Your domain name will be used for everything from your website to business email and email marketing, posted on social media, business listings, and mapping systems. It is a large part of your online branding so it is worth taking some time on this subject before making a purchase. You don't want to sit on a good idea too long though because your good idea could slip away while you're considering. In this blog post, we're going over some things to consider when it comes to your domain name. This probably isn't everything you need to consider but I wanted to cover some essential points and provide an opportunity for further learning.
Domain Availability
You may be in luck when shopping for your domain and find an exact match for your business name or haven't decided on a business name yet so you have some flexibility. However, a lot of existing businesses buy domains every day, and finding an available match can be a downright depressing experience. Fear Not! Following a few guardrails and being open to something new, you can get through it. Don't use abbreviations because they can be subjective and hard to remember. Don't use hyphens (dashes) in the name because, again, memory fails. Initials are ok, and using the primary subject of the name alone is ok. Like Feathers Bar and Grill, feathers.life was on sale on Godaddy as I am writing the draft for this post for $0.01 for the first of two years, so $52 total for two years. You want the domain to be easy to remember, above all. Don't try to game search engines when deciding on a domain name because your overall branding will suffer and your branding is how you connect with your customers.
Protect Your Brand
Having your first domain name and website is definitely exciting, as long as you have a pulse. However, it is important not to take that excitement to every website that lets you drop a link. In fact, posting your link on low-quality websites will hurt your reputation and ranking on several search engines. You also don't want to repeatedly post the same link from your website over and over on a higher-quality website. Ideally, you'll want to produce original content regularly so that you continually have new links to share, which is the appropriate way to post links. Essentially, what the platforms expect is that you are providing something of use or interest to the other users or readers of their platform, and posting the same link over and over is not that. It is very much a "one hand washes the other" situation. The platforms allow you to post your links and in return, you are expected to have something that makes their platform look useful on the other end of your link so that their platform is a resource for finding great content, which you are supposed to provide.
Learn More
WordPress provides fantastic resources for deeper technical understanding of domains. I've listed the domain learning link, but also a link to the Advanced Handbook part of their website for the wp-config.php file. This file will come up again in future posts so consider taking this time to view the material sooner rather than later.
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