Your domain name says a lot about your website. It tells your audience what you have to offer, that you are serious about your site and that you want to make it easy for them to visit your site. What’s more, a good web address can provide your website with myriad benefits including SEO rewards that lead to increased web traffic and conversions (including sales!).
Conversely, a bad web address will likely confuse your audience, leaving them guessing how, exactly, to type your extension into the search bar. This will have nothing but a negative impact on your web success, and will likely leave your site wading around down the extra search engine pages.
When you buy domain names, there are many mistakes to avoid to ensure this doesn’t happen, the likes of which we are going to look at below:
Don’t use numbers
Unless they are an intrinsic part of your brand name. For example, if you run a trampolining centre called “Jump 2 It” then it is a perfectly fine idea to have the web address www.jump2it.com. However, if you run a florist called “Flowers for You” then you shouldn’t use the domain name www.flowers4you.com.
But why? You ask. It’s quirky, it’s shorter and easy for customers to remember the next time they visit your website. But that’s if they ever get to the point of revisiting your website. Unfortunately, if they have a hard time finding your site on the first try because you have the number “4” in place of the word “for”, it is highly likely they will get frustrated and visit the next best website.
Therefore, you should avoid using numbers unless it is part of your brand or event name!
Don’t use hyphens
Because hyphens are simply unnecessary when typing a web address. Over the years, Internet users have become more than accustomed to typing out the whole name together and without breaking up the words within the business name. For example, are you more used to typing out something along the lines of “www.domainname.com.au” or “www.domain-name.com.au”?
When hearing about a company, you are far more likely to type out the whole company name together as opposed to guessing that it contains hyphens in between its individual words, so avoid that at all costs as it will do nothing for your website’s success!
Don’t use trademarks
Look, your business name probably doesn’t contain the words “Coca Cola” or “Nike”, but it does so often happen that business owners accidentally use a trademarked word in their web address. Unfortunately, this can cause big headaches, as companies with registered trademark words will likely sue you for the web address.
Therefore, it’s important to do your research before choosing a web address that may contain a trademarked word. There are numerous online resources available to help you see if your desired web address (and therefore business name) contains a pre-trademarked word that could put you in hot water with the pre-existing business!
Avoid difficult spelling
You can probably understand why you won’t find many business names with the likes of “Olinda Ophthalmology” in the web address. Instead, a company like this would benefit from using a business name like “Olinda Eyes” and putting that in their web address. The ease of spelling can make all the difference between receiving a high rate of web traffic or potential clients searching for the next best practice!
