You might be thinking what does how to choose and register a sticky domain even mean? However, if you’re one of the many people who are considering setting up their own online business, either due to losing their jobs, having their hours reduced or are looking for an additional income stream, then read on. Your first step should be to choose a memorable web address and register it.
Whatever you do, please do not rush this step. This is the name that’s going to stay with you. You want something that is memorable and showcases your business in the right light. While you can easily change your domain name further down the line, you stand to lose much of the reputation and traffic that you’ll have built up if you do that. So, it’s imperative to put a bit more thought and time in and get this right first time.
But this can be intimidating…
- What name to choose?
- Does it need to be a “.com”?
- Who do I register with?
So let’s break it down…
First, come up with some ideas for a website domain name. My business partner and I have done this many times and it’s good to have a brainstorming session where no name or idea is “wrong”. It can also be fun to bounce ideas around. At this stage it’s all about looking for inspiration. We’ll often write down ideas on paper and then flesh those out before whittling them down to a list of our favourites.
It’s helpful to write down key words or phrases that you associate with your business or idea. Include words that you feel capture your ideals and ethos.
Useful Tips
- Make it easy to for your customers to spell, type, and recall. (GourmetChocolateBoutique.com is tricky for many to spell, whereas ChocolateLab.com is easy).
- Use an online thesaurus to expand your search. This is one of my favourite tools and I use it regularly to find inspiration not only for domain names, but also product names, headlines, etc.
- Ensure it’s easy to pronounce, so that if someone hears your website mentioned they’ll know how to spell it.
- Keep it short so it’s easier to remember.
- Try to avoid numbers and hyphens.
- Don’t infringe on your competitors’ names, e.g. a domain name that’s the same as your rival but with a slightly different spelling. This could have serious repercussions.
Still need help and inspiration?
Here are two tools you can use which are designed to help you merge ideas:
https://www.leandomainsearch.com/
With each of the above you can type in some key words that you would like included in your domain name and they’ll bring up a list of suggestions.
Most of them will be nonsensical, but there are usually some good ones in there so note these down. They might work as stand-alone domains or may trigger inspiration in your head.
Don’t register anything just yet…
Compile a hotlist of your 20 favourite domain name options in order of priority, show them to a trusted friend (preferably someone who would fit your customer demographic) and ask them to circle their 5 favourites.
Now it’s time to see which domains are available! The fastest way to do that is to go here: https://domainr.com/.
Important: search for the .com. (unless you will only ever be based in one country and selling solely to those customers and with no plans to expand). You’ll also want your country’s code as well (for example, .co.uk) if you’re not based in the US. If a rival business exists as the .com, don’t then buy the .co.uk (or your home country’s) version as it will confuse your customer.
As you go through them, cross out any that are already registered and create a smaller list of favourites.
Web Hosting
Once you’ve found the perfect name it’s time to go to a domain registration site.
You can use any provider you want here, but the simplest thing to do is use one that offers web hosting as well. That way you won’t have to do something technical called “changing the nameservers”.
Web hosting is a bit like storage space. If your domain name is your address, your web hosting is where you physically store your website. It’s the plot of digital land where everything goes.
If you’re using an “in a box” solution like Wix.com or Weebly.com/uk, i.e. one that allows you to build your site on their platform, then they’ll take care of the hosting side of things for you. However, I’d recommend that you build your site using WordPress.
Your web hosting company should allow easy installation of the WordPress software. This is normally done through something called “C-Panel”. While you can also manually install WordPress, C-Panel’s one-click option is far better and easier.
It goes without saying that you’ll also want fast servers and excellent customer support, preferably with a live chat facility.
Full site backups are pretty much standard these days, but it’s worth checking to see that this comes with the package.
Tip: the best value is usually to be found in your first year of hosting. Watch out because after that the costs can go up significantly.
I hope you found my How to Choose and Register a Sticky Domain post useful and if you’re thinking about setting up an online business you now have information to help you get started.
To Your Success!
