Where Does Your Business Live?
If your business had a physical shop, you would probably give some thought to where it was located.
You would want people to find it easily, remember where it is and know what to expect when they get there.
Your website needs the same kind of consideration.
Your domain name is your business’s address on the internet.
And there is actually quite a lot to consider before you register one.
Your domain is part of your brand
A good domain should ideally be easy to remember, easy to spell and easy to pronounce. It should also be relevant to your business.
And think about your email address too. A clever domain might look great in a browser, but what happens when you have to give it to someone over the phone?
john@thebestcapetowndentalspecialists.co.za
That’s a lot to say, a lot to type and a lot of opportunity for someone to get it wrong!
Your domain will be used for your website, but it will also become part of your everyday email address, so make sure it works in both places.
A clever name that nobody can spell is not necessarily clever!
If someone hears your domain and has to ask, “Is that with an I or an E? Is there a double letter? How do you spell that?” you could be making it unnecessarily difficult for people to find you.
We also suggest avoiding hyphens where possible. They can be awkward to explain, easy to forget and can make an email address even more complicated.
Think about how your domain sounds when you have to tell someone your website or email address over the phone. If you have to spell it out every time, it may not be the best choice.
Should you include your location?
For some businesses, adding an area to the domain can be a very good idea.
For example, BestCapeTownDentist.co.za immediately tells people what the website is about and where the business operates.
It can also provide useful context for traditional search engines and AI-powered search systems.
Of course, putting keywords into your domain doesn’t automatically make you rank well. Your website content, SEO, reputation, links and many other factors are still important.
But if you are a local business, a descriptive location-based domain can be worth considering.
What about having two domains and two websites?
Sometimes having two websites can make good business sense, particularly when you want to build a strong brand while also targeting a specific service or location.
Imagine a dental practice called Smiles Galore.
The main business website could be SmilesGalore.co.za, which is all about the practice, its dentists, services, location and brand.
The business could also have BestCapeTownDentist.co.za as a separate website aimed specifically at people looking for a dentist in Cape Town.
This second website could provide genuinely useful information about choosing a dentist, different treatments, common questions and finding dental care in Cape Town. It could then introduce visitors to Smiles Galore.
The two websites would have different purposes. One builds the Smiles Galore brand, while the other focuses more strongly on the service and location.
There is a big difference between doing this properly and simply creating another website full of keywords and links to your main site. A second website needs to have a reason to exist and provide something useful to visitors.
It also means more work. Two websites need to be maintained, updated, secured and given fresh content.
It won’t be right for every business, but for the right business it can be an interesting way of building your online presence.
Should you register both .co.za and .com?
Even if you only plan to have one website, it can be worth registering both the .co.za and .com versions of your brand name if they are available.
For example, if your business is called Smiles Galore, you could register SmilesGalore.co.za and SmilesGalore . com.
You can use one as your main website and redirect the other to it.
This isn’t just about having another website. It can also help protect your brand by making it less likely that someone else will register the other version of your business name.
It is usually far cheaper to register the domains when you start than to discover later that someone else owns the one you want and is asking a premium price for it.
What if your ideal domain is already taken?
Don’t immediately assume you have to pay a fortune to get it.
You could add your town or city, add a relevant word, consider another suitable domain extension or look at a slightly different version of the name.
Sometimes the alternative can actually be better.
And if someone wants R50,000 for the domain you have your heart set on, ask yourself whether that money would be better spent on your actual website and marketing!
So where does your business live?
Your domain is much more than a web address.
It is part of your brand, your online identity and the way people find you.
That is why at Web Warriors we offer personalised advice when choosing and buying domains. We look at your business, your customers, your location, your branding and where you may want to go in the future.
There is a lot more to choosing a domain than finding one that happens to be available.
Choose your online address carefully. Your business is going to live there for a long time.
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