Choosing an appropriate domain name is very important. When it comes to domain names, try to stay away from the silly, stupid, ridiculous, or clever. Keep your domain name short, simple, and easy to remember. This will make it easier for your customers to remember your domain if they lose the link to your business website or want to share your site through word-of-mouth.
While free or cheap domain registrars may seem like the least expensive way to go, it may also get you dropped from certain search engines. Some search engines ignore domain addresses that reside on these free or cheap servers. Additionally, free or cheap domain registrars can have costly surprises, such as hidden fees, temporary discounts, and expensive tech support.
Even if your site is recognized and considered by search engines, a professional domain name that uses your primary company name or associated words is likely to get more attention and be considered a stable business by your prospective customers.
Purchasing domain names is not that expensive, which typically costs about $10 to $20 a year. Keep in mind that pre-registered domains will be more expensive, depending on the domain registrar you choose. Indeed, there are several companies that can register the name for you, provided it is available and has not already been used by another company.
Using one of your keywords in your domain name can increase your score on some search engines. For example, solderingirons.com could be more effective as Electric-soldering-irons.com, if that domain name was available.
You might also choose to establish more than one domain name using keywords and then link your doorway domain sites to your primary site. However, you will have to pay for each of the domain names and also the monthly hosting fees. Thus, it all depends on the type and size of your business and your competition.
Keep in mind that some search engines disregard doorway sites. To avoid this, put at least a page of valuable content on the doorway site with some useful information and then link it to your primary site. However, don’t design it as an empty page. Furthermore, you can have multiple email addresses that all contain your business name. Indeed, this gives your business a more professional feel. For example, when customers receive emails from dominicstone@solderingirons.com, they believe they are dealing with a stable, professional business.
There is no need for customers to understand how you manage all your email boxes on your domain. They just need to feel your business is dependable and reputable.
Valerie Hare
Valerie is a Content Strategist at Awesome Website Guys. She has a background in web development and writing. When not working, she enjoys going to the beach, walking her dog, and chilling with her family.