When you’re starting up a website, the first hurdle you’ll have to clear is choosing a domain name. It’s an important decision and one that will have long-term effects on how you market your business and the amount of traffic you attract to your site. So what should you consider when making the choice?

The most important thing is to be memorable, so people can find without difficulty. Domain names can be up to 63 characters long, which gives you flexibility to create a name which spells out exactly what you do, rather than relying on difficult abbreviations. For example www.CheapBooksForSchools.com is more likely to be remembered than www.CBFS.com; the latter could relate to anything.

Spelling mistakes when entering a URL into a browser are common and can often result in your customer ending up on a competitor’s site. For this reason, hyphens and numbers should be avoided. They are difficult to ‘spell’ out when verbally passing on the email address and very easy to misplace. Addresses which are simply variations of an existing site should also be avoided as they can easily drive traffic away from your site and onto the ‘original’.

In an ideal world, your domain name should reflect your brand. If you are setting up a business, it’s almost worth putting the cart before the horse and choosing your domain name before christening your company. By linking your domain name and brand you create a reciprocal relationship that makes your domain name easier to remember and increases brand recognition.

Keeping these simple points in mind when choosing your domain name will give your website the best chances of long-term success, attracting search engine and customer attention; so choose wisely!

One of the most important considerations when designing your business’s website is its domain name. When people think of your website, they will think of it by name, just as they would do with a person, so it’s vital to get it right.

Many companies register their domain name after the name of their organisation. For example, the BBC’s domain name is www.bbc.co.uk. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Where you might encounter a problem here is if somebody else has taken your first choice of domain name. In an instance like that, you need to be creative as well as logical at the same time. Here are some things to consider:

Short is sweet. URL names can be up to 67 characters. This doesn’t mean you have to actually use 67 characters. The less that people have to type the better. This is especially true as people are more likely to make typos with longer addresses – meaning less visits to your site.

Watch out for unfortunate combinations of words. Your business might be called something totally decent, but when the words are squished together, it looks rude! For example, if your company was called Pen Is Ink – well, you do the maths …