Getting a domain name and website for your small business
One could say that there are many upsides of being an entrepreneur; you get to call shots on your own, take all kinds of decision, and basically be your own boss. However as the cliché goes, with great power comes great responsibility and it means looking after all the things yourself, even things that you may not have known anything about. It’s a thrilling experience and every obstacle is a new challenge. But, let’s face it, sometimes the challenge is a bit too hot to handle, and a little help goes a long way into making life all sunshine and roses again. This is exactly why we keep bringing these little posts for you to help you out with everyday challenges of small business. For this post we thought of going to the very beginning of starting a small business, setting up a website for your business. To start a website the first thing you would need is a domain name and hosting space. Here are a few things to remember while booking a domain.
#keeping the domain name simple
It may seem very nice and fun to select a domain name that is very creative, but as far as selecting a domain name is concerned it would be best to make your brand name as the domain name. This means dropping the possible suffixes etc. For example if your company is called “Something Special Enterprises”, it would be better to keep your domain just somethingspecial.com. It would be easier to remember, and it includes the part that is in fact special about your company. Thus dropping the commonly known part of name like company, industries, enterprise etc. is a good idea provided “something.com” is available.
#keeping it Short
Another thing to remember is to keep the domain name as short as possible. A domain name can be 67 characters long but it is best to not exceed 15 characters (one has to agree that it’s quite too long), not just for eliminating typos, but also to promote website. Having said that, it’s not wise to cut parts of your brand name to shorten the URL. Seriously, if you have a company named “somethingspecial”, just something.com as your domain name doesn’t make any sense.
#best practices for domain name
Avoid the use of hyphen (-) in a domain name as it makes the domain name harder to remember. Also try and avoid the combination of numbers and alphabets (Save these for your passwords insteadJ).For the domain names try and opt for TLD’s (top level domains) such as .com, .net and .org (.com is still the most preferred)
#booking a domain name
Okay so maybe you have selected a domain name now, but the real critical part is booking the domain. This is where you need to take some serious decisions. Your desired domain name could be totally unavailable, or very expensive. This is when you need to decide how much your brand name means to you. Unfortunately no one can help you in making the choice. However a smart move would be to the book the domain as soon as you think of the brand name.
#getting the right Hosting Space
Once you book a domain, your work is only half done. For the website to be up and running, you need hosing space on a server. Usually most companies providing the domain registration service, also provide web hosting, and even offer good deals on it. However it would be best to work out your needs first, because in most of the cases your hosting space is also the space for your emails. If you are expecting extremely high level of email communication, perhaps it would be better to see plans for email and hosting separately (we plan to do another post about hosting and email).
These were just a few things you could keep in mind when you decide to make a website for your business. If you found this post helpful do share it with others. We keep on sharing similar posts related to small business and document management on our blog, have you checked them yet? We are sure you would find them helpful. As always your comments and questions are welcomed. By the way, we would love to hear if you have successfully managed to get a domain name and hosting, so do drop by on our blog once you get it done, and if possible share your knowhow with others from the community. All the best!
