Choosing the right domain name for your business is extremely important as this is the online identity that customers will associate your business with, which may differ from your company’s brand name. With over 100,000 new domain names registered daily, knowing the right strategy requires careful planning. Below are some things to consider.
KISS
The age-old adage of KISS (“Keep it simple stupid”) is ever more important when it comes to domain names. Pick a domain name that is easy to spell, one that even someone who is not familiar with your brand can remember easily. Your website domain should be easy enough that a 10 year old would be able to spell it out for you.
Pro tip: Start by searching for domain names with the least number of characters. While most domain names with 4 or less letters are taken, there are still a small handful of 5 or 6 letter domains. Avoid domain names with hyphens as they are more complicated.
Use .com unless there’s an absolutely good reason not to
Despite the growing number of new domain extensions, the gold standard for domain name extension remains .com for good reason (think of the last time you went to a website of a major brand that did not use this extension). Always go for this unless there is a strong legitimate reason not to. Remember that if the .com is taken, using a different extension will make it harder for your visitors to find you as they may accidentally type in your domain but with the .com extension, ending up on that site instead!
Pro tip: If your business will only be based in Singapore and focusing on Singapore based customers, you can also consider using .com.sg extension as it may improve your search engine ranking and visibility in Singapore in certain cases. Note that you will need to be a Singapore based company registered in ACRA in order to be able to do this. You can always get both .com and .com.sg if they are available to ensure you have secured the most important extensions for yourself.
Social handles
A common oversight is not researching whether the domain name you choose has the same handle available in the relevant social media channels that you will be using. The reason this is important is that this allows you to maintain a singular name in order to communicate with your visitors and customers, regardless of channel. Don’t overlook this as the last thing you want to do is spend money registering the domain names only to find out that you cannot get any of the social media handles.
Move fast
Lastly, it is important to move quickly when you find a domain name available as it is first come first serve. If someone else has taken a domain name you like, you may want to enlist the help of a broker or domain registrar to help facilitate a deal. However, it may be much more expensive.
With these tips, you are ready to choose a domain name for your business.
