Looking to start a new business venture and need to secure a domain name for your website? Buying a domain name is an important step in establishing your online presence and can have a big impact on the success of your business. Here are three simple steps to follow when buying a business domain name:

Step 1: Choose a Domain Name

Your online business presence hinges on your domain name—it's how you connect with your audience in the digital wild. Picture your domain name (or URL) as the online version of your business name, a key building block of your overall brand image.

Your domain name serves as the cornerstone of your business's digital identity. Just like how brick-and-mortar shops rely on their physical address to draw in customers, your domain name is like your enterprise's virtual storefront and address.

That makes securing the perfect domain name for your business early on absolutely crucial. If you start planning for it soon enough, it may even sway your decision on what to name your business. 

Tips for choosing a domain name

Your domain name serves as your business's digital fingerprint, so it's got to hit the mark. Securing an available, valuable, and relevant domain is vital to online success. However, there are various things you need to consider before choosing a domain. Choosing the right domain name can give you an edge, attracting business and setting you apart from the competition. 

1. Think about where your business is now and how you want to grow.

Typically, you will want your domain name to replicate your business name. If the domain for your business name is not available, think about expanding it to include other essential aspects of your business. Adding details like your main service or location can be a helpful qualifier. For example, if coalmarch.com was not available, we could choose coalmarchmarketing.com.

But be careful! You want your domain name to allow your growth down the line. I have repeatedly seen companies that name their business XYZ Pest Control but later want to expand into lawn services, or buy a domain name tampapestcontrol.com and later want to expand into other cities or states. When choosing a domain name, it pays to think ahead. Give yourself room to grow!

2. Keep It Simple

Ensure that your domain name is concise and sticks in people's minds. The fewer words or characters it has, the better the chances that customers will spell it right and land on your site.

Make sure it is easy to spell, and steer clear of numbers and hyphens. (You don’t want them to think, “4” or "four.”) Trying to be overly clever might backfire – remember, you want people to find you effortlessly. Don't complicate matters by opting for a domain name that sacrifices clarity for creativity. While being clever can be cute, using unconventional spellings can hinder your online marketing efforts.

3. Assessing Cost

Typically, standard domain names range from $10 to $20 per year, depending on their overall demand. On the other hand, some domains can go for several thousand dollars if deemed valuable enough. Take, for instance, pestcontrol.com (Estimated value: $25K), joespestcontrol.com (Estimated value: $1K), and joespestcontrolnyc.com (Estimated value: $20). You can utilize GoDaddy's free Domain Appraisal tool to check potential domain pricing.

* If your desired domain isn't available or is pricier than expected, resist the temptation to opt for the .net option just to save a few bucks. Searchers typically default to .com, so choosing .net could lead them to a completely different site. Remember, the goal is to make you effortless for customers to find. 

4. Do Your Research

Your domain name will be tied to everything, including social media handles and company email addresses. Before finalizing your domain name, it's essential to research it across social media platforms and trademark databases. Consistency is key to establishing a strong online brand, so aligning your domain name with your social media handles is highly recommended. Additionally, check through the database to ensure your domain name is not already trademarked.

5. Prepare to Commit

It’s important to be strategic about the domain name that you choose! Changing a domain, in many instances, usually means starting over from scratch when it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), unless you pay premium dollars to purchase a domain that already has a history tied to it (and, therefore, a healthy backlink profile). At one point, domain age was widely understood to be a ranking factor for Google’s algorithm, but it’s unclear just how significant it is now. 

It is clear that while the age of a domain alone may not necessarily make it rank higher in Google, sites that have been around for years tend to have an advantage when ranking because they usually have more backlinks – which is a direct ranking factor. Keep this in mind when buying a domain name, as you won’t want to start over down the line with a brand new domain with no backlinks or history.

Step 2: Confirm & Purchase your Domain Name

At Coalmarch, we recommend our customers use GoDaddy for purchasing and managing their domains. As the world’s largest registrar, GoDaddy is easy to use and reliable. (No, we do not get paid to say this; we truly believe it.)

Access Coalmarch’s Resource Guide for details on how to purchase a domain with Godaddy.

Step 3: Provide Delegate Access

When launching a new website, your website development company may request access to your GoDaddy account to update your “DNS records” at the time of launch. This is how the internet knows to display your new website when someone searches for your domain name. 

We recommend you provide your website developer with “delegate access” to your GoDaddy account. This allows them access to your domain settings without giving them full access to your account or login information and eliminates the complication of 2-factor authentication.

Details on Providing Delegate Access to Coalmarch from GoDaddy.