Choosing a domain name that fits your brand could possibly be the most important thing that you could ever do for your website. It is pivotal for your success. A good domain name can be an extremely profitable marketing tool to help grow your brand. 

A strong domain name can create so many opportunities for your business, such as professional credibility, visibility, and mobility. Your domain name can also help you in search engine rankings. As you begin to grow your business, your name will become more recognizable by Google, in turn, drawing more customers to your site. 

The actual process of choosing a domain name can be intimidating. If you choose the wrong name, you risk damaging your brand or hurting your search rankings. Your name should compliment your business and create a lasting impression on your customers. In this article, we will share tips, tools and steps to choosing the best domain name for your brand.  

1. Use a .Com Domain Extension 

There are tons and tons of different domain name extensions available today, ranging from .com, to .net, .org, .online, .wine, .life, .jewelry, .photography and so on! There are 280 Internet domain extensions in total, so you would have a wide variety of extensions to choose from. We recommend choosing a .com extension, as they are viewed as the most credible type of website. As cool as it would be to have a unique looking domain name, stick with the .com extension. Believe it or not, .com is the most memorable domain extension. Those who aren’t as “tech-savvy” will automatically tack .com to the end of your domain, whether or not it ends with .com. It might be smart to just avoid the creative extensions and stick with ‘ole reliable.

2. Keep Domain Name Short 

It is important to include keywords into your domain name, but don’t overdo the length. Keep it short so that it is more memorable. Standard rules say to keep your domain name under 15 characters or less. Anything longer than 15 characters can start to get hard for users to remember. Longer domain names also come with the risk of a misspelling, deterring those users away from your site 

3. Keep it Brandable and Unique 

Along with making sure that your domain is short and ends in .com, you should also make sure that it’s unique and creative. Your business name should stand out in your users’ minds, so they never forget it! Before choosing your name, do some research on other blogs/websites and find out what words and names they are using. That research will come in handy more than you think. In the midst of creation, it will help keep you away from a copyright nightmare, yet inspire you to create something that fits your brand. Think of some names that are catchy, yet brandable. For example, websites like Amazon, Google, Target, and many more have very catchy business names that have shown to be wildly successful over the years. 

4. Leave Room to Expand 

When choosing a domain name, do not limit your options. If possible, think about where your business may be in a few years. If you see your business expanding, then do not limit your business! For example, a hair stylist might choose a domain name such as hairstylespace.com, but later might want to offer more services. Instead of branding the website hairstylespace, the hair stylist may want to consider a different business name that would encompass all of the services they offer. Keep in mind that moving your site to a new domain can be a pain in the rear end! Not only that, but it can cause many downfalls, including losing search engine rankings. Our advice is to do yourself a solid and create a flexible name from the very beginning. 

5. Avoid Hyphens and Double Letters 

Stay away from creating domain names with hyphens or double letters. Hyphens can easily be mistaken for suspicious content or spam, which will deter users from visiting your site. Domains with hyphens are also more prone to typos. If you choose a domain name with a hyphen, users may get confused and end up on your competitors site instead. It’s also a good idea to avoid using double letters because it increases the chances of making a typo. For example, let’s say you decided to make it: egggrass.com. Notice the three G’s in the domain name? That kind of a domain name will end up causing typos. Do your best to avoid things that would cause confusion! 

Choosing your domain name may seem like a daunting task, but at the end of the day it should be a fun and creative process. This is your opportunity to define your brand’s message and mission! If you need help with this process, the Hostirian team is filled with creative professionals who’ve done this for years! If you’re running out of ideas, they can help you determine the perfect domain name for your website. If you want to check to see what domain names are available, we have that too!

Think about all the websites that you visit daily. You might be scouring the Internet to get some grocery shopping done, to chat online, read up on the latest news, or reply to emails. Regardless of the websites that you visit, you are only able to view and interact with those sites because they are hosted by a web hosting service provider. You may be wondering, “What is web hosting? What is a web hosting service provider?”. 

There are countless details and features to web hosting that can make it difficult for a newcomer to understand and navigate. 

Web hosting is a service that allows organizations and individuals to post a website on the Internet. It is home to where your website lives and where all your files are stored and made public. A web hosting service provider, like us here at Hostirian, is a business that provides the services needed for the website or webpage to be viewed on the Internet. A web hosting provider allocates space on a web server for a website to store its files. These services cannot take place without an active server.

A server is a computer (software or hardware device) that receives and responds to requests made over a network. Essentially, servers host and store the websites from a service provider. The process is simple: 

1. An Internet user types a website address or domain into the browser.
2. The user’s computer will connect to the website’s server.
3. The web pages will be delivered to them through the browser.

When someone enters a domain name into the browser, the domain name is rendered into the IP address of the web hosting company’s computer. Generally, web hosting service providers will help you create a new domain if you do not already have one. If you have one, they will work with you on building your website, generating leads, and growing your online presence. 

As previously discussed, web hosting is the process of renting or buying a space to accommodate a website on the Internet. Think of a website domain name as the address of the house while web hosting is the actual house that the address leads to. There are a few things to remember before you begin creating your website. 

Some companies allow you to create a website for free, but you will have to essentially “start from scratch”. By that I mean, you will need to learn how to work that site on your own, buy a domain, create your business email, fix the website’s problems if the site goes down and so much more. By teaming up with a web hosting provider, you can run your business or website without any worry of internal or technical problems, site navigation, creation, or troubleshooting. It is crucial that you do not team up with just any web hosting service provider. You want to make sure that the company is reliable and persistent in helping you create the best website possible. You want to create fewer problems for yourself in the long run.

Signing up for a web hosting service offers so many benefits, including instant access to customer support to help with troubleshooting, problems with sending and receiving email, domain name renewal, script debugging, and more. Your web hosting service team will complete all of the “behind the scenes” work, leaving you with a hassle-free and uncomplicated experience. 

When getting started with web hosting, it is important to choose a web hosting service provider that is a good fit for you. Many web hosting companies strive to make the process as easy as possible for you. The team will take the confusion out of the process and leave you with an enhanced understanding of content management and website creation. 

All web hosting services provide some basic features such as email accounts, FTP access, databases, and WordPress support. You can create domain email address accounts through features provided by your hosting company. FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, access allows you to upload files from your computer to your web server. If you build your website using HTML files, you can transfer your files through the web server through FTP. That allows your website to be accessed through the internet. A database is an organized collection of data, generally stored and accessed electronically through a computer system. WordPress is a powerful blogging and website management tool. WordPress operates over 30% of websites on the internet. Some web hosting services may provide additional unique features such as generating leads for your social media, SEO boostability, reputation management, web design and hosting, business listings, 24/7/365 customer support, and DataVault information backup. 

The amount of space allocated on a server depends on the type of hosting that you are using. There are many different options to get your site on the web. They each offer contrasting elements that cater specifically to the website owner’s needs. There are six types of web hosting that you will most often come across, which include shared, virtual private server, dedicated server, cloud, managed, and colocation. These different types of web hosting can be differentiated by the kind of technology used for the server, the server management and the additional services per offer. 

When it comes to deciding which web hosting service provider or type of hosting you’d like to use, leave that to the professionals. They’ll help you find the best fit to begin your website building process.