How to choose a domain name for your business?

More than 600,000 new businesses open up each year just in the USA alone. With such a vast amount of competition, everyone tries their best to stand out from the crowd, get noticed, and attract more customers than others. Here we will take a closer look at a very important aspect of marketing. How do you create a great business name that will bring more attention, and how do you pick a domain name that will help your business grow?

Coming up with a name is a creative process that can be divided into 5 components. Let’s go and learn how to choose a domain name for your business.

1. A name should be easy to remember

Try to keep it simple and short, if possible without losing the meaning. Nerd Crossing or 7Eleven will be far easier to remember than Toms Custom Electronic Appliances Idaho. People will not remember names that are too long or contain words they do not understand. You can do a simple test to check if your name is easy to remember. Share your idea for a name when you meet with your friends, and a few hours later ask them if they can recall the name that you told them before. Some names just stick with us. The Moving Guys is so much easier than Portland Interior Furniture Relocation Institute Ltd.

2. Make the company name speak for itself

The average person, especially online, will focus on the name for less than one second. This is how little time we have to describe our business. That’s why it’s a good idea to pick a name that is self-explanatory.  As mentioned before, you can go for The Moving Guys, or for something like Tina the Hairdresser. Of course, names like this are not always possible, but in many industries, those names will win over their competition thanks to more straightforward communication. Think about the core of your business. What is the main product or service that people will buy from you? Try to build your name around it. Unless you are a big brand like Sony or Samsung, it is usually better to pick the name containing useful information for the customer.

3. The name should sound good

Write down the list of names you came up with so far, and now read them out loud. Also, try to use them in a sentence. Let’s assume that the name is Worcestershire Sauce.

I just bought Worcestershire Sauce.
Can you pass me the Worcestershire Sauce, please?
Worcestershire Sauce is my favorite.
Where did you buy this Worcestershire Sauce?

Sounds difficult, doesn’t it? It’s a great test. Your customers will tell others about your company, they will spread the word. And you’ll experience great benefits if this word sounds good. Some names even get included in everyday communication, like “let me Google that”. Compared to the more awkward “I need to Bing more about it”, it just sounds right. A great-sounding name is also one of the reasons for Spotify’s and Uber’s strong brand awareness. They connect great with other words or in a sentence and sound strong and unique. Even if they do not explain what you can expect inside, they still do a great job of catching interest and being easy to pick up in a vocal conversation.

4. Easy to write down

In many languages, some words sound the same but are written differently. For example:

Eye and I.
Plain and Plane.
Mail and Male.
Tail and Tale.
And for phrases Example vs. Egg Sample.

They are called homophones and we should mostly avoid using words like that, as it might be confusing for people to write down the name they have heard somebody talking about. Or they might look for it on Google, but due to writing it incorrectly, find completely different results than expected.

For the same reason, we should also avoid commonly misspelled English words. acquaintance – acquaintence, aquaintance is a great example of often misspelled English words. Now if we use such words in our business name, there is a risk, that plenty of people will get the name wrong. They will have a hard time finding us online and might feel discouraged to write the name down as they might be unsure of the correct spelling. Every language has its own spelling rules, so we need to adjust our mindset properly and try to predict how people will see, hear and write down your company name. This will be very helpful when you choose the domain name later on.

5. Make sure you like your business name

Last but not least, remember that it is your company, and the name should give you positive vibes. You will use it for a long long time. Mention it at least 20 times every day in various conversations. When you say that name, you should feel proud, happy, and never afraid to say it. When you feel that something is blocking you from telling others the name of your company, you might be just shy, but more often you feel in your guts that you don’t really like this name. Trust your feelings, make sure that the name brings you positive emotions. This is really important, as you don’t want to get stuck with a name that you don’t identify with in any way. This tip is more on the soft side, as it is difficult to define or measure, but I am sure that when you find the right one, you will just know it. You will just vibrate on the same frequency.

Now, if you have followed the suggestions above and come up with a great name for your company, what is the next step? You need to find a domain name that can go with that business name. Checking domain availabilits is very simple. Just write down your name below and see available domain names.

The word available plays a very important role here. As the domain market is here for many years now, the most attractive and common names are usually taken. Don’t worry, we have answers on how to successfully choose an available domain name, too. Here is how:

Try different extensions than .com

In our search tool, you can check 320 various domain extensions, and when you create a free account with Openprovider you will gain access to even more. Try to look for a domain extension that somehow completes your business name:

Italian.pizza
NewNissan.parts
flyfishing.academy

Yes, .com is popular, but there is so much more. Check your options and find something unique that will be the best fit for your business.

Go creative when searching for a domain name

You don’t have to stick to the existing words – you can create new ones. You have probably noticed that many startups now add “ify” at the end of the name, just like Spotify. Or “ly”, like Fixly. Or change one letter in the existing word, just like Lyft. Your options are unlimited. Antoher nice option is to mix two words into one, like Groupon, Securiteam and Spinfluence did.

You can also try to implement some foreign language words, like Amigos Barber Shop, or Tatte Bakery. Tatte in Hebrew means grandma. You can also implement information about your location or opening hours into your name, such as in the case of BerlinSchnaps24. 7Eleven is a great example of not only telling customers about your business hours, but also using words that rhyme. Other names that rhyme that might inspire you: Hobby Lobby, Puzzle Huddle.

Consider buying an existing domain name

If you have a very specific idea for your business name, searching for existing domain name and trying different variations might simply not be the best choice. If you are willing to make investments, you can see the offers from the existing market by using one of the many aftermarket domain platforms. Please be warned, some domains can get really expensive. You can think of it as an investment as well, like buying some good real estate. Of course it might be expensive, but you can also make some earnings when you decide to sell the domain name at some point. It can also increase the total capital of the company. As you can see, when you choose a domain name, it’s not always about the name itself. Sometimes it is also about money, investments and capital.

Buy multiple domain names

Can’t make the final decision right now? Just buy multiple domain names you are interested in. Domains are not very expensive, especially for the first year period. After that time you can renew only those domains that proved to be useful to you. You can also think about buying some domains that are spelled very close to your main domain name, in order to protect yourself from typosquatting. Buying more domains that have the same name, but different extensions is also a common practice, both in smaller and larger organizations. They do that in order to secure their online presence from problems related to bad actors registering their name in order to commit phishing or promote competitors. You can also protect yourself by registering the trademark. In that case, however, you will have to actively monitor the internet to find potential hazards and run legal procedures. Sometimes it’s easier and faster to just block those names by buying the domains yourself at the very start.

Want to check if your domain name is available? Use the search option below: