One of the foremost aspects of starting a business is deciding on the name. You want something memorable, but also something that embodies the services you provide as well as the ethics you stand for.

However, what makes the process even more difficult these days is the difficulty in finding a domain name for your company’s website. And choices are becoming limited, especially when it comes to the .com domains. There are more than 71 million .com domains out there, which is nearly three times the combined total of the other domains, .net, .info, .biz and .us.

Nearly every single word in the english language is already spoken for as a domain name, and many of the obvious phrases associated with those words (such as, for random example, “gloves.com” and “warmgloves.com”). This causes a bit of a problem for new businesses, as most want a domain name directly associated with their company name or the service they provide.

Take, for example, my own photography business website: Eternal Image Photography. Because there is a photography business in another state that has the same name and had already claimed the domain name I was looking for, I had to throw a hyphen in the mix in order to keep the familiarity I wanted between the name of my business and my website domain name.

Because having a website is so important to the success of a new business, some are even revamping their business name in order to find a domain name that fits. The new hit these days is four-letter business names, which mean the same four-letter domain names. Take, for example, Bebo (a social-networking site), Etsy (an online crafts store), Lala, Lulu, Ning or Zing. Still yet, many businesses are choosing four-letter domain names which aren’t words at all, but simply acronyms for the business.

So, what’s the appeal of a four-letter domain name. Many say the like the idea that their site is easy for customers to remember. It means less of a chance the customer will spell the website wrong when attempting to access it, as well as faster access to the site (four letters is a lot quicker to type than 15).

I, however, don’t find it necessary to attract business or get better results on search engines. My photography website name is 24 characters long, but it’s simply the name of my business. To me, that’s just as easy to remember. And yes, there may be more of a chance for typos, but that really is a possibility for any domain name. And look at the website this blog is hosted on: GreatFXbusinesscards.com. Not exactly the shortest domain name there is either, but the site is still ranked 4th on Google search results.

So, I think it all comes down to the fact that, what’s in your domain name should be secondary to your actual business name. That’s more important. And people who are actually interested in you are more interested in the quality of the services your provide, not whether your website domain name is easier to remember. If they want your services or product, they will access your website regardless of the name.

Source:
• BusinessWeek.com: Does Success Hinge on a Domain Name?

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One Response to “What’s in a Domain Name?”

1. 7 High-Potential Online Opportunities for College Students | College-Startup says:
   

   […] to have a sense of what domain names might be worth purchasing and when to let them go. Also, the best domains are all gone and can be costly to buy. Cracking into the market at the bottom is not going to make you millions. […]

   Posted October 9th, 2007 @ 6:41 am
   ----------------------------------------------------