What’s in a Name? Domain Name That Is

Choosing a Domain Name that truly Captures your Audience

.com is a thing of the past.  There are now numerous website extensions that go far beyond the .com’s of yesterday.  Choosing the right domain name can be very important for the type of client that you want to drive to your website and the overall audience that you appeal to.  So what’s in a name?

.com is still one of the most popular extensions to a domain.  If someone is going to search for your website they will likely default to putting yada yada .com.  Here’s the problem – your domain name is not available with the .com extension.  Well, the old adage of adding a hyphen or dash here or there may not hold true.  It gets confusing to a consumer and increases the likelihood that they could forget the dash and go to a competitor’s website.  Consider a different domain name altogether.  For instance, consider the keywords that consumers are searching for your domain.  Just be sure to not go overboard.  Search engines are smart and will knock you for trying to beat the system.

So, with all of the domain name extensions available – is it wise to choose one?  The answer is yes and no.  Many extensions are considered low quality such as .biz, .name, etc.  The second most commonly used extension is .net.  It is a good alternative to .com.  By all means if your site is available in the .com extension, then eat it up.  If you are in love with a domain name that isn’t available in .com, then grab up the .net.  Stay away from .org unless you are truly a nonprofit and .info unless you are truly an informational site.

So, what’s in a name? Well, yes, it is important but remember the most important thing to do for your website is to put quality content that is relevant to your target market.  The name is secondary, still important but not Shakespeare style important.