From the ‘surface’, having a website address named after your business is perhaps the logical route to take when choosing and registering a domain name. So, for example,  if your business is called My Super Website, it would make logical sense and perhaps the ideal solution to also have the website address; www.mysuperwebsite.com.

Invariably, your preferred domain name is likely not to be available without having to pay a premium, as unfortunately, you do not always have first choice. And just to make it even more interesting there are businesses and individuals that specialise in buying domain names. This is known as Domain Flipping, and what these guys do is reserve domain names which have good search results or are believed to have a large demand for, and therefore likely to be purchased by a serious and dedicated business owner, rather than be used by a casual website owner.

So, if you are committed to having a specific domain name you may end up having to buy at a premium. But at least you can tidily build your brand and business in a cohesive manner. For example; the business name - My Super Website with the following website address; www.bestchoice.com would be pretty difficult for people to guess or associate with the business.

In such cases a better alternative may be to use a domain name which reflects what the business does, or find an available domain name that expresses the nature of your business, or the brand you are developing in some way. Another alternative could be to work backwards and find a domain name first then name the business after that domain name. Ultimately you will want a domain name that is easy to remember and does not require a customer to perform ‘acrobatics’ in order to reach your website.

Beware of domain names with the letter ‘S’ at the end.

Things to watch out for when choosing a domain name, is the alternative possible spellings  and whether to use singular or plural tense. So, for example if you wanted to use the name  www.dogowners.com, that is - with the letter ‘s’ at the end. If a customer happens to be searching for your site and types www.dogowner.com without the letter ‘s’, bearing in mind that when you type a name in the search field of your browser, the browser will often suggest the nearest address to whatever it is you are typing. For example, the website www.dogowner.com without the letter ‘s’ at the end will be served before your websites address and you may lose out on that customer visiting your site.

This has happened to me in the past and I can tell you it is frustrating especially when a competitor has craftily registered a domain name identical to yours with the only difference being that they have omitted the letter ‘s’ at the end of the name - its almost like stealing your traffic.

Although not always possible, or in few cases even appropriate, ideally the domain name you choose should be easy to remember and free from being incorrectly spelt. There are a number of factors including; branding, legal infringement, colloquialism and availability, that may govern the name you choose.

Abbreviated and Acronymic Domain Names

Shorter names are easiest for users to type, however abbreviated names that do not create acronyms or some form of sensical format in peoples minds may be difficult to remember. For example your site may be called Learn to Design Websites Fast and you decide to use www.idwf.com as your website address. Now, if a potential visitor to your website is unfamiliar with this naming convention and its association with the wording - Learn to Design Websites Fast, there is a good chance that he or she will not remember this address or what the address relates to.

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