’s that. When you type that domain into your browser after that date, you will no longer seeyour website.

Note: if you have originally asked your registrar to automatically renew your domain name, and now don’t want it done,you will need to return to your registrar’s website to disable the automatic renewal. Otherwise the registrarwill go ahead and charge your credit card for the renewal fee when the domain is about to expire .

Don’t Miss: Buy And Sell Domains For Profit

Why Do I Have An Onmicrosoftcom Domain

Microsoft 365 creates a domain for you, like contoso.onmicrosoft.com, when you sign up with the service. The user ID that you create when you sign up includes the domain, like .

If you want to have your email look like :buy the domain or just follow the steps in Add your users and domain to Microsoft 365 if you own it already.

  • You cant rename the onmicrosoft domain after sign-up. For example, if the initial domain you chose was fourthcoffee.onmicrosoft.com, you cant change it to be fabrikam.onmicrosoft.com. To use a different onmicrosoft.com domain, youd have to start a new subscription with Microsoft 365.

  • You cant rename your team site URL. Your team site URL is based on your onmicrosoft.com domain name. Unfortunately, because of the way SharePoint Online architecture works, you cant rename the team site.

  • You cant remove your onmicrosoft domain. Microsoft 365 needs to keep it around because its used behind the scenes for your subscription. But you dont have to use the domain yourself after youve added a custom domain.

You can keep using the initial onmicrosoft.com domain even after you add your domain. It still works for email and other services, so its your choice.

Length Of Domain Name

Why Do I Need a Domain Name?

It is always better to have a domain name that is short and easy to remember. Ideally, the length should be between 6-10 letters, with 8 being the sweet spot. Simple, concise, and typeable should be the rule over longer, more descriptive names.

The longer the domain, the more opportunity there is for a misspelling when typing. Also, when combining words in a domain, beware of letters that dont normally link together or are confusing, like expertsexchange.com for the site Experts Exchange. Not ideal.

Avoid using hyphens and numbers as they can complicate and frustrate users. Always remember: simple is best.

Also Check: How To Make Money Selling Domain Names

Add Credibility To Your Business

Having a personal domain name with the right extensions makes every company look more professional. Generic addresses simply dont inspire confidence in clients, therefore making a poor choice would directly reflect on the business that is being promoted. Logically, the customers might think that you are not willing to invest in your business, thus come to the conclusion that your products or services are also low quality. This is a risk that needs to be avoided.

Get Your Name Servers

Once you register your domain you’ll want to get the names of your web host’s primary and secondary name servers, and save the information in a good place. It is often in the FAQs section on their site, or under a category like “domain name”, “DNS” or “domain name transfer”.

If you can’t find it, email customer service. You’ll need the information to point your domain name to your webhost . If you got your webhost and domain at the same place then you don’t have to worry about this.

Recommended Reading: What Is The Io Domain Used For

Take The Opportunity To Brainstorm A New Brand Name

You might be thinking this tip is a cop-out.

But theres a lot of value to this idea.

Let me explain.

Imagine two entrepreneurs have just created a search engine. The working name? BackRub.

But that could be easily confused with massage services. People dont normally associate search engines with the term back rub.

So these entrepreneurs choose another name, a better one: Google.

Thats rightthe worlds most popular search engine started its life as BackRub.

So if your perfect domain name is taken, it could be an opportunity in disguise.

Youll have to hit the drawing board again, but you can come up with a different, unique name that will stand on its own.

Has The Characteristics Of A Strong Brand

Why Your Business Needs a Business Domain Name

Brand characteristics are synonymous with domain name requirements. Your domain name should contain the elements of a strong brand.

Unique and Meaningful

A good brand name is unique and meaningful. What is that one thing that separates your brand from your competitors? If possible, you can make that part of your domain name.

Reflect Your Services

Your domain name should also be meaningful and clear. It should reflect your company name and/or services. If applicable, it can even be inspiring so that new visitors will explore your site and become customers.

You May Like: How Much Do Domains Cost Per Year

Looks More Professional In The Eyes Of Your Customers

Having a website makes you look more trusty and reliable. Of course, you can build a site by using a free subdomain like mybobssite123.wordpress.com but how professional looks that site for the rest of the people? Having your own domain name gives more trustworthiness to your site overall. Just think how many well-known companies use their own domain instead of a free subdomain like wix.com, .blogger.com or wordpress.com.

The cost of buying a domain name is much less compared with the loss of reliability because you are using a free subdomain instead.

Look At Alternative Tlds

In most cases, if your domain name is taken, it means the .com is taken. Often, the other TLDs arent taken, so you could technically opt for one of those.

But wait! Dont rush off and buy whatever TLD you can find.

This is a complicated decision.

Here are some of the factors to keep in mind.

First,people trust .com URLs more than any other TLD.

The .com extension has a lot on its side. Its familiar, its been around for a while, and its been the gold standard of TLDs for years.

