Top 5 decision criteria for the right domain name

Getting the right domain for your business is something you need to do before you register your business. The domain market is so competitive that you most likely will not get the domain you want unless you are willing to fork out $5,000 plus. Yes, that’s not a typo - $5,000 plus for a really good domain name. Here are a few basic guidelines to picking out the right domain name for your business:

1. Make sure it’s .com unless you only sell within your country. In Canada, a .ca domain name is acceptable for small businesses. There are many more country specific domain names available as their net worth is much less. .COM rules the market and is what 99% of people are familiar with. Hence the value behind it.
2. The shorter the domain name the better. Almost all the abbreviated .COM’s are taken so do your best to pick out a short domain if you can find one. You can search many domain reseller sites such as pool.com, godaddy.com, enom.com, among many others to find one that is already taken, but up for sale by the owner. The best website I found that searches the .COM, .NET, .ORG, and your Country specific domains is domaintyper.com. An unregistered domain will cost you $10.00/year.
3. Do not put a number (1,2,3 etc) in your domain. This is a non standard practice that get’s many companies in a bad spot. People are not use to typing in numbers in a domain name so don’t do it. The only way you should ever do this is if you also purchase the written domain for the number as well and redirect it. (Eg. onetime.com redirects to 1time.com).
4. Do not purchase a domain that sounds different than it is spelled. Let’s face it, not everyone is going to read your marketing so you need to think of the people who will hear your business by word of mouth. Most of the new Web 2.0 names are cute and  creative but most of them fail miserably. Only a few such as Flickr and Digg can pull off not being properly spelled.
5. It’s also worth purchasing a few domains that you may want to do online marketing campaigns with. Most large companies like Coca-Cola, BMW, and Dell will put games for people to play, or very interesting contest or promotions that draw people into the brand experience.

I also have to add that it is extremely important in today’s market to make sure you get the social networking username’s for your business as well. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, you name it, you need it. Brand recognition in the social spotlight is worth millions to companies.

If any of this is a surprise to you then take a deep breath and start searching. Remember that this is a crucial step in your business and branding of your business and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Happy domain hunting!

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