Make Sure to Buy the Matching Domain to Your Company Name

Your domain name, google.com for example, ideally will be precisely what your company name is. You will need to register your domain with a domain registrar. We have a resource about how to register a domain, if you want to know more. You should try to get the ".com" if at all possible because that is what people instinctively will type in when you tell them what your website is. If your company name is Acme Roofing, you should try to get acmeroofing.com. If that isn't available, you could try prefixing it with the city you based in or the word "the." If you haven't started (or formed) the company yet and the ".com" isn't available, consider finding a domain name that is and name your company what your domain is.

Selecting a Domain Name

In our example, our company name is Acme Roofing, but acmeroofing.com is not available. We have been doing business for serval years, so renaming our business isn't an option. Our company is in San Diego, CA, so we try sandiegoacmeroofing.com, and it is available.

A domain will usually cost your $10-20 a year. We recommend registering (or renewing) your domain name for as many years as you can afford. This way, your chances of accidentally forgetting to renew are less (and therefore losing your domain). Losing your domain to someone else can hurt your business drastically. Anyone who finds a link to your website somewhere or has a friend who told them about it will be unable to find out about your business.

Renew That Domain

Another thing to think about is sometimes competitors will keep tabs on when your domain is set to expire. If you forget to renew it, they will register it and redirect it to there website, essentially stealing all your website's track. Make sure you don't lose your domain name. Almost all domain registrars will have your credit card on file and automatically renew your domain as needed. Also, when it is time to renew your domain, any good domain registrar will send you reminder emails. Which helps avoid any surprise charges to your credit card. If you do forget to renew your domain, make sure to try to renew it ASAP. While there is a grace period, that grace period is usually only between two weeks and 30 days before someone else could register it.

There are many domain registrars, and they all do the same thing, register your domains. Frequently people will register their domains where their website is hosted. We like Hover (and no-ones paying us to say that) to register domains because they offer free WHOIS Privacy and don't try to upsell you on anything during checkout.