How to Choose a Domain Name for your Next Business

Choosing a Domain Name is the First Step to Building a Successful Business and Brand

When the internet was young, it was easy to choose a domain name for your business. There was once a company called Pets.com which had a great domain name. It was pretty easy to figure out what they did. They sold pet supplies. Pets.com was also a colossal failure because they never sold anything. They raised millions of dollars in venture capital but never thought ahead about how to pay the investors a return based on sales. They never sold anything and were one of the greatest flops of the ‘Dot-com Bust’ of 2001.

Now, the domain name Pets.com is owned by Petsmart. What does Petsmart do? They sell pet supplies, actually sell pet supplies. Petsmart took the initiative and redirects the name Pets.com to their brand distancing themselves from a name that was once known as the biggest dot-com failure and uses that domain name to further build their brand.

Strategies for Choosing a Domain Name

1. Build a Brand

The main thing to remember when you choose a domain name is that you are building a brand with your domain name. It should be something that is short, easy to remember. Your domain name should also reflect what your company does or illustrate its value to customers. If you choose your name for your domain, then you have to build your name into a brand. Even Walmart had to start somewhere.

2. Pick a local theme (maybe)

Another idea for choosing a domain name is to keep it local…sometimes. Picking a domain name with an obscure reference to your location can backfire on you. Choosing a motto or a slogan instead of the actual location will not work if you intend to grow into a national or international presence. If you pick an airport code for your city, make sure it is something that is obvious. For example, ATL is an obvious airport code for Atlanta, but you wouldn’t think that ORD is a reference to Chicago unless you are in the airline industry or fly a lot.

Here is how not to base your domain name around your location. We wanted to reflect our roots in Atlanta, so we originally picked ResurgensWebSolutions.com. It seemed like a good idea at the time. “Resurgens” is the motto for the city of Atlanta after all. After our business took a national turn we discovered very quickly that no one but us knew what “resurgens” meant. It was also very hard to say over the phone and have the other person pay attention.

3. Reflect what your business does

An excellent example of this is this site. This site’s domain is eTechWebSolutions because that is what we do. We are a web solutions company that offers domain name registration and transfer, web hosting solutions, email solutions, marketing solutions and more. Therefore we chose the domain name, eTechWebSolutions.com.

4. Use Keywords

We build websites so they will be seen. One of those methods for people to find our websites is for search engines to find them for people.The ways people find websites is by keywords. Another reason we chose our domain name is because “web solutions” is a good keyword for people looking for web solutions. If no one can find your website, you have an expensive hobby instead of a business. A great place to choose keywords for your domain name is Google Ads free Keyword Planner.

Where to Choose a Domain Name

A great place to choose a domain name for your business is right here on our Domain Registration page. You can select the domain name that works best for your business. We also offer web hosting solutions to fit your budget and your needs. We also offer the best customer service in the business. Get started with your new business today and choose your domain name with eTech Web Solutions.