How does choosing a website name affect your Branding?

1. Your Website Name should be the same as Your Business Name

Naming your site after your business may seem obvious to some of you, but you'll be surprised to learn that not every website is named after the business name.  You want to minimize any confusion the public may have in remembering and finding your website.  Using two different names exponentially complicates remembering the name of your site. The less your customers have to remember the better.

What if the domain name you want is already taken?  Ultimately it will depend on how committed you are to acquiring the name.  If it is really important you can try and purchase the domain name from the owner.  To identify who the owner is you can use the "Who Is" tool to find the owner, and then contact them to see if they will be willing to sell you rights to the domain.  Don't be surprised if the price they ask is substantially higher than what it would cost to register a new domain name.  Sometimes people can get lucky and acquire the domain name from a previous owner for a marginal price but sometimes the owner may hold out for a substantial fee.

If it is a new business it is usually cheaper to obtain a domain name first and then name the business to match the website. The early bird gets the worm when it comes to domain names so plan ahead!

2. Long or Short Domain Names?

Domain names can be of any length up to 67 characters. You do not have to settle for obscure acronyms for your domain name such as ABAW when the name of your business is AcmeBellsandWhistles.com.  The trick is in finding the balance between a name that is not exhausting to type in or impossible to remember.

It is increasingly difficult to acquire short .com domain names due to the explosion of websites on the internet. Longer domain names which have your business name and keywords are desirable to help with your ranking on the search engines.

Bornge Technology Solutions recommends shorter names if they are meaningful.  These are easier to remember and type which is a big convenience for your customers.  Remember your domain name is also going to be your email address, so every time someone sends you an email they will have to type your domain name.

3. Hyphenated Names?

Should you use hyphens in your domain name?

Cons:

• It's easy to forget the hyphens when typing a name.

• When people recommend your site to their friends verbally, having hyphens in your domain name leads to more potential errors than when the name does not contain hyphens.

• Hyphens are a pain to type.

Pros

• Search engines can distinguish your keywords better.

• The non-hyphenated form may no longer be available. However you run a substantial risk in your clients forgetting the hyphens and going to the wrong website.

Bornge Technology Solutions recommends avoiding hyphenated names but exceptions can be made depending on your domain name and your situation.

5. Plurals, "The", and "My" Forms of the Domain Name

Domain name registrars are in the business of selling domain names.  They want to make it easy for you to quickly find a domain name so they can complete the sale.  Often times they provide tools to suggest domain names for you when your primary choices are taken.

For example, if you want website.com and it is taken, the domain name registrar will suggest alternate forms of the name such as:

• mywebsite.com

• thewebsite.com

• websites.com

   

Put some serious thought into these alternate names and ask yourself, will these variants add value to your brand and become a valuable asset to the business?

Bornge recommends against taking these alternate domain names and encourages clients to go back to the drawing board and focus on creating a unique brand which is free of confusion to the consumer and accurately represents your business.  Sometimes this is not easy, which is where Bornge can help!

6. .COM, .ORG, .NET, etc?

At Bornge Technology Solutions we frequently answer the question about the differences between .com, .org and .net.  Many times the .com domain name a client wants is taken, but the alternate .org or .net is available.

Extensions are categories of Internet domain names. There are several of them to choose from:

• .com represents the word "commercial," and is the most widely used extension in the world. Most businesses prefer a .com domain name because it is a highly recognized symbol for having a business presence on the Internet.

• .net represents the word "network," and is most commonly used by Internet service providers, Web-hosting companies or other businesses that are directly involved in the infrastructure of the Internet. Additionally, some businesses choose domain names with a .net extension for their intranet Websites.

• .org represents the word "organization," and is primarily used by non-profits groups or trade associations.

• .biz is used for small business Web sites.

• .info is for credible resource Web sites and signifies a "resource" web site. It's the most popular extension beyond .com, .net and .org.

• .mobi (short for "mobile") is reserved for Web sites built for easy viewing on mobile devices.

As you can see these extensions are acceptable in certain situations.  Bornge strongly encourages customers to remain within the initial intent of these extensions.  In 98% of the cases, the .com domain name extension is the gold standard and is what customers should choose to properly represent their brand.

Summary

This is a lot of complicated terminology and material for a new user to assimilate at one time.  The point of this article is to encourage customers to secure the domain name before you incorporate or start programming your website.  Attempting to retrofit a domain name to a business or website generally leads to lots of extra work, expense and confusion for your customers. It’s much easier to do it right the first time.

If you need help securing a domain name or more importantly with branding, contact Bornge Technology Solutions in Champaign-Urbana, IL today.