Updated: May 12, 2019

Is Your Business Name AVAILABLE as a Domain Name?

Do you have a business idea or thinking about starting a business?  One of the first things you may think about… “What name do I use for my business?” Domain Name?

This is where the fun begins…. Have FUN, but be serious about choosing your business name. Consult with friends and family and choose more than one name.  Invite your friends over for a “NAME my BUSINESS” Party!  Yep, have a BBQ/Dinner Party! Most people love any excuse for a get-together and be a part of something  NEW!

• Something Clever?

• Something Cute?

• Catchy and Rhymes?

Have you noticed, A NEW Trend…. A website with your birth NAME! Yep, think about it… Good idea!

There are lots of websites out there with their personal names that are doing great!  Check it out!

If you do go “ALL out” with your very own birth name, you should seek out a branding identity consultant! I highly recommend Rachel Durham with “Your Brand Therapy” if looking for a top notch branding consultant. Click here to visit her website.  She did an amazing job with my client, JacquelineMKane.com website branding. We will be launching her website soon!
I used Meilani MacDonald as my branding consultant 8 years ago, her rates are reasonable!  You can message her on her Facebook page.

While you’re out there researching your business domain name, why not check if your child’s domain name is available?

In a world where your online identity is becoming as important as your physical one (maybe even more so), registering your child’s domain name is a very good idea. The trend of registering your child’s firstnamelastname.com is continuing to grow with tech-savvy parents; it’s not uncommon for parents in Silicon Valley to pick names for their children only if the corresponding domain is available. Sure, little Laura Rose can barely pronounce “Internet”  let alone use it, but we’ve compiled a list of reasons why buying your kid a domain may be worthwhile.

A domain name is an asset

There’s a reason that Angelina Jolie bought all of her kids’ names when they were born. You may not think your child will become famous enough to warrant their own website, but whether or not your child is the next Adele, everyone can utilize their own domain name. Whether your child uses the domain to display a professional portfolio, resume or even a blog, the value will be much more than the $15/yr to maintain keeping the domain. You can even pay in advance $15 x 10 years, which I believe is the limit!

Protect their (future) identity

With the domain industry expanding at a phenomenal rate (tens of thousands of domains being registered every day), it’s important to secure your child’s online identity now before somebody else grabs it… and does whatever they want with it. It may even be worthwhile to also purchase your TLD (Top Level Domain .ca, .us, .fr, .asia, etc.) alongside the .com domain. I personally don’t think it is necessary to go to that extreme. Registering nicknames are also an option. A website will allow your child to build a personal and/or professional identity.

Whether you’ve got kids or are expecting, snatching up some web real estate is a valuable investment that will pay off in the long-run. The low cost of a Hover domain means that you can secure your child’s online future affordable.

Register Your Domain sooner than later

Entrepreneurs today have it much harder. With more than 220 million domain names already registered, you’d be really lucky if the dot-com URL that matches your new business name is readily available. (Not to mention exact matches for your social media names.)
Update: As December 2018, 342.4 million Domains registered (verified by verisign.com) since 2013 when this blog post was first written.

Should you use your real name or a business name for Freelancing? There are definitely benefits of using your actual name for your business name. It is great for personal branding, easy to remember and you can have several products or services to offer under one name. You can always buy a domain specific to the product name and promote it or link it back to the main website.   To read more on domain name to use with your freelancing business. Click here.

So what should be the priority? Do you pick a company name based on whether there’s an exact-match domain name available? Or do you get creative with the URL to fit the business name of your dreams? Here are my two cents.

If your business model revolves around the Web, or if you’re planning to spend a lot of money on online marketing, then an exact-match domain name should be a top priority. Think Netflix, Yelp, Spotify or, yes, even Google. People are going to automatically default to your company name as your URL, and if that URL directs them to someone else’s site, you’re losing out on valuable business prospects. Plus, an exact-match domain name helps you get found by search engines, instead of someone else.

Also, if your customers are everyday consumers, an exact-match URL is more important than if you’re in the business-to-business industry. Why?  B2B companies tend to sell to niche categories; their pool of customers is smaller, which means less noise online. With B2C companies, consumers are less likely to spend the time to find you, which means more chances for your competition to attract their attention.

Is your Domain Name Available on Social Media?

And finally, make sure to check whether matching social media handles are available.  Ideally, they should all be the same as your domain name. If something’s already taken, a small change to your brand name or adding an industry or location specific modifier that’s consistent across all your social media networks might be the way to go.

The excerpt of this post was referenced from an article at INC.com, written by Janine Povick, CEO and founder of Vertical Response.  “Is your Business Name Web Friendly” and from “Do you own your kid’s domain name from hover blog, by Sarah Georges.

Hope you enjoyed this post and learn a little about picking out a domain name for your business.