The Impact of Domains on Your Business Success

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Your domain name has a bigger role than just being part of your site’s URL. As the representative of your website, a domain name contributes to your business growth in many different ways. SEO-wise, it may also influence your website ranking in search engine results — generating even more exposure for your brand.

For this reason, your site should sport the right domain name from the very beginning. Not to worry — this article will guide you through the steps to choose a good domain for your business site. You will also learn how your domain name impacts your business and the site’s ranking here.

 

How a Domain Name Impacts Your Business

While you can get a free subdomain for your business site, sporting your own domain can benefit you much more in the long run. Still not convinced? The following are some of the most prominent reasons why you should use a personalized domain to represent your brand.

Build Brand Identity

Sporting a domain name that matches your business niche can give potential customers insight into your brand. It may also differentiate your business from rival brands that offer similar products or services in search engine results. Additionally, a domain name helps your site make a lasting impression on potential customers.

Establish Business Credibility

A customized domain name carries the element of professionalism for its owner. By representing your commitment to growing your brand, a domain name contributes to building customers’ confidence and trust in your business.

Reflect Forward-Thinking

By using a domain name, you prove your commitment to following the digital transformation trends. With the rising popularity of digitalization, a domain will your business site an advantage in the digital competition — making your brand stand out from the rest.

How to Choose the Right Domain Name

To obtain optimum results, you must pick the right domain for your website. Using a bad domain can negatively affect your branding and SEO efforts, among other disadvantages.

If you don’t know where to start, you can try using a domain checker for brainstorming ideas. Observing your competitors’ domain name can also give you a better insight into what works and what’s not.

Once you find the right one, you can register it with a reputable domain registrar to secure its exclusivity. Only then can it help your business site reach its full potential.

Consider the following factors when choosing a domain name:

Keywords

Consider using keywords related to your business niche. Many keyword research tools like Wordtracker and Keyword Sheeter can help you gather high-quality keywords for optimum results. You can also observe Google’s search suggestions at the bottom of its search page results to learn other combinations of keywords people use during their research.

Besides contributing to your SEO efforts, keywords also give visitors insight into what your site has to offer. Thus, visitors are more likely to stay longer on your website, resulting in a reduction of bounce rate.

Target Market

As each demographic has different tastes, habits, and preferences, you need to consider your target market when choosing a domain name. Language styles, jargon, and the choice of keywords may influence people’s perception of your brand. If your audiences don’t find your domain appealing, they will less likely click on your website URL.

9GAG, for example, adds a humorous, informal keyword to its domain to appeal to a younger audience. Meanwhile, PrimeLocation uses sophisticated yet direct keywords as their target market comprised of older generations.

Simplicity and Memorability

Just because a domain name must be unique, it doesn’t mean you have to use a complicated one. As people will use the domain name to access your business site, you need to consider its readability and memorability.

For this reason, a good domain must be easy to spell and remember. Avoid using symbols, hyphens, and unconventional spelling that make it harder to memorize. Without discounting the domain’s uniqueness, you ought to make it creative yet concise.

Domain Extension

Contrary to popular belief, the .com extension isn’t ideal for all types of websites. People tend to associate a certain domain extension with a niche or a function. Therefore, it would do your site much better to use the one best suits your site.

For example, the .com is best for commercial websites, while the .org is more suitable for nonprofit sites. Meanwhile, the new top-level domains like .agency and .academy cater to niche-specific sites.

Your chosen domain extension is one of the factors determining the cost of the domain. To avoid overspending, make sure to compare prices of domain extensions beforehand.

Trademark

Registering a domain name doesn’t automatically make you its legal owner. If you claim a trademarked domain, you’re guilty of trademark infringement and may be liable for a lawsuit. Therefore, it’s vital to perform trademark checks on your chosen domain before registering it.

 

How a Domain Name Affect Website Ranking

While Google no longer considers domain names a ranking factor, they may still influence your site’s ranking in the search page results.

Domains, for one, improve the relevance between users’ search keywords and your website content. The higher your relevancy signal is, the more likely Google will suggest the site to users and improve your brand awareness.

Google also penalizes keyword stuffing — an SEO practice most spam websites use to attract traffic. Using an SEO-friendly domain will differentiate your site from the bad ones, thus increasing your chance of getting a higher ranking.

That being said, you shouldn’t underestimate a domain’s influence over your business and website.

 

Mary is a passionate blogger and the chief editor at her own content marketing company PRable.com. Since college, she’s been interested in break-through technology and technical writing about innovative products and services that change our everyday lives for the better. She’s also interested in web design and photography.

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