After being in the business for a few years most webmasters realize that in an online business the domain name is the name as well as the address of the business. To take a parallel in the brick and mortar business, will you rather choose an address in the heart of the city or the suburbs? Similarly the name of your e-business should be easy to remember, type and tell friends over the phone. We look at some factors that you should consider while selecting your domain name.

1. Short and simple: The name should be something that people can remember just after hearing it once and be able to spell easily. If you keep a long name, people will either misspell it; reach another website or Google it up. If they Google it up, they have the option of clicking any of the search results and you risk losing traffic.

2. Go for dot com: Always try to get a dot com suffix, this rule should only be broken if you are a local business like a Pizza delivery and will be catering to just one country. In that case you can use .uk or .ca. Most people always type a dot com suffix and so if you are using a dot org or dot net, your visitors may end up at a competitors website.

3. Avoid hyphens and numbers: Avoid special characters in your name, using hyphens causes confusion and people often make mistakes in either typing the hyphens in the right place or typing it in, altogether. Similarly avoid using numbers for words like Roses4u, as this is not very easy to remember. If you are using numbers avoid zero, because it looks a bit too much like o.

4. No trademark names: You should maintain your distance from trademark names. If you get a name that resembles Nike or Coke, it will not be good legally as well as in getting people to remember your name. They will always end up confusing your name with the bigger brand and making a mistake.

5. Represent your brand: Your name should represent the brand that you are trying to promote rather than the business you are in. If you have to make a choice between conveying your brand or the business you are in, choose brand. So if you are in the business of patio furniture and operate with the name of Smiths, use Smiths instead of Patio Furniture. This will benefit you in the long run as it builds a brand image for you through your website.

If your domain name is long then you should definitely prompt your users to add your website to their favorites when they visit your site. This will go a long way in increasing your repeat traffic and help your visitors too. Keep in mind all these tips and you will select a great domain name for your business.

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