Domain names are powerful assets for entrepreneurs. A domain name provides potential investors and customers with online branding that speaks to your companies industry, mission, location, and more. It also serves as an important SEO factor.
Choosing and buying a domain name should never be taken lightly. It is your brand name and once you purchase a web hosting plan and register your domain name, you are pretty much stuck with that name for at least a few years.
“You’re going to build a website for your new enterprise soon and with that you’ll need a suitable domain name,” John Boitnott of Inc. said.“Picking the right one is so intertwined with naming a business these days that the process is almost one and the same.”
This can be challenging for some entrepreneurs, but luckily, with a bit of due diligence, you can streamline the domain name process. The following 6 hacks can be helpful for your entrepreneurial success.
- Put Yourself in Your Customer’s Shoes
One of the biggest fails for entrepreneurs is choosing a domain name that their target audience isn’t search for. After all, you are launching a business to solve a solution for a particular group of people, so be sure they can find you using Google search.
To ensure you do this, use online platforms like Google Keyword Planner to check your domain names search volume. You can also use SEMrush to check what types of domain names your competitors are using.
- Use the Power of Keywords
To further emphasize the need to capitalize on your target audience’s search terms, place a keyword or to in your domain name to increase search visibility and click-through-rate (CTR). This is even more important for entrepreneurs in a niche industry.
You can think of your domain name like a blog or webpage title tag. According to Moz, “User experience research shows that people may scan as few as the first two words of a headline. This is why we recommend titles where the most unique aspect of the page (e.g. the product name) appears first.”
This suggests that putting keywords in your domain name can have an impact on a user’s CTR when scanning search results. If they see the keyword they searched for in a domain name or title tag, they are more likely to visit that site or page.
- Is Your Business Local?
Entrepreneurs launching a new business that serves a specific community (location) should leverage location in the domain name. For example, if you are rideshare tech startup that will specifically target Denver, use denverbrandname.com to increase local SEO opportunities.
That being said, don’t get too crazy with keywords and locations in your domain name. Too spammy of a domain name can actually do more harm than good. Not to mention, Google algorithms have evolved into highly intelligent spam detectors.
- Don’t Be Afraid to Be Bold
With all the local search engine optimization (SEO), keyword, and customer search terms on the table to think about, never be afraid to go in a completely different direction. Being bold has been the hallmark of some of the most successful entrepreneurs and startups.
Apple is a good example. The domain name apple.com and the apple logo literally have nothing to do with the products and services they serve up. Amazon, Nike, Adidas, Yahoo and other successful brands all have made a name out of being bold and unique.
- Is Your Domain Name Taken?
This is a common issue for entrepreneurs ready to launch their online presence in a powerful way. They have spent countless hours brainstorming domain name ideas, but when it’s time to getting a website domain name, it is taken.
What do you do than? Is it back to the whiteboard, starting from scratch. No need! One thing you can do is to begin searching for ways to modify the domain name you love with adjectives or synonyms of the original words.
You can also use acronyms to get your domain name registered and purchased. This may not be appealing at first, but think of all the successful companies with acronyms, such as IBM, BMW, IKEA, 3M, and the list goes on.
- Check Your Domain Name Across Platforms
Once you pin down a domain name, you’ll need to see if it is available as a dot-com, as well as available across social media networks and other platforms. You can use Namecheckr, an online platform that will give you all that information in seconds.
YouTube, Reddit, Etsy, Github, Instagram, and a variation of website extensions can all be checked. Once you know your domain name and brand name are available on all the online channels you need, register for all your accounts at once. If you wait, you run the risk of losing a social channel that could produce a lot of traffic.
Make Your Domain Name Powerful!
There above essential domain name hacks serve as a guide to increased online visibility and entrepreneur success. Make the most of your new business or startup right out of the gate by ensuring your branding is powerful.