Do you want to start an e-commerce business but are wondering which domain name to choose? If so, be careful not to make a hasty choice that you may later regret. Choosing the right domain name is crucial if you want to succeed. Here’s how it works.
Important for SEO?
You might think that choosing the right domain name is important for natural referencing. While this may have been true in the past, it’s not really what matters most these days. Before thinking about Google’s robots, think first and foremost about your human customers! For them, your domain name will be the first glimpse of what your brand represents. So your entire marketing strategy will be affected if you choose a name that isn’t really relevant.
But what about keywords?
Well, no, they’re best avoided. In the early 2000s, we all saw those horrible sites with domain names made up of keywords, which were in fact just pages stuffed with ads. And Google didn’t like that. Since then, the algorithms have changed, and you risk being penalised. For good natural referencing, today you need a name that corresponds to a real brand, and not to a type of product that you want to sell.
Create a real brand identity
If you sell goods or services in a physical space, you first have to choose a name, don’t you? Well, it’s the same thing on the web! The key to choosing a good domain name is to find one that’s easy to remember. Take Amazon, for example: the name has nothing to do with the books or other products they sell, yet we all know what it means! Alternatively, you can opt for a name that evokes the concept of your site, but it doesn’t have to fit perfectly with your products. For example, the Zoo Plus site evokes animals in the broadest sense, and that works well enough for people to remember what they sell.
Don’t settle for just one domain name
Choosing the right domain name means buying not only the .fr domain name, but also the other most common extensions. If you don’t, you run the risk of clever competitors playing on your brand’s proximity, especially if yours is more famous than theirs. Think about homonyms, too, or the different possible spellings: if your name can be spelled differently, chances are some people will get confused. So help them find you as much as possible by anticipating possible mistakes!
What about second-hand names?
A second-hand domain name can be useful, as it already has a past in Google’s eyes. But be careful! If it’s a bad one, you’re better off not using it. What’s more, second-hand names can be extremely expensive, because some people have sniffed out the good stuff and decided long ago to squat on the most in-demand names.
