Choosing the Correct Domain Name to Register

Despite what many people think, it is not always easy to choose the correct domain name. There are a variety of factors that will influence the name or names you select. Here we’ll go over some of the information you need to know when registering your domain name. The perfect domain name for your business will be easy to remember, professional and convey what it is that you do. This way it will be easy for customers to find you online, even if they forgot the term they searched for to find you or they accidentally erased the bookmark. Remember that just because a name is available doesn’t mean it’s the one you should choose.

One of the first things that will influence the domain name you choose is the name of your business. If you operate a brick and mortar business, you’ll want to select a domain name that is as close to your business name as possible. If you are operating an online business, you have many more options available. Since you can register the name before creating the site, you can take the time to select the best name.


What if there are several different ways to spell the name of your business? Well then you’ll want to register all of them. The reason is that different people will spell the name differently and since you want to attract as many customers as possible, it’s worth the 10 dollars or less to register as many as possible. Once you do, you can set up the site on one and re-direct all the others to it. Along the same lines is the case of acronyms or abbreviations. Say that your name is TLC Inc. and that is the name that your customers know. In that instance it would be acceptable to register TLC.com if it was available, but what if it isn’t? Then you would be better off registering threelettercompany.com than tlc-inc.com. But in general you will want to avoid acronyms or abbreviations.

You will want to avoid certain things when registering your domain name. You will want to avoid choosing a name with hyphens or dashes. The reason is that most people won’t remember them when typing out your domain name. For example yourname.com is a lot easier to remember than your-name.com or your_name.com and really you want a name that is not only easy to remember the first time, but is easy to remember the second time and beyond.

You will also want to avoid anything but a .com name. That is the default for most people. The .net or .biz names are fine if you are able to purchase the .com, then you can redirect them to your .com. The .com name also looks more professional.

Be sure that the name you choose isn’t trademarked in anyway. New laws have recently been enacted that prevent something called “cyber squatting” or using a name that doesn’t belong to you. You can get into some serious legal trouble by using a trademarked name.