Choosing a Domain Name for your Website

1. What is a Domain Name?

A domain name acts as a unique address for your website E.g. www.acmecars.co.nz. No two domain names can be the same. Once you've registered your domain name it's yours for as long as you keep paying the yearly renewal fee (usually around $60 per year). Th­e only way it can be taken off you is if you've managed to register a trademark name like www.nike.com.

2. What's the best name to get?

For example, if you’re selling a BMW Compact, you could use words in your Comments box like ‘small, sporty, safe hatchback’. ­This will mean that if someone searches for a ‘safe hatchback’, your listing will have a chance of showing up even though they haven’t specifically requested a BMW.

Using your Business Name (e.g. www.BobsCars.co.nz)

For your average business it's usually best to stick with your business name. Especially if you're going to be advertising your website mainly through offline advertising like building or vehicle signage, business cards, print adverts. ­This will help reinforce your businesses brand and if your customer remembers your business name then they can easily find your website.

Using a Generic Industry Name (e.g. www.usedcars.co.nz)

Another common option is to choose a well known word that explains what the business does. While this can be short and simple, don't be fooled into thinking that people will remember it just because it's obvious, like www.builder.com. Generic names are often forgotten faster because the customer doesn't make a conscious effort to try to remember it.

One benefit of a generic name is that it may help you get placed higher in the search results. For example, the words 'used cars' are pretty much the most common words typed into search engines by people looking to buy a used car. If you have the name www.usedcars.co.nz, you've got a head start at being 1st in the search results.

Note: Th­ere are many more things you need to do to be found by people using Search Engines, but a good domain name definitely helps.

Avoid using Abbreviations

If your business name is too long, avoid using abbreviations. For example if your business is called 'Bob's Quality Plumbing Services', resist the temptation to use www.bqps.co.nz. Just because it's short, doesn't mean people will remember it. You'd be better off using something like www.BobsQualityPlumbing.co.nz, it's not too long, and it uses most of your name.

Avoid Hyphens and Underscores

If your business name (or the name you want) is already taken, avoid using hyphens. For example, if your business is 'Quality Plumbing' and www.qualityplumbing.co.nz is taken, don't get www.quality-plumbing.co.nz.  Nine times out of ten, people will forget to type the hyphen and you'll lose that customer to whoever owns the domain name www.qualityplumbing.co.nz.

One benefit of using a hyphen is if you're trying to do everything possible to get your website found in Search Engines. If you wanted to have the words 'Used Cars' in your domain name, the Search Engines will recognize them better with a hyphen, (E.g. www.used-cars.co.nz) and show your site higher up the list of results. If you're going to do this, always make sure you have the non-hyphenated version too.

3. What Dot?

Should you get .co.nz or .com. All domain names end in dot-something. Most countries have a specific ending, for example New Zealand is .co.nz, and Australia is .com.au. While the .com ending is essentially related to America, it's widely accepted as an international ending that can be used in any country. Basically, if your customers are local or national, go with .co.nz, because it shows that your business is also local (or at least operates locally). If your customers are global, then go with the .com ending as it has a bit more respect in the international marketplace.

Avoid the second-choice endings

For your average business it's always best to get the main domain ending for your country. For example, in New Zealand .co.nz is the main ending used. This is what people will naturally type in if they are trying to remember your domain name. Also available are endings like .net.nz, .org.nz and many others, but if you use these you will lose visitors to the business who owns the .co.nz version.