business

Choosing the best website domain name for your small business

Ting Staff • September 15, 2017

Tips on finding the best website domain name

If you’re a small business owner you may choose to build your business online. This has a lot of benefits, from reaching customers at a distance and in different time zones to building credibility within a certain online community. Whatever the reason, once you decide to build your brand online there’s a major factor to consider – your domain name.

Our sister company, Hover has a few tips that you should keep in mind when searching for the perfect domain name for your small business.

Make it pass the radio test

When you’re creating your domain name, consider these three questions. If you answer yes to all three, your domain passes the radio test:

• Does the domain sound good?
• Is your domain name easy to spell after hearing it?
• Is your domain easy to remember?

Make it simple

Domain names are meant to make websites easily accessible. Instead of having to remember a string of numbers related to an IP address, domain names let you use recognizable words to find a particular site. Your domain name shouldn’t receive the same tact as your instant messenger name in the 90s.

Adding numbers and hyphens to your domain will only add complexity to something that should be simple and succinct.

Make it short

When you’re coming up with your domain name you want it to link back to a simple rule of how the mind works – the shorter something is, the easier it is to remember.

If you keep your domain short, it will be easier for people to remember when trying to search for it later.

Make it easy to interpret

If someone can look at your domain name and understand what your business does, it’s a good sign. If you are building a photography website, you may decide to use yourname.COM, however you may want to consider yourname.PHOTO or yourname.PHOTOGRAPHY.

Yes, you can have something other than .COM and there are over 500 options. We’ll get to that shortly.

Don’t stress about keywords

When it comes to SEO, keywords can help you appear higher in search rankings. Although keywords can be a great trick, packing them in will not help people remember your domain.

If you include keywords that are relevant to your brand, remember the important rules mentioned above. Does it tie back to your brand? Is it easy to remember?

Try a new TLD

Top level domains (TLD for short) are what are to the right of the dot after your name. For hover.com, .COM is the TLD. This is the case for most websites that you come across; however, many companies are using new TLDs to create memorable and well-branded domains.

Some TLDs are more general like .NET, .COM and .XYZ, while others are more specific like .PHOTO, .TECH and .DESIGN. There are also tons of geographically-based TLDs like .CA, .PARIS and .LONDON.

Hover supports over 500 TLDs to better describe your company. If yourname.COM isn’t available or you just want to think through some ideas, try Hover’s domain lookup tool to find the perfect TLD for your small business.

Keep your domain separate from your web host

There are some important considerations to make when deciding where to purchase your domain name. Hover suggests keeping your domain separate from your web host for a few reasons.

Registering your domain name with Hover will keep your domain name and your data secure and easy to manage. If you ever decide to switch hosts, you can change your settings with a few simple clicks without losing your website, traffic and customers.

Ready to buy a domain? Just go to hover.com and use the coupon code ting to get 15% off your first purchase.