[GUEST POST]

Choosing a domain name for your business is almost as crucial as choosing the business’s name. In this technologically saturated world, it becomes more and more likely that people will hear of your business online. The following five tips will guide you to making a strong choice for your domain name.

1. Name your domain after your company
Why this may seem obvious, there are a staggering amount of businesses who look over this easy choice. No matter what, your domain name will affect your brand. This being the case, make it easy for customers to identify your brand by naming your website the same name as your business. If your business is “Bob’s Pizza Shop,” try to acquire the domain name bobspizzashop.com. The easiest way to determine if your website name is already taken is to type it into your URL bar.

2. Don’t use hyphens
Sometimes your company name is already taken; that’s business. This is not a free pass to get extremely creative with your domain name. A general rule of advertising: simple is best. When you add hyphens into your domain name, you have a lot of potential problems. The main problem is people don’t remember to use hyphens. Say your domain name is we-sell-used-shoes.com. Why it may be exciting to have that domain name, the majority of the people who hear about your website are going to give business to wesellusedshoes.com. If you insist on using hyphens, make sure your competition doesn’t have the same name without hyphens.

3. Shorter before longer
A domain name can be up to 67 characters long. This does not mean your domain name should be anywhere close to that long. Stick with that same rule: simple is best. Would a customer rather type patrickfranciswilliamsautobodyshop.com or pfwauto.com? The longer your name is, the less likely they will remember or want to type it.

4. .COM over .NET, .ORG, .ANYTHING
.COM is the most recognized web address ending on the internet. If you go the .NET or .ORG routes, you are once again potentially driving customers to whatever the .COM site is. Pay the extra money for the .COM; you will be glad you did.

5. CamelCase is great
A good way to make your domain trendy is to use CamelCase. CamelCase is the method of using capital letters in your domain. For example, doghouse.com could be DogHouse.com. A lot of people find this more aesthetically pleasing.

With the help of these five pointers, you should be on your way to acquiring a strong domain name. Happy hunting.

Sam is a blogger who is also a contributing writer for this web tool that allows users to search hosting reviews.