Guide to Choosing a Good Domain

Before you choose a domain, it's important to remember some simple tips and guidelines to make sure your website gets the maximum number of visitors.

1) Make It Easy to Guess

This is Rule Number One: You want people to be able to guess, and later remember, how to get to your website. If possible, your domain should be the name of your business - something your customers can easily predict, even if they only know your company's name. For example, if your business is named "Acme Flooring", then www.acmeflooring.com is the best domain for you.

What's the big deal? The internet is quick, and attention spans are short. If people are forced to figure out your web address, or to remember a complicated one, you're likely to lose their attention before they've even made it to your site.

2) Keep It Short and Sweet

In keeping with Rule Number One, you should keep your domain short and to the point. If the name of your business is "Sweet Nothings Bakery, Florist and Gift Shop", that's a little too long to turn into a domain name. But you can still choose an easy-to-guess domain by picking www.sweetnothings.com, or www.sweetnothingsbakery.com.

3) Avoid Abbreviations

It may be tempting to put an abbreviation in your domain name, either because your desired name isn't available or because the unabbreviated version is too long. But using an abbrevation in your domain means your customers have to guess that you abbreviated! You just violated Rule Number One. For example, if your business is named "Stetson and Smith Insurance Agency", you should avoid www.ssinsuranceagy.com. The domain www.stetsonandsmith.com is much better.

There are a few exceptions to this rule. For example, you could probably guess that Greater Savalas County Community College's web address is an acronym - www.gsccc.edu. But unless you're a rather large and very well-known business in your area, you'll probably want to avoid using an acronym.

4) Dot What?

Every domain name has a suffix - .com, .net, .org, and so on. Suffixes such as .gov (reserved for government agencies) and .edu (reserved for educational institutions) are off limits, but otherwise you can choose any suffix you like. But again, don't get fancy. You may think ".org" just sounds better than ".com", but remember that most people will guess that your website ends with .com because it is the oldest and most widely used suffix.

It's important to understand how suffixes can work against you and actually lose customers. Let's say your business is named "Amazon Used Books", and you want to use the domain www.amazon.com. Obviously that one is taken, so it may be tempting to use amazon.net or amazon.org instead. Be careful! If someone assumes that your domain is www.amazon.com and goes online to type it in, they'll get directed to the website of an online book-selling powerhouse - and one of your competitors! Try www.amazonusedbooks.com instead... or in this extreme case, you may want to consider changing your business name!

Many businesses have decided to take care of this problem by paying to register several different versions of their domain name. In addition to the .com version of their name, they will also purchase the .net, .org, and even .biz versions. If you're afraid your name is relatively common and the domains are available, this is probably a good idea. You can register available domains for just a few extra dollars per month. Just let us know and we can get it taken care of for you.

5) Wacky Characters

Domain names can only consist of letters, numbers, and dashes, and they are not case-sensitive. So if your business's name is "Sanford & Son", your domain will have to be www.sanfordandson.com.

6) Second Opinions

Once you've got some choices in mind, ask other people what they think. We'll be glad to offer advice as well! A domain name may sound perfect to you, but others may find it confusing, too long, hard to guess, or difficult to spell.

7) Register Your Domain Name NOW

With all the new websites that are being created every day, domain names are being snatched up faster than beads at Mardi Gras. Even if you're not planning on getting your thoughts on a website together for a while, go ahead and choose a name so we can get it registered for you. Tomorrow might be too late.

To that end, be sure to have at least three choices for domain names when you put in your request to us. It may be that your first choice has already been registered. Attached to one particular name? We can get information for you about when the registration expires, and we can even contact the current owner and offer to buy it from them. But be prepared to pay a premium; many domain name owners will be glad to part with their beloved domains - in exchange for thousands of dollars.

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