Your Domain is Your Digital Doorstep
These days, a business’s domain is nearly synonymous with their name. Choosing the domain to represent your organization can be an intimidating task. Let us help your decision-making process by exploring what domains are, how to choose the right one, and how to manage it.
What is a Domain?
Whether you know it or not, you interact with domains all the time. Facebook.com, Twitch.net, In.gov, etc, are domains. A domain is a text representation of a unique designation, like a street address, it allows digital visitors to find you, whether by web or email. They must be unique; no two organizations can have the same domain. This uniqueness makes domains more secure by preventing other organizations from posing as each other. It also allows you to create a domain that closely matches your organization and can further your brand.
How to choose the right domain for your website
Choosing the right domain for your website can be easy for some and difficult for others depending on the organization’s name. As all domains must be unique, if your organizational name is unique, finding a domain will be a breeze. Conversely, if your name is generic, finding a domain may require tweaking your name and finding a compromise.
In general, acronym domains and single-word domains are very difficult to obtain; many were claimed decades ago and are valued at 5 or 6 figures. The simplest practice to find if a domain is available is to use a service like GoDaddy or NameCheap to search through the registry.
The simplest practice for choosing your domain is to replace the blank spaces with hyphens. For instance, Example Incorporated might first try “example-incorporated.com”. If that domain is taken, it's good practice to try different abbreviations, related acronyms, or removing non-relevant words. In this scenario, they might also try “exampleincorporated.com”, “example-inc.com”, “exampleinc.com”, “example.com”, or “ex-inc.com”.
When to Purchase a New Domain?
The right time to purchase a new domain can vary wildly depending on the organization. The most common is when you are finalizing your brand identity and deciding upon an organizational name. Launching with your domain is ideal for immediately establishing your identity, even if you only have a simple webpage and a single email address. Having your domain established on launch helps establish your brand, jumpstart your SEO, and separate you from competitors.
As your organization grows, you might consider buying domains at other times. It’s good practice to cover similar domains that visitors might mistype. For example, if you owned “example-incorporated.com”, you might consider “exampleincorporated.com” as well. Owning related domains can allow you to setup redirects that all funnel to the correct location.
Why Would I Need Multiple Domains?
This concept of domain redirection is crucial as your organization expands. Beyond capturing different variations of your branding, you can use domains to set up specific resources for specific departments, rebrand specific areas or services, incorporate acquired companies, and broaden your internet presence. For example, if Example Incorporated decided to separate its manufacturing services from its consulting, it might purchase “Example-manufacturing.com” and “Example-consulting.com”. With these domains they could setup new sites specific to those services, specific email tenants for those resources, or redirect both of those to specific pages like “example-incoroporated.com/manufacturing.”
What is Domain Name Service (DNS)?
Just as a great deal of effort is required to maintain physical mail addresses and phonebooks, managing domains requires work and expertise to maintain. The system that manages domains is called the Domain Name Service, or DNS, and has been working beautifully for decades. When you set up your domain, you’ll need to provide DNS with the proper records for DNS to identify your ownership and direct traffic to the correct locations.
Modifying DNS records requires specific expertise and industry knowledge of how DNS, email hosting, web hosting, and other policies work. Many domain registrars also offer DNS hosting, which refers to managing these records and ensuring they’re accessible to the internet.
Still Have Questions?
If you have any further questions about DNS hosting, Abstract has been buying, hosting, and consulting on domains for more than 15 years. Feel free to contact us with any additional questions you may have, we’d be happy to discuss.