When I first decided to pursue this business idea I started by researching domain names for my e-commerce site (sienno.com actually came later. More on that in a future post.) From what I’ve read that’s not the recommended way to start, but I was (and still am) excited and wanted to see what is out there. I quickly relearned something that I already knew: Domain names are scarce. Between the domains that are being used by actual companies and those that have been purchased by companies that simply want to resell them later for a profit pickings are slim.
Starting my search for a domain name I went to GoDaddy. GoDaddy has reasonable fees for domains ($10.69/yr at the time of this post) versus some other major registrars like Network Solutions ($34.99 for 1 year). The trick with domain names is to creative but not too crazy. I recommend the following things when choosing a domain:
- If you use real words use their real spellings – Buying a domain like etoyz.com is a nice, short domain, but you will have to make sure that everyone puts a “z” and not a “s” in the domain name or all you will end up doing is sending people to etoys.com.
- If you use fake words don’t offend – This is something I made sure to avoid when choosing this domain, sienno.com. Like the famous, now debunked, legend of the Chevy Nova that supposedly sold poorly because “No va” in Spanish means “No go” you don’t want to pick a name that means something offensive in another language. The nice part about fake words is that you may be able to find a short URL that is still available. However, you still want to find something that is easy to say and spell. Sienno.com wouldn’t be nearly as easy to tell people about if it was instead something like ashredf.com.
- Avoid non-alpha characters – I am a firm believer that sticking with only letters (a-z) in a domain name is your best option. You can include a number (1-9) but if you are not a well known, established company you’ll run into the same issue I mentioned in the previous bullet point. You’ll have to tell everyone to visit my3dogs.com and not mythreedogs.com. I’m also not a big believer in putting symbols like hyphens in URLs. Again, don’t make it difficult for people to know how to get to your website.
- Keep it short, smartie (my own version of KISS) – Short domain names aren’t easy to find, especially if you want to use, real English words (see my note above in regards to using fake words). If you can’t find a single word domain for your site you should try to find a multiple word phrase. However, try to find something that isn’t a mouthful. The domain “buytoysgamesandmorehere.com” is probably available but no one is going to remember that. Find something that is 2-3 words max to make it memorable.
- Get creative – People pay thousands of dollars to branding agencies to come up with a unique name for products, websites, and more. And I’m sure these companies do a great job…for a price. But I am a firm believer in the power of SEO and the ability to get your website found if you have the content that people are looking for. So think twice before hiring someone to come up with a name. If you have a product that people find interesting and you market it correctly, people will come.
In the end I chose what I think is a great name for my future e-commerce site. I’m not going to say what it is in this post but suffice it to say that it consists of two real words, with their real spellings, is relevant to what will be sold on the site, and will be easy for people to remember. Best of all it didn’t cost me anything more than a domain registration fee and a bit of my time.
