So now you know what a domain name is you need to choose the right one. This is REALLY important. We will give you a few ideas below and possibly a few points you may not have considered.
Where Do I Get A Domain Name?
You can register a new domain with us right here
How Much Do They Cost?
Domain names have to be rented yearly from a domain registrar and can vary greatly in price. The most regularly used domain formats (TLDs) are often the cheapest .com,.net etc. However, country-specific domain formats can be even cheaper, for example, .co.uk or .us.
We have seen domain names sold at silly prices on some sites. Here at 3001Web, we do offer domain registration at really competitive prices via our chosen registrar. We are typically cheaper than GoDaddy and a lot of the other big registrars.
Will You Control My Domain?
Don't worry we will never hold your domain name to ransom like other dishonest services, if ever you leave us we will unlock your domain so you can transfer it to the registrar of your choosing. Alternatively, you can continue to rent it from us yearly even if you are not hosting your site with us, it would probably be more expensive from other registrars.
Choose A Domain That Describes Your Business Or Service
Try to select a domain that describes your business or service. A name like AO.com is a great name, but if you did not know the company, you would not know what they sold. Would you ever type that into Google when looking for a new washing machine if you did not know the company? Of course not. The difference here is AO have MILLIONS to spend on advertising so that everyone knows they sell household electrical items. If you do not have a massive advertising budget, then a name that fits your business type is a much better idea.
Consider NOT Using Your Business Name
I can hear you shouting “What?” at me right now, but hear me out. Let's get hypothetical for a moment. My name is Alan Johnson, I am a locksmith. My business is called AJ Security Services. I live in Perth, Scotland.
So Jane has locked herself out of her flat in Perth and needs a locksmith. She fires up her mobile phone, and what will she search for? AJ Security Services? NOT A CHANCE! She will search for “Locksmith Perth”.
While Google and other search engines regularly change how they order results, having the searched term in your domain name will DEFINITELY not do you any harm when it comes to your site being found. You can tell them WHEN they get to your site that the service is provided by AJ Security Services. What is more important? Your business name in your domain or getting that new customer?
In cases like this, business vanity CAN cost you clients.
Make It Easy To Remember
Following on from the last paragraph, which is easier for a potential client to remember? AJ Security Services or locksmithperth.co.uk?
Localise It
Another great thing about the little example above is that it is locally targeted. One of the biggest mistakes people make with websites is trying to take on the world or the whole country. If you are a local service provider, localise your domain name. Targeting areas can be really profitable for lots of businesses.
Avoid Dashes And Numbers
Here you can learn from one of our own mistakes. Numbers can be written or typed numerically.
Is it 3001web.com or is it threethousandandoneweb.com, or threethousandand1web.com, you will end up buying multiple domains to make sure you catch all variations. If right now you are thinking “hang on, you did not follow your own advice with the name”, you are right! We thought when we started many moons ago, were we to have a number starting our domain it would come at the top of alphabetical lists in directories. (how silly is that?) A VERY silly mistake on reflection. Had we KNOWN about the importance of a domain for search and memorability, back then we may have chosen simplewebsites.com.
By the time we realised, it was too late, and we stuck with it. The good news is you can learn from our mistakes.
Avoid dashes in your domain names, too. Firstly, people can forget where the dashes go or worse they can forget them altogether and go to one of your competitors. So the domain fredswidgets.com has already been bought, you decide to buy freds-widgets.com. People WILL forget the dash and you sent your visitor to a competitor.
Keep It As Short As Possible
2, 3 or 4 letter domains are RARE these days, nearly all of them are gone. Try to make your domain simple, easy to remember and descriptive of your service or product. The longer and more complex the domain, the harder it is to remember and the more chance it has of being mistyped.
Also, remember you will need to fit it on a business card.
Availability
So you have chosen your name, and now things can get frustrating when you find out it has already been registered by someone else. Irritatingly, you will find many domains have been registered by people wanting to sell them at a profit, they are not even using them. Annoying as this is, it is not illegal. So you may need to get inventive, remember the points above. Localising your domain can often produce success.
Locksmith.com may not be available but LocksmithPerth.com may be or PerthLocksmith.com or LocalPerthLocksmith.co.uk
Get inventive, try different combinations. Do NOT add hyphens or be tempted to replace words with numbers, EG Locksmith4perth.com again hard to remember, and you are in danger of sending visitors to your competitors.
Where Can You Check If The Name You Want Is Available?
You can just do a domain search here with us and register your domain immediately if you find one you like. We can get nearly all TLD's (the letters that come after the domain name EG .com, .co.uk, .us if you want a TLD we do not have open a support ticket, and we will add it for you.
Do I Have To Have .com?
Not at all! If you want another TLD format (there are hundreds) eg .builder, .cafe or some other specific TLD then open a support ticket telling us which one, and we will add it to the search for you. Please bear in mind these may be more expensive to rent than the standard formats above. We will tell you what we can get them for when we reply to your ticket.
