Choosing a domain name can be tough. Really tough. Everyone wants a short, accurate, memorable name that closely matches their actual business name, but that perfect combination may not always be available. And let’s not forget that you also want to get your domain with your preferred extension – .com or .net or .whatever. Most small businesses prefer .com, and for good reason. It is by far the most common with over 50% of all sites on the Internet using it. It’s also the one that people expect so it can be hard to swallow if you have to settle for something else. But it’s not the end of the world. Read on and you’ll see that even I learned this.
Understanding Your Options
Alisa Meredith of Scalable Social Media, writing on HubSpot’s Inbound Insiders blog, gives us a brief history of domain names and extensions and some great advice for choosing one that fits your needs. Her article, How to Pick the Right Domain Name and Extension, explains the differences between some of the more than 300 available extensions and offers advice on things you can do to get as close to that perfect domain name as you can without breaking the bank.
Alisa also reminds us that…
“While choosing the perfect domain for your new website might feel like a hugely important decision, much more important to the ultimate success of your online endeavors is your decision to commit to plenty of quality content…”
Of course your domain name is important and you want it to be right, but what you do once the site is up will have a much greater impact. Good, unique content will have a more profound SEO affect and help drive more traffic to your site than a perfectly tweaked domain name.
How Come I’m Not a .Com?
When starting Electric Bricks in 2008, I had the same dilemma that many other site owners have – electricbricks.com was already taken. So I made the choice to go with .net. As Alisa points out, .net is “…a good option for tech companies since there is a subtle mental hook – .net = internet or network.” I felt the same way. What better domain extension for a website development company’s site than .net? I also picked up a few variations, such as electricbrick.net, electric-bricks.com and electricbrick.com, and pointed them all back to my .net with a 301 (permanent) redirect. Just doing a little brand protection there.
If you’re an EB client and you’re getting ready to choose a domain name be sure to read Alisa’s article and feel free to reach out to me. I’d be happy to help you find something suitable.