Choosing The Perfect Domain Name

Choosing the perfect domain name is the first step in giving your business an online presence, and it’s important to choose wisely. Not only is it your address on the web, it’s also a representation of your business. Here are some pointers to help you out:

Using Your Company Name:

Registering your business name as the domain is a great start. It supports your company identity and makes it recognizable to your existing clients.

Keep it easy to remember and if possible, make it catchy.

For example, if your business is called Carpet Cleaners Carpet Conditioning USA, go for something shorter like cleancarpets.com. or cleancarpetco.com.

Should your company name not be available, it’s not essential that your name and domain name be the same. You can get creative and create a different domain name, just ensure it aligns with your brand, while still being memorable and easy to spell.

Premium Domains:

Premium domain names are often common words like hotels.com, or short combinations of letters and usually end in the .com TLD. These domains have several qualities that Google tends to hold in high regard and may outperform other domains in user searches.

They may cost a bit more and could already be registered so use our quick search tool on our Domain Registration page to check.

If you’re interested in a premium domain, feel free to reach out to our Sales Team for more information.

Using Characters:

If your desired domain is already taken, consider using hyphens or alternative spelling. Just make sure people are aware of the hyphen or any spelling variations to avoid confusion and sending your clients off to the wrong website.

Keep in mind the use of unusual characters could potentially have a negative effect. They can make your domain name less appealing; harder to remember and you may experience users not finding your website that easily.

Additionally, using numbers as substitutes for words should be done smartly and should align with your branding while adding value to it.

TLDs, 2nd Level TLDs & gTLDs:

Explore using variations of your chosen Top Level Domain (TLD), the suffix that comes after the dot in your domain name.

For instance, in addition to the .com domain, you can look at registering TLDs like .net, .org, .biz or the generic .info gTLD. These can all be pointed to your primary website and give you an advantage over competitors.

2nd Level TLDs are country codes and can be used skillfully, especially .us – find out more about TLDs in this Knowledgebase article: What is a Top Level Domain (TLD)?

Give Yourself Options:

If you can afford it, consider registering multiple domains relevant to your business. This helps people find you even if they don’t know your exact business name. Once you have checked the availability of your chosen domain name, you will get a list of similar ones that you can choose to register for as well.

For instance, using the earlier example, you could register cleancarpets, carpetcleaners, cleanandconditioned, and more. Not to mention it can help with preventing competitors from using similar domain names to yours.

At Hosted.com, we make it easy for you to search for multiple domains and even bulk register them. And if you’re looking to transfer an existing domain to us, we’ve got you covered too.

Search for the perfect domain name:

Let’s get started on building your online presence! You can start the search for the right domain name for your small business via the Search on our Domain Registration page.