domain name

A solid online presence has become critical for any business, regardless if it’s a company that has been functioning offline for a long time, or a startup that has just entered the market. Building a website and keeping it fresh and up-to-date will allow you to reach your goals more easily and establish the kind of reputation you desire for your company.

Getting a domain name is one of the first tasks to cover, when you aim to become present in the online environment. Your choice here can influence in one way or another your success, and automatically, your profitability as well.

Before spending time and resources on a domain name, you should first acknowledge why this choice is critical and what it can actually do for your business. The following factors will make the entire matter a bit clearer for you:

Helping your business interact with a niche market

A hyper-specific domain name can be essential if you are interacting with a restricted and highly specific audience. Functioning in a niche market means you should be attentive with your choices, and adopting an approach that actually appeals to your audience.

Take as an example the internationally-known website – Amazon. Considering the fact that the platform sells pretty much everything, the brand has worked towards creating specific domain redirects that helps online consumers easily come across the products they are interested in. A contextual domain, such as alexa.online or kindle.store, has as role to redirect an online shopper to the corresponding product page on the band’s primary website.

If you follow Amazon’s example, and rely on multiple domain name redirects, you can also monitor through analytics what your customers are mostly interested in. The data can be put to good use for marketing purposes.

Establishing business identity

Your domain name should provide a glimpse into your business’ profile. In most cases, this is the first way prospective customers interact with your brand. This is why it’s important for the domain name to actually communicate something about your company to website visitors.

Your choice here can have a role in establishing your business identity in the online community. It should speak to customers and draw them in, compel them to learn more about what you have to offer. When you are trying to make a choice ask yourself: Is the domain name representative for the company? Does it compel online users to browse my business’ website? Does it say something about the profile of the company?

“A business’ domain name can either help a business solidify their identity online, or on the contrary, affect its online popularity. Assessing your business culture, and choosing a name that is representative, and functions will in establishing a powerful business identity is critical” – explains Hattie Smith, digital marketing and branding specialist at Best Essay and The Guardian contributor.

Adding mobility to your online presence

Many businesses with limited experience in online activities don’t acknowledge why actually owning their domain name is important. Well, owning your domain name gives you the possibility to take that name with you if you decide to pursue a website transfer.

If you ever consider switching to your own in-house server, or to simply transfer from one Web host to another, you won’t have to take a new URL. This shift could put your digital branding efforts at risk if your business doesn’t own the domain name and needs to go live on an entirely different URL.

Promoting memorability

Proper domain name selection also fosters memorability. You want digital consumers to not only come across your website, but to memorize your business’ online profile and return. Being memorable means you will be increasing your odds of obtaining revisits from your target audience. It will also increase word-of-mouth recommendations. If the domain name is short and easy to remember, your current visitors can easily recommend your website to friends and family, helping you, thus, organically increase your site traffic rankings.

Credibility

Credibility is one of the most relevant factors for businesses, regardless of size and profile. You want customers to see your company as a serious one, one they can safely resort to at any given time. Well, you should know that your domain name can actually have a say here.

Prospective customers will be more tempted to interact with businesses that actually have an established online presence, and seem professional. A custom domain makes it possible for you to inspire trust, and might determine more visitors to actually transact with your company, and choose it over competitors that have put in less time and attention into their presence in the online environment.

Shorter is better

Don’t go overboard with your domain name building. Even if you want to stand out, and choose a name that is representative and catches the eye, that doesn’t mean you should opt for something long and complex. In this situation, shorter is always better.

As mentioned above, you want a domain name that people can actually remember easily, and the store it is, the easier it will be for you to meet that goal.

DataGenetics.com research points out that popular domain name length should is somewhere around 12 characters, so keep it concise. Also, you should make it easy to type. You don’t want visitors to misspell your name and be redirected to another site. Take as an example Google, Facebook, and Instagram – all of these names are easy to spell and pronounce, so making an error when typing is less likely to happen.

Brandable over generic

While you are recommended to aim towards a name that is short and easy to remember that doesn’t mean you should choose something generic. The characteristic to keep in mind when you are figuring things out in this department is “brandable”

What does that mean? A name that is unique and stands out, has meaning, is interesting. Don’t focus too much on stuffing it with keywords, just to boost your SEO results, because generic options are not only unpopular, but inspire less trust.

Think long-term

Changing your domain name at some point in the future will cost you time, money, SEO rankings, and marketing efforts. That’s why the golden role when picking a name is to think long-term, rather than short-term. If you believe there is a chance for your business’ profile to expand, and for your company to provide different products or services in the future, make a flexible choice here, one that can meet potential scalability requirements.

Bottom line

Deciding on a domain name for your business might not seem like a complex start at first. However, once you look into the subject more in-depth, and acknowledge the advantages that can be accessed if you make a suitable choice, you’ll start viewing this as a relevant responsibility. As you can see in the information stated above, your domain name can, in fact, influence your company’s online presence, contributing to its success and further growth. Invest sufficient time and attention in coming up with the perfect domain name, and your profitability will be directly impacted.

Nicole D.Garrison is a content strategist, writer, and contributor at TrustMyPaper, GrabMyEssay and a number of platforms for marketing specialists. She is a dedicated and experienced author who pays particular attention to quality research. At her free time, Nicole is a passionate runner and a curious beekeeper. Moreover, she runs her own blog LiveInspiredMagazine.

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