Your domain name is your website address or URL (Uniform Resource Locator). No two domain names can be the same. The domain name registered belongs to you until it expires. A website can have multiple domain names pointed to the one website.
Do you have a brand name or a company name? If you do, you will want to use it. You might also want to consider registering other extensions to protect your branding, eg, mycompany.co.nz and mycompany.nz.
What if the domain name I wanted is not available?
You can consider using a keyword in your domain name. Example – jadewebdesignart.co.nz/jadewebdesignart.nz (webdesign being the keyword). If your market is specifically targeted to an area or city, you could use the city name, eg – christchurchacupuncture.co.nz. In this case, both the city and the keyword are used.
Points to consider when choosing a domain name
Is there another website with a domain name almost the same as what you are considering?
Perhaps the difference is just the letter ‘s’, eg, mywebsite.co.nz versus mywebsites.co.nz. Also, it might pay to check the same domain names registered under other countries, eg, mywebsite.com, mywebsite.net.
Is it too long?.
If it is more than 20 characters long, try and shorten it if possible. Alternatively, you can use the long form as the primary domain name and have another abbreviated domain name pointing to the same website. Eg – ‘mentalhealthadvocacypeersupport.org’ is too long and is subjected to misspelling. It is wonderful for keywords though because it is exactly what the organisation does. So, we have an abbreviated version of the domain name mhaps.org.nz pointing to it while the website is built on mentalhealthadvocacypeersupport.org. ‘mhaps.org.nz’ is certainly easier to remember and type.
Is it easy to spell?
If it is difficult and is misspelled when typing into the browser, people will not reach your website. Is it spelled differently from the common spelling, eg, Jayde instead of Jade? Marc instead of Mark, fone instead of phone, etc? Then consider registering a domain name with the common spelling and point it to the same website.
Where is your target audience?
If you’re targeting for Australia, then use ‘com.au’; ‘co.uk / .uk’ for the United Kingdom, etc.
What type of website is it?
If it is a business website, use ‘.co.nz’ for New Zealand. In New Zealand we now have the top level domain names, ie, ‘.nz’ so a ‘.nz’ website could be anything, be it – an organisation, a school, a network, etc. ‘.org’ denotes an organisation website, ‘.net’ a network, ‘.school.nz’ shows it’s a school in New Zealand. There are other ‘global’ domain names as well with extensions like .xyz, .store, .kiwi, .clinic, .cafe and many more. Often, these are more expensive.
A domain name must be renewed before it expires. Renewals could be annually or in multiple years. Jade can help you register your domain name/s if you are having a website designed by us. It will be registered with you as the registrant so it belongs to you. Email mailboxes can be set-up using your domain name, eg – [email protected]
Contact Jade, WebDesigner, for your new website.
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