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Being Instantly Recognized Online

A key aspect of building your personal or business brand online is being instantly recognizable through your business name or brand. This is why it is imperative for you to have a clear and unique business name, and