Second, many people think some TLDs are spammy. People tend to think of .com URLs as safe and other TLDs as unsafe or untrustworthy.

Obviously, thats not always the case, but some people will think that no matter what. They cant get their heads around the idea of a trustworthy site that doesnt end in .com.

Third, alternative TLDs have no SEO advantage. No TLD is inherently better than any other.

That information :

So what does this mean for you?

If you want to use a TLD thats not .com, you can do so without losing any SEO power.

However, your audience might not trust it.

It helps if the TLD is directly related to your business or niche. Twitch, a site that broadcasts users playing video games in real time, smartly uses the .tv TLD:

In the end, you have to consider how easy its going to be for your users to remember your URL and whether or not theyll trust a domain thats not a .com.

Also Check: What Is The Io Domain Used For

Which To Decide First Your Business Name Or Domain Name

Naming a new business is hard enough, without having to decide and register a domain name also! I recommend that small business owners first decide on their business or domain name as such:

  • If you sell Business to Consumer, decide on your domain name first, because there is a lot of online competition and you want to stand out in search engine results.
  • If your company is brick and mortar, decide on your company name first. Domain name options for restaurants and services are adding your geographic location into your URL but not your company name. An example of Vitos Pizzeria and VitoPizzeriaNYC.com .
  • If your business is online-based, first decide on your domain name since that will be the name your customers will associate with your brand.

You May Like: How To Transfer Squarespace Domain To Godaddy

How Do I Acquire A Domain Name

Why do I need a Domain name? (and what do I do with it ...

There are two main ways you can get a domain name. You can either register your domain name yourself or you can get your web host or ISP to register it for you. To register a domain name yourself you will need to choose a Registrar. A Registrar is an ICANN accredited domain registration company. There are hundreds of Registrars on the Internet nowadays. The market is becoming increasingly competitive which means that you can purchase domains names for a low yearly fee. Most web hosting companies will offer domain registration services to their clients. When you register a domain name through a web host they will register your domain name for you through their own approved registrar. An advantage to having your web host register your domain name for you is that, they have probably done this process many times before they have all the necessary information ready at hand. This process will save you time and, as long as you give the ?correct? domain name desired, there will be no unfamiliar dealings with Registrars.

Recommended Reading: Who Owns My Domain

What Is The Big Hype About Private Registration

Have you ever received un-solicitied phone calls, emails or mail?Whenyou register a domain without private registration, your contact info are entered into was is called the WHOIS record. If you do not privatize your registration information, it is public information. For the past few years, companies have been collecting WHOIS contact info to send unsolicited Mail, Emails, and Phone Calls. I highly recommend registering each and every domain with private registration. It costs a little more, but I have found over the years, it is worth doing it.

Why Every Small Business Should Own A Domain Name

Starting a business? You should buy a domain name.

A domain name is the address for a websiteyou’re reading this article on zapier.com, for example. Registering a domain name isn’t expensive, typically costing around $15 a year.

Some businesses use the free subdomains offered by web hosts like Wix or WordPress.com. If Zapier went this route, for example, you could be reading this article on zapier.wordpress.com, and we’d have an extra $15 a year to spend on snacks.

Obviously, it would be silly for a tech company like Zapier not to have a dedicated domain name. We’d look amateurish. Here’s the thing, though: this is true for every business. You should buy a domain, even if you don’t plan on having much of a websiteor any website at all. Here’s why.

Speaking of WordPress: here’s the , just in case you’re thinking about choosing one or the other. And here are .

Don’t Miss: How To Transfer Squarespace Domain To Godaddy

It Helps You Brand Yourself

You can control your image in terms of the way you dress, speak, and present yourself in person, but controlling your image online is a whole other challenge. Truth be told, consumers rely on the internet for many of their purchasing decisions, and while they might be interested in your services they must first be willing to invest in the brand that is you. Purchasing your own domain name is a great opportunity to build up your digital presence and develop your personal brand to influence the way potential customers view you both personally and professionally.

What Should You Know About Copyright And Trademark Issues With Domain Names

How To Choose the Best Domain Names

You always want to be 100% sure that you’re not registering a domain name that has already been trademarked by someone else.

The same goes for any domain names you might buy for niche sites. For example, if you’re planning to write reviews of a certain brand’s golf clubs, you should never buy a domain name that is xyzbrandgolfclubreviews.com without express permission from that brand. When in doubt, seek legal advice.

Also Check: Squarespace To Godaddy

If You Are A Blogger You Can Monetize Easier And Earn Money From Ads

When you use a free subdomain like blogger.com or wordpress.com you are missing a big chance of getting good money from ads. The premium ad brokers and even the medium or big companies that spend a lot of money on advertising, they will not put ads on websites built on free subdomains.

The minimum requirement would be to have owned your domain and have good web traffic.

More articles

Popular Articles

Who’s My Domain Provider

What Is A Domain Word