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Choosing the best domain name for your business is a critical, yet often challenging, decision. If you choose wisely, you can attract many visitors to your website and improve your online presence. However, before you make a final decision, there are a number of factors to consider, and in this post we’ll look at what these are and explain why they’re important.
Laying the foundations
Before you start coming up with ideas for a domain name, you first need to think about how visitors will use it. If someone is looking for your website, they need to remember its name and then type it into the search bar. A good name is therefore one that is easy to remember and easy to spell. If it is short and simple, and avoids overly unusual spellings, that’s a good starting point.
Keyword-based names vs brand names
There is much debate about whether a domain name should contain keywords, e.g. spécitisztitószer.hu, or brand names, e.g. azéncégem.hu. In reality, there is no right or wrong choice; however, your decision should be based on your chosen market and the long-term goals of your business.
A brand name is unique, and if your business is already well-established, it may have a status that attracts customers because of your reputation. If you operate in a market where branding is important, this option may be the best one for you.
Keyword-based domains help people associate you with the products or services you sell and/or the location where your business operates. Cambridgecleaners.com would be useful to anyone in Cambridge looking for a cleaner, as the name says it all. However, a potential problem could arise if, in the future, your company diversifies or specialises and the keywords in the domain name no longer accurately reflect what you do.
The ideal domain name is already taken
This is a common problem, and not simply because there are other organisations with the same name. Some companies register thousands of unused domain names simply so that they can sell them at a profit when someone else needs them.
If you find that a domain name is already taken, the first step is to visit the site and check whether the website is live and in use. If it is, and the site appears to be successful, there is little chance you will be able to buy it, and you may need to look for an alternative domain name. If there is no active website, there is a much greater chance that it is available for purchase. Check the Whois database to find out who owns the domain so that you can make an offer. However, there is no guarantee that the owner will sell it, and they may ask for whatever price they wish.
Finding the ideal domain name via social media
Although your ideal domain name might still be unregistered, it’s also worth checking whether anyone else is using that name on social media. If you want to create a brand called JátékNeked and register the JátékNeked.hu website, thinking you’re all set, it can be frustrating to discover straight afterwards that there’s a hugely successful JátékNeked YouTube channel with 10 million subscribers. It’s likely that everyone who visits your website is looking for the YouTuber, not you. The same applies to influencers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Choosing the right domain extension
Domain names consist of two parts: the part before the dot and the part after it. Whilst the first part is important for your branding and for helping people find you, the second part plays a number of important roles and should not be overlooked.
The second part of the name is known as the top-level domain (TLD) and serves to categorise the website so that users and search engines can better understand its purpose. We all know, for example, that .gov.hu and .gov are for government websites, .hu is for companies and individuals with links to Hungary, and .org is for non-profit organisations.
Not so long ago, choosing the right TLD was still relatively straightforward, as there weren’t many to choose from. Today, however, there are far more options, and the range is constantly expanding with new additions. The good news is that many of these are keyword-based, which means you need to use fewer keywords in the first part of your domain name. Some examples of new TLDs include: .shop, .restaurant and .photos.
Registering multiple domain extensions
It is common practice for companies to register several TLDs associated with their brand name in order to protect their reputation.
If you run a successful e-commerce shop called abcdivat.hu and only register this one domain, it wouldn’t be long before others registered a website such as abcdivat.com or abcdivat.eu and pretended to be your company. They could sell counterfeit versions of your products to unsuspecting customers, or simply steal from them. All of this could have a devastating effect on your reputation. This is why registering multiple TLDs has become so widespread.
This might be worth considering. However, as there are now so many TLDs available, it would cost several thousand euros a year to register them all. Instead, it is better to register the ones you consider most useful. For example, if you have a .hu ccTLD, it is worth considering registering the .com and .eu versions at the same time.
As you can see, there are quite a few things to consider before choosing a domain name for your business. You need a name that’s memorable and easy to spell; you need to consider using keywords or brand names; you need to check whether it’s already registered or being used on social media; you need to choose the most suitable TLD; and you should consider registering multiple TLDs. If you are looking for a domain name for your website, you can search for and register one on our Domains page.