Your domain name, or URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address that the web uses to make it easy for humans to find your website. You use URLs every day:
Google.com
Apple.com
CNN.com
are all domain names and they make it easy to find a website. Web servers (we'll get to those soon) use names for addresses; they use numbers. For instance, the actual computer address for Google.com is 172.217.3.206. That's not so easy to remember, so we use domain names instead.
Registering a domain name is easy. For instance, we recommend using NameCheap, as their prices and customer support are great (about $11 a year for a domain). It's important to know that you don't own your domain name; you simply register it for your studio and get to use it as long as you maintain that registration. You'll have to pay each year to renew, and if you forget to renew it, you'll likely lose your domain and someone else will register it. If you choose for Waxwing Interactive to create your site, we take care of the domain registration and annual renewal fees as part of our service.
Choosing a domain name has become more difficult over time. When the internet was new, you had a wide variety of choices for domains, but as more and more businesses get online, it's become more challenging. Today, a little creativity is necessary, but you have to be careful.
Here are some basic tips for choosing a great domain name for your studio:
- Try to get a .com or .net or .org domain name. Over the last few years, domain registrars have released a slew of new top level domains (TLDs) for registration, and there are about 1,500 of these available now. These include things like .health, .co, and .studio. While Google claims that all domains are created equal and some research shows that these new domains rank OK in the search results, some of these domains are associated with spam and it's best to avoid them. Another concern is clients who might not trust your site because of the odd domain extension.
- Start with your studio name. For instance, one of our client's had a studio name of Puget Sound Pilates, and they were able to get pugetsoundpilates.com. Using your business name for your domain will also help your Search Engine Optimization (SEO), so it's always good to go that route, if possible.
- Your second best choice after your studio name is to include your city name. For instance, if your studio name is Balanced Pilates, you're going to find that there are quite a few studios with the same name and that domain is already registered. If you're located in Omaha, you could then search for domains like these:
Omahabalancedpilates.com or .net Balancedpilatesomaha.com or .net
Unfortunately, these domains aren't the most user friendly, which is the next step:
- Keep your domain short and simple. While most clients will find your website via a search engine, you'll want to put your domain on your studio branding and encourage them to visit your site if they find you offline. For those cases, you'll want to choose a domain that's easy to remember and type. Something like:
Omahapilates.com
PilatesOmaha.com
It's also possible to choose one main domain for your site and then also register extra domains specifically to use for marketing, but it's easier to keep it to one to avoid confusion.