You’re about to step in the most crowded place ever – the internet, perhaps more crowded than China itself, huh? Hundreds of thousands of domain names are registered daily. For small businesses, this means an increasingly difficult task of creating a domain name that their customers and potential leads will remember while protecting their brand’s trademark.

Domain = yourdomainname.com

URL = https://yourdomainname.com (Uniform Resource Locator, internet address)

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s start with the tips for choosing the best (or the right) domain for your business – remember, your brand’s real online journey may start here, so start it right from the best provider to buy a domain as well as naming tips to use.

Here we go.

Think and use your domain as a branding tool. You must think of your domain name as the most important marketing tool to showcase your brand. Branded domains can build credibility in earning links, plus they can aid in word of mouth marketing.

Use a domain name around meaningful words with mass appeal – banking.com, flights.com, healthandwellness.com, and the like.

Use a short, catchy and memorable name. Being easy to spell and say is vital in boosting pass-along rate. Anyone should be able to quickly pronounce the domain you’ll choose. Test it through the “radio test” where you’ll know if it’s possible for people to type it after hearing it just once. Take note that word of mouth is one primary factor behind 20-50% of purchasing decisions.

Extension considerations. The most used while also the most expensive domain extension is .com – most internet users assume .com when browsing. Using .net, .tv, .info or other types of extension can put a potential barrier in the process of finding your business.

Regardless, if you’re planning to make most of your sales in a specific country, using a country-specific domain such as “yourdomainname.ph” for the Philippines is a good idea. There’s also an option to buy several extensions (.biz, .net, .info, etc.) and direct them all to the same site. Having said that, a .com is still ideal.

Check availability on the social media. Another good rule to make yourself discoverable is to use the same name across platforms. See if your domain is available on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, etc. by creating an account and registering with your preferred domain name.

But all names are taken! Nope, they’re not all taken. While it’s possible to come up with the perfect domain only to find it’s already taken when you try registering it, don’t be afraid to try again. Look up similar words in the thesaurus, use online generators, and ask others for ideas. Mix words. Use a tagline, add a phrase or nickname.

The bottom line

A domain name can make or break your business, or at the very least ominously impact brand recall and website traffic. Like finding a great home that’ll suit your needs, choosing one is critical – and while it is overwhelming, there are great service providers online where you can buy a domain with ease and through awesome customer support.