Domain name advice hasn’t fully caught up to how search engines actually work today. A few old habits are worth reconsidering.
Keep it short and easy to say out loud
If you can’t say your domain name clearly over the phone without spelling it out, that’s a real cost — in referrals, in word of mouth, in people mistyping it later. Short and easy to pronounce beats clever most of the time.
Skip the hyphens and numbers
your-business-2 or your-business-llc are both harder to remember and easier to mistype than a clean, single word. If your ideal domain is taken, a slightly different name you own outright usually beats a hyphenated version of the one you wanted.
Do you need your keyword in the domain?
This used to be a real SEO advantage. It isn’t much of one anymore — modern search engines weigh your actual content and reputation far more heavily than whether “plumber” appears in your URL. A strong, memorable brand name with good on-page content will generally outperform an exact-match keyword domain with weak content.
.com vs. the alternatives
.com still carries the most built-in trust for most people, simply because it’s the default assumption. Newer extensions can work well when they’re relevant to the business, but if your ideal .com is available, it’s usually worth taking.
Once you’ve settled on a name, getting it hosted properly — with email, SSL, and backups included — is the easy part. That’s exactly what our hosting plans are built for.