Why Every Small Business Should Own a Domain Name
If you’ve ever opened a browser and loaded a website, you’ve entered a domain name. In an ideal scenario, what you see in the browser URL is not a set of numbers that one can’t memorize but a beautifully designed and easy-to-remember company name. Today, we will look into why it is important to have a domain name, even if you’re a small company.
What Is a Domain Name?
In short, it is the name of the website, its address, which allows you to get to that website. This “address” contains 2 – 63 characters, and this is where the domain name comes in. This is a simple answer to the question, “what is a domain name?”In most cases, website owners prefer to choose a name with letters, not numbers. Such a name is easier to remember and, therefore, likely to bring more visitors. However, this is not the only reason a business domain name is crucial for successful operation.
Why Should You Own a Domain Name?
- Easy to memorize:
- Easy to find on the Internet:
- Independence from your ISP:
a potential client or future business partner will easily remember a short and easy-to-pronounce website address when they see it for the first time. Moreover, any user who visits your website will likely find it without much effort, as well as share it with their friends by spelling the name out.
when trying to look for your company, users will likely type in the name of your company into the search bar. That’s why it’s imperative to register a domain name that is similar to your company’s name. A quick tip: if you can afford it, make sure to register multiple domain names with a few common misspellings of your company name (like Google did).
if your Internet provider also serves as a hosting provider, not having its name in the address of your website allows you to leave it unchanged when switching to a service from another provider. Therefore, if you ever decide to change your ISP, all links to your website will remain unchanged, which saves a lot of time and money. Users who have visited the website will easily find it by typing in the same URL.
How Does a Domain Name Influence SEO?
In addition to the benefits we’ve listed above, promotion is also something that can’t be ignored when talking about the perks of having a domain name. If you can include a search query on the topic of the website or part of it in the domain name, this will positively affect your site’s position in search results and increase its click-through rate.However, if you take a popular search query in your topic and put all of it into your domain name – for example, “why-you-should-always-have-domain-name.com,” Google will consider the name as spam and send it to the back of search results.If your company is small and operates in a specific city, you could benefit from including a geolocation term in the domain name. For example, if you operate in Texas, try including that info into the domain name, and you will quickly see your website in the top searches.
How Does It Boost the Company’s Reputation?
Today, businesses are very unlikely to stay afloat without an attractive website. A crucial part of an “attractive” website image is to have an easy-to-remember domain name. Without one, you’re putting your company’s reputation at risk. A domain name might seem trivial, but it is actually crucial in creating the overall company image.Any user who visits a website with the name “135.43.x%712.com” will conclude that the company doesn’t have enough funds to get a high-quality domain, which will discourage them from buying your product/service.
What to Consider When Buying a Website Domain Name
Bear in mind the purpose of the name. It should not only appeal to users because of its simplicity but also contribute to the effective functioning of the website. It is best to use the brand name, abbreviations, or keywords. That will bring the brand to the first results in search engines, thus providing higher recognition.The simpler and shorter the letter combination is, the easier it will be for website visitors to remember. Make sure the name doesn’t become too confusing or lose the brand identity. If you can’t make the name short – use keywords in the domain name.
Conclusion
We hope that after reading this article, you don’t have any doubts about whether you should get a domain name or not. If the benefits and arguments given here were not enough – make use of other resources, talk to your colleagues, and do more research. However, in the end, it’s you who makes a decision whether the business needs a domain name – you are the one who knows your company best.