How to choose a domain name that works for you

Your domain name is the address where people find you: yourbusiness.com. It looks like a detail, but it’s one of the few choices you carry for years. A good name follows you everywhere: on your business card, in your email signature, on your truck. A bad one, you regret every time you have to spell it out over the phone. Here’s how to get it right the first time.

Short, simple, easy to say out loud

The best test: imagine giving out your address to someone at a party, shouting over the music. If they can type it without you spelling it, you’ve won. Aim short, avoid words that can be spelled ten ways, and steer clear of hyphens and numbers: “north-garage-2” is a nightmare to dictate.

• Short above all: the shorter it is, the fewer typos people make.
• No hyphens or numbers if you can avoid them.
• Easy to write when heard. Think word of mouth.
• Skip clever puns nobody gets when spoken aloud.

.com, .ca or .quebec?

The .com is still everyone’s reflex: if you can get it, take it. The .ca sends a clear “local business” signal, perfect if you mainly serve a Canadian audience. The .quebec exists too and proudly flies your colours. My advice: pick one as your main address, and if your budget allows, reserve the other variants so nobody grabs them in your place.

Check that it’s free everywhere

Before you fall in love with a name, check two things: that the domain is available, but also that the name isn’t already taken on social media and that no nearby business already uses it. Nothing worse than launching your brand and realizing a competitor three streets away has almost the same name.

Buy it under your name, not your “web guy’s”

This is the mistake that costs the most, and I see it far too often. Your domain must be registered under YOUR name, in YOUR account, with YOUR card. If the provider holds it “as a favour,” you become their hostage the day you want to leave. A domain belongs to you: keep control of the account, always.

Your domain name is yours for life as long as you renew it. Never let someone else hold the keys.

One last tip: turn on auto-renewal. A domain that expires because a reminder got lost in spam can make your site and email vanish overnight. If all this feels like a maze, write me. I can help you choose, register and wire it all up cleanly, under your name.