“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet;” – William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare did have a way with words, there is no denying that. I wonder, would he still be known as the literary genius that he is if he was known as Willy Shakes?
In his day, I greatly doubt it but in today’s society, we have scores of artists/musicians known for their lyrical genius whose names can be anything from XXXTENTACION to Childish Gambino. The latter had one of his songs viewed almost 500 million times on YouTube alone within nine months. That many views are worth roughly $3.8 million dollars.
You may be asking. What does this have to do with my very professional business and my domain name? Surely you can’t expect me to represent myself in such an outlandish fashion.
Let’s look at the $135 million net worth entrepreneur Calvin Cordozar Broadus. Calvin is a filmmaker, has a stake in Reddit, owns a high-end dog food company, owns multiple startups one in particular that aims to deliver medical marijuana in 10 minutes or less. He owns apps that earn over $30,000 weekly just a month after launch. Surely he is much more relatable to us professional business owners.
Does anyone know what his business name is? Calvin Cordozar Broadus is known across the world as Snoop Dogg.
So, does this mean your domain name needs to be something hip, crazy, or cool? No, not at all. What you need to understand is that it isn’t the name that is important. What is important is how you represent whatever name you choose and make it synonymous with how you do business. Your domain name will not make or break your business, only you can do that.
Now, let me get off my soapbox and give you some helpful tips on how to pick a good domain name. The most important thing to remember when referring to all of these tips is to remember that a domain name isn’t just for the humans that will be searching for your industry online. It is even more so for the ‘bots’ surfing the web looking to see which business they believe represents an industry best for a particular human looking up your industry.
1. Put your industry in your domain name.
Make it clear what you do from the very beginning. This gives Google, the other search engines, and humans looking for your business a clear idea of exactly what you do and gives you authority in that industry immediately. For a fantastic example of this, look no further than Steve Nettles with his domain name taxprosplus.com. You know instantly what they do, unlike H&R Block that, for all we (and the search bots) know, could sell wood blocks for kids to play with at daycare.
2. Keep it short and easy to type.
The longer your domain, the more likely someone will mistype it, or get frustrated with it, leading to you losing your audience.
3. Research your competition.
When you think you have found the perfect domain name you may think, “This is perfect, no one else will have thought of this!” Be safe, Google your new business or domain name and see how many other companies across the country or the world have thought of the exact same perfect name as you. If you have too many competitors too close to you geographically with names similar to yours, you will be fighting an uphill battle before you even begin.
4. Domain extensions
Domain extensions are the last part of the domain. For example .com or .net. A recent 2018 trend has been to use special domain extensions. Creative Consulting, for example, uses www.creativeconsulting.marketing . Not only is it on trend for the time, it also tells people what we do (see helpful tip #1). Don’t feel like you have to use a .com or .net, there are hundreds of domain extensions, everything from .tax to .ninja. This will help you stand out from your competition and make you more memorable.
5. Geography
Google and other search engines are almost always using location-based results. Adding your geography to your company’s domain will help boost your rankings for people searching for your industry in that location. Don’t worry, using geography in your domain name won’t lessen your chances of showing up in other cities.
So, now you have been empowered with new ideas for your domain name! This week, think about your company and your mission and ask yourself this one thing. Does my domain name really represent me?