What are domain names and how to choose the name.
First of all, what exactly is a domain name?
Your domain name is your identity on the internet. It’s the name that people use to find your website, and it appears in your web address right after the letters and symbols: http://www.___
Like this:
Below, we’ll take a look at how to choose the best domain name for your website and set it up quickly.
Strategies for Choosing a Great Domain Name
You can pick anything you like for your domain name. But to really optimize your internet presence, you’ll want to make sure your domain name is:
Memorable
Keyword-rich (i.e., includes a word or phrase people often Google)
Relatively short
Easy to pronounce and spell
When choosing a domain name, businesses often simply use the name of their company. But you don’t have to. Your domain name could be a description of your business instead.
For example, "Maggie’s Cakes" could use the domain name, "deliciouscakes.com." You might choose to do this if the phrase in question (in this case, “delicious cakes”) is something that people often type into Google. If you make that your domain name, your website could come up as a result!
Or, your domain name could be a simplification of your business name. Take my father’s medical practice, for instance. Technically, it’s "Mowbray P. Hagan MD, Inc." — which would be www.mowbrayphaganmdinc.com — but instead he used HaganMD.com to make it more memorable and easier to spell out.
Where to Purchase a Domain Name
You can purchase a domain name from a registrar website. You can buy any domain name as long as it's not already purchased and registered by someone else.
Here are just a few registrar websites you can use:
There are many popular registrars out there and they’re all very similar in price.
The biggest difference is that many hosting services will also throw in a free domain name if you purchase your hosting service through them. Because I work with many clients and use many different hosting platforms, I prefer to keep all of my domains separate from my hosting service. But this is not entirely necessary.
How to Purchase Your Domain Name
Step 1: Go to the registrar's website and type the name you want for your domain name into their search bar. If it is not available, the registrar will often give you other options that are similar. If it is available, the registrar will also give you the option to choose from the different versions (extensions) such as .com, .org, .net, and so on.
Step 2: Type in the domain you want, and choose an extension: like mydomain.org or mydomain.net, etc. If you come across any other extensions that you don't commonly see, you don’t need to purchase those. Stick with .com, .net, or .org.
In most cases, I would stick with purchasing the .com version of your website in order to give your company more authority and legitimize your appearance on the web. But there are some exceptions.
For example, if you are a non-profit using a .org extension, that will help give you authority, since most non-profits use that extension.
Also, if your domain is very common, like cars.com, then you may want to purchase multiple versions of that domain to avoid someone else from putting up a competing website. Domain names are inexpensive enough to go ahead and purchase the .com and the .net versions of your domain.
Finally, what if someone has already purchased the .com extension of the domain name that you want but the .net is available? In my experience, I would avoid purchasing the .net if someone else already has the .com. Even if your businesses may be very different, it might create confusion down the line.
And, That’s It… You’re Done!
Once you have your domain name, you’re ready for the next step. Check out my post on “How to Choose a Hosting Service” for all the details.
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