Importance of Selecting a Domain Name

A domain name is important for a lot of reasons. You need to understand what is associated with a domain name before selecting one to help you make the right choice. The purchase of a domain name is relatively inexpensive. Changing domain names, however, can be costly when everything has already been associated with one domain name.

Recall

You want as short a name as possible. You want something people can easily remember and are unlikely to misspell.

Search Engine Results

It's important to show up at the top of search engine results. One way to do that is by having a domain name that matches your topic. If your website will be all about cars, having a domain with the word cars in the name is helpful.

Trustworthiness

It's also important to get a domain name that matches closely with your business because it will lend more credibility. If people come to your site that is supposed to be about cars, but the domain is jeffssite.com, they will be less inclined to find it trustworthy on the topic.

Business Name

If you have an offline business and your website will be a connection to that business, you want the domain name to make that clear. You want people to have no trouble finding you online. The only exception might be if you can get a very simple domain that speaks clearly to your industry. For example, if you could get carsales.com and you are selling cars, that would be a good fit.

Extension

The extension of a domain name is more important than most people realize. Though you can pick any extension, most people give a ".com" more credence for a business. Pick the right extension to fit your website.

References

• Henry Amon; Information Systems Specialist; Salisbury, Maryland