As anyone savvy in the ways of the World Wide Web can tell you, a good domain name is a crucial factor in the success of a website. It can lead new consumers to your business, and at the same time provide your current customers with easy access to new features and conveniences. A good domain name does more than just give you a location on the Internet; it adds value to your brand and greatly increases your customer service potential.

However, finding such a name can be a tricky proposition. Everyone has encountered situations where bad spelling, odd hyphenation, and generally esoteric domain name choices have made it difficult to find a site. Often consumers trying to find one site will arrive at the site of a competitor, or even that of some entirely unrelated product. For this reason, it is very important that a company's domain name choice be carefully thought out. While this may seem to be a daunting task, following a few simple rules can make sure that your domain name allows your site to service the most consumers in the best way possible.

First and foremost, KEEP IT SHORT AND MEMORABLE. This really cannot be emphasized enough. The shorter a domain name is, the easier it will be for your consumers to remember, and the more likely they will be to find your site. This leads to satisfaction for your customers and profits for you. However, be wary of making a name too short. While some large, well-known companies can get away with using initials to denote their site, smaller firms will likely confuse consumers used to seeing the full company name.

You should also make sure to keep your domain name easy to spell. Odd spellings or uncommon words can make it more difficult for consumers to find your site, therefore limiting the amount of traffic you will receive. This is also true of multi-word names
that use hyphens; anytime you must explain exactly how to type in your domain name,
it's too complicated.

Secondly, make sure that consumers can directly relate your domain name to your business. This may seem commonsensical, but it's surprising how often firms violate this crucial tenet, using lesser-known industry jargon or including words or initials not commonly incorporated in the firm's name. If your business name follows the first rule (making it short and easy to remember), then this is the best choice for your domain name. However, if this isn't the case, you may want to consider using commonly related terms for the name. For example barnesandnoble.com also took the domain name books.com and used it to link to their main website. Using common terms in place of a complicated company name makes your site more accessible for consumers, and therefore equals profits for you.

Finally, be proactive about obtaining alternate domain names. While you want all consumers to make it to the same website, it is inevitable that some people will get your domain name wrong, no matter how simple and intuitive it may be.

This being the case, you should take precaution against their mistakes: register domain names of common misspellings, your website name in plural form, your website name in .com, .net, and .org. You can then configure all of these sites to forward consumers to your primary website. Allowing for these common mistakes permits you to greatly increase the accessibility of your website.

Finding the right domain name is a necessary step in establishing a solid online company presence. Unfortunately, it is all too easy to label yourself with a name that constructs a barrier between your firm and the consumers that are trying to reach you. Following these rules, however, can assure you a domain name that will not only provide the maximum convenience for your current customer base, but also bring in new clients and increase your market share.