Owning the ‘right’ domain name is one of the best assets your can purchase on for your business. Get it ‘right’ and it will enhance, even drive, your online business. Get it wrong and well…if it’s not working for you, it’s probably working against you.

We’ve all seen it, maybe on the back of a bus, go to my website at www.clevlandmacmillanjones.co.nz. By the time we’re home and on the internet it has become www.macmillanjonesclevland.co.nz or perhaps www.jonesclevlandmacmillan.co.nz.

Choose the

Here are some tips to choosing the best domain name for your business:

1. Short is sweet. Although you can register up to 63 characters remember your customers need to remember it and easily type it into their browser. A good rule of thumb, unless you are registering a dictionary keyword, is to keep it under 7 characters. If your business is called Cleveland MacMillan Jones, as a first preference check if www.cmj.co.nz is free, if yes, use that as your primary domain name (the one you put on all your branding and promotion) then also purchase www.clevlandmacmillanjones.co.nz and forward this secondary domain to www.cmj.co.nz so that you capture any additional traffic.
2. Dot what? Have you got customers outside NZ or is your business primarily local to NZ? If purely local go for .co.nz; if international I would go for .com
3. Avoid trademarks (unless it’s your own!) in a domain name. You will be found and punished – it’s just not worth it.
4. Register first or pay later. I’ve seen it happen so often, it amazes me. The marketing department choose the name of a campaign or initiative, tell everyone; get the brochures, posters, bookmarks etc etc printed, even commission a pretty website only to find out near launch that the domain they assumed they would just get isn’t available. Oh dear….”but everything is branded www.wellingtonfitday.co.nz?! What do you mean it’s not free?” Before you undertake any branding that will include a website address make sure you register the domain name. It can be a very expensive lesson.
5. Character Types. Domain names can only use letters, numbers, and dashes. Spaces and symbols are not allowed. Also, domain names are not case sensitive.
6. Get feedback. Once you’ve decided on a domain name, purchase it immediately. Then, and only after you have purchased it, ask people (preferably users of your future website) what they think of it. Can they spell it, remember it, does it make sense to them? If you do this market research before you have purchased it you run the risk of someone else purchasing the domain before you. Secure it first, domains are cheap, if feedback from people is not positive get another domain and let the unwanted one expire.

Always remember you want to make it as easy as possible for your customers to find you online.