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With the meteoric rise of Internet use in the past 5 years, the importance of a “good” domain name has also increased. Domain names have become an essential component in the marketing arsenal of every business, and as such deserve more than just a passing consideration.

Think about how long you pondered over the perfect business name – your business’ domain name is just as important (if not more so). And while your company name may be the obvious choice, it pays to consider other available options, especially as so many prospects and clients will refer to your business’ website prior to making a purchase or for further information.

So, even if you already have the best website AND the best product or service, if people don’t know your web address or can’t find you quickly, your site is like having a billboard in a desert - a waste of time. That same advice can also be applied even if your website needs an upgrade or overhaul – it is still important that your site is found.

Below we’ve included some useful strategies for choosing a “good” domain name, and why your business may benefit from having multiple domain names pointing to your website:

1. Consider your target market
Ask yourself the following questions:
• How will they find your website? From memory or search engines? Could they misspell it?

• Are there common words that your target market may type in for your business?

• What domain suffix (.com; .com.au; .co.uk) would they assume your business will have?

These are the questions you need to ask yourself before you decide to register your domain names.

2. Protect your business
Purchasing variations on your main domain name and your future countries of trade domains are important. There are companies who trade in popular domain names and waiting could mean that you either miss out when another company has the same idea as you (which means it’s unavailable), or have to purchase the domain from another company at a highly inflated price.

3. Are you being too clever?
While they are cute, overly clever domain names are usually just too hard for people to remember. Names like ‘jewelery4u.com’ will only work if your on and offline branding is very strong. Instead, stick to the obvious, make it memorable and ensure that all your marketing supports the domain.

4. Is it too long?
Remember the key with domain names is ease of use, so if your business name is long consider purchasing a shorter, easier to remember version (as well as the long version) for your site and email use. For example, a domain name such as ‘www.jonesautoelectricalandairconditioning.com’ is too long for everyday use and is also likely to be misspelled by your customers and prospects. Instead purchase something like ‘www.jonesautoelec.com’ as well.

5. Is there a generic term that customers know your product/service by?
This is a great way to generate new leads for your business. By owning the domain name for the generic term, your business becomes known as the expert or “source” for information about your product or service. Remember, purchasing multiple domain names is an inexpensive way to cover your bases and get the results you want from your website.

6. Have you considered a hyphenated domain name?
Hyphenated domain names such as ‘www.Maritime-Stainless.com.au’ are easily found by some search engines which may increase your search engine ranking. However, before you rush out to purchase - they are also hard for people to remember, and are often misspelled in viral marketing. This means that your site may miss out on the word of mouth advertising that often happens when people talk about sites that they’ve used, enjoyed or find useful.

7. When to register your domain name?
Most businesses will register their base domain at start-up. Your domain may be registered for use in email addresses, even if you don’t have a website at this stage. If you don’t have your domain as part of your email address, we strongly advise that you do so immediately. It’s a fact that a company with their business name in their email address adds more credibility than one with an ISP address e.g. maritime@bigpond.com.au.

Along those lines, it is our recommendation that you purchase your main domain name and any associated variations NOW (if not sooner.) There are companies who trade in popular domain names and waiting could mean that you either miss out when another company has the same idea as you (which means it’s unavailable), or have to purchase the domain from another company at a highly inflated price.

Choosing a domain name will be one of your most important business decisions, so make sure you do your research.