Are you ready to build your website? Do you have a name for it yet? The website name is also known as the website address. But it is actually called the domain name. Your domain name is what people will type into the address bar to locate your website. It will be unique; other websites can not share your domain name. Examples of domain names are digitalonsolutions.com, google.com, bbc.co.uk, wikipedia.org, facebook.com, etc.
When coming up with a domain name, there are some factors to consider. You need to look at the unique name you want to have and the domain name extension you will use.
First, let me tell you about domain name extensions. These domain name extensions are the last parts of the domain name. It is the part of the domain name which begins with the dot. So, for example, the domain name extension for google.com is .com. and that of wikipedia.org is .org. Domain name extensions are sometimes called top-level domains (TLDs).
The domain name extensions usually have their purposes.
.com: stands for “commercial” and is used by businesses. However, because we widely use it, it is sometimes used for non-commercial purposes.
.org: stands for “organization” and is mostly used by non-profit organizations.
.net: stands for “network” and is commonly used by internet service providers, web hosting providers and other internet related businesses.
.edu: is used by educational institutions.
.shop or .store: is ideal for websites that will be engaged in buying and selling (eCommerce).
Moreover, there are country specific domain name extensions such as .us (United States), .uk (United Kingdom), .in (India), .ng (Nigeria), .za (South Africa), etc. There are other domain name extensions like .shop, .biz, .tv, .online, .club, .io, .info, etc
When choosing a domain for your website, kindly consider the following tips:
- Choose a unique name that captures the purpose of your website and/or business.
- Use simple or short names because they are easy to remember. Such names may be expensive to register but you can get lucky with a cheaper one.
- Use an appropriate domain extension to reflect your business or organization. For example, using a .edu for a school would be better than a .net
- Avoid numbers and names if possible, unless they help convey the message you want to put out there.
- Do your best not to register names similar to other websites.
- Try to register the other domain name extensions of your domain name and/or any possible misspellings of your domain name; that is if you can afford it. This will help protect your brand name from unscrupulous people. Then you redirect all your other domain name extensions to your main domain name.