So, you have decided to launch a website? You have made your decision, as to if you will hire a website designer or DIY the website. The next big choice you need to make is deciding on a domain name and domain suffix. The domain name you select will be critical to your branding and marketing efforts so you should choose wisely. The obvious domain name choice is the name of your business and .com as the ending suffix for your URL. Less obvious options for domain names, although equally as good, are domain names that include your business' slogan, motto or signature titles.

Before we dive into selecting a good domain name lets first touch on the topic of what the Domain Name or URL is. Domain name or DNS (Domain Name System) is a system for recognizing addresses to internet web servers also referred to as Internet Hosts. Think of domain names as your international phone number to your businesses website. Instead of having a bunch of numbers like 12.34.5.255 for a website address, the domain name system provides services that offer easy to remember or easy to spell addresses.

Let's also touch on the topic of domain suffixes. For simplicity sake, I will cover the big three domain suffix only. The domain suffixes are internet domain categories that help describe the organization or company you are trying to represent online. Here is a general overview on the top three domain suffixes used on the internet:
.com is used primarily for "commercial" purposes. Typically the most popular of the three suffixes is commercial. It does not hurt to secure and purchase the .com version of your domain even if you choose one of the other two of the top three.
.net is used for "networks", systems or infrastructures. Typically used by businesses involved in web hosting, development of internet tools or large network teams use the .net suffix.
.org is best used for non-profit organizations or trade associations. We find using .org will bring a higher level of credibility to your non-profit organization.

Take a look at this infographic on how the top 3 stack up on usage:

Before choosing a name, you should first do a little research. A simple approach is to open a web browser and in the address bar enter the URL you desire. You will either get an actual page or an error message like this:

If the URL is not available as .com also try .net and .org. We suggest you try the top three suffixes for the name you desire as this should be part of your decision-making process. If you discover your domain name and fully URL (name plus suffix) is available using all of the top three suffixes, then snag it up especially if it matches the exact name of your business. The SEO value to having a domain name that matches your business name is huge.

There may be a chance that a business, brand or organization has already secured one or more of your choices for their own website. If all suffixes for your domain name are taken and actively in use (not a parked domain) then, it may work best to select another name. We recommend selecting a company slogan, motto or catch phrase if and when your company name is not available as a domain name. There is value to be had in using a short slogan or catch phrase as a domain name particularly if you a branding or image with this name throughout all your marketing material.

What should you do if and when you find the .com of your domain name is in use, but the .net or .org is available? We advise you to review our brief definitions of the "big three" suffixes and first determine if your company or organization can benefit from using one of the other domain suffixes for your website address. Use caution when selecting a suffix for a domain website name, for a business or brand, that matches a similar business type or brand or product.

Here is an example:

Existing website URL (not our client): protectthepaws.com

Our client's non-profit organization name is: Protect The Paws. Of course, our client wanted the domain name of the website protectthepaws.org. In this scenario, we advised against using the company name in the URL because the .com is already taken and is being used by a business that has a similar objective. Selecting .org for your domain fully knowing that the .com is already taken by a business in the same or similar industry as yours can create confusion in the market and cost you business in the long run. People in most, cases, think all website names end with .com. Your business can easily miss out on traffic, emails, referrals, etc. if the public mistakenly uses the wrong suffix for your URL. Domain names and suffixes are entered incorrectly all the time. The URL, the end user (public user), will get an error message in their web browser (if accessing a website) and a bounce back error in an email if using an email client. However, you may lose traffic, emails and referrals to your brand if you select a domain name that has an alternate URL suffix that is owned by a different brand, company or organization.

If you find that your domain name is already taken, try making small changes to your name but nothing too drastic. For example, we have a client called Healthy Cuisine. The website is myhealthycuisine.com. In all the branding, we communicate the name My Healthy Cuisine although the legal name for our client's business is Healthy Cuisine. Adding prefixes to domain names helps establish uniqueness to your brand or company. We often suggest adding personal pronouns or determiners. We often use the word "my" as the first part of the domain name when we cannot use a business name outright due to name in use or similar URLs with suffix variations.

Last but not least, assuming you cannot use your company name as your website domain name, make the name easy to remember or recall. Again, using a slogan or motto that is always in your marketing and branding helps. Avoid using numbers, dashes, or slang words that are spelled a variety of ways. We ask our clients to think about hearing their website URL called out over the radio. I ask our clients to test their website domain name choices with a group of friends. Call the name out loud and ask your friends to write it down. If they all get the correct URL, then you have a winner. If even one friend gets it wrong, start over and choose a different name.

If you need help with selecting a URL name contact us for help. We find selecting a domain name for your website is the fun part of bringing your brand online.