Anyone who has operated a brick-and-mortar business will tell you about the painstaking consideration that goes into each decision you make regarding physical location. What you might not realize is that building a successful website and digital presence requires just as much time, care and effort. Your business name and signage draw foot traffic into your brick-and-mortar shops. Online, it’s your domain name that will attract potential customers to your e-commerce website. Just like with any business (online or offline), more visitors increases your potential to make sales. But, not every domain is a great one. So, what are the best methods for choosing a domain name for your e-commerce business? That’s what I’ll be covering in this blog post. By the time you’ve read this post you’ll know exactly how to land the perfect domain name — and avoid the duds.
Tips For Choosing An E-Commerce Domain Name
Launching a new online business can be a very exciting venture. But before you can begin building your site, add products, and begin selling, you need to decide on which domain name you want your website to reside at. There’s a lot to a good name, and some will resonate with people better than others. Here’s what you need to know about choosing a domain name to create a strong, branded e-commerce business.
Look For Exact Match Domains
If you already have a business name that people know and trust, it’s going to be in your best interest to find the matching domain name. Your business identity should be consistent, both on the world wide web and off, so you don’t want to use two different names if you can avoid it. But, it isn’t always easy to find a domain name that exactly matches your business name, especially if you’re only searching for a .COM domain. Still, just because your exact match domain name isn’t readily available, doesn’t mean all hope is lost. Here’s what you can do about it.
Expand Domain Extension Search Horizons – Obviously the .COM extension is king. Much of .COM’s notoriety has to do with the fact that it’s familiar to people. But familiarity isn’t what you’re after with an e-commerce domain name — relevancy and memorability are. For the most relevant, memorable domain name, you might need to think outside the .com box. Instead, consider using a newer domain extension, or nTLD, to create the perfect domain name. By choosing an nTLD for your domain name, you can get a more descriptive domain name that clearly imparts the purpose of your site and business. For example, if your business name is “Toms Coffee” but TomsCoffee.com is taken, another extension such as .STORE, .BIZ or .SHOP might work great instead.
Purchase A Premium Domain – Perhaps when you first searched for a domain name you saw the one you wanted in the results, but it was more expensive than the others. How could that be? Chances are it was a premium domain name. Premium domain names have been registered in the past. They’re keyword-rich, which can help give your site’s SEO a boost, and they’re often shorter and more memorable. All of these characteristics serve to make them brandable and increase their value. And if the premium domain was previously used for a website, it may even come with established website traffic which could help any new website owner! Premium domain names are a great investment in your e-commerce business, so don’t overlook them.
Avoid Hyphens And Extra Characters
Someone can’t find their desired domain name, so they figure putting a hyphen in there couldn’t hurt, right? Not even a little bit. Take your customers and website visitors into account when choosing your domain. The more random characters and numbers you have in your domain name, the less likely it will be for them to remember it. That means they could misspell your domain name and end up on a competitor’s site, or assume your website is no longer functioning and you’ve gone out business. Unless your business name is hyphenated and has numbers, and your customers are very familiar with it, don’t include them in your domain name.
No Unique Spelling
We’re all unique in some way and so are our businesses. In fact, you must have a differentiator that sets you apart from your competitors. Just don’t make that differentiator a uniquely spelled domain name. You might think that having an interestingly spelled domain means it’s memorable, but that’s usually not the case. Hyphens between every other letter and random numbers at the end of your domain name are difficult to remember and something you should refrain from doing. Remember, your domain should be as clear and easy to spell as possible. That way, customers will always be able to find you.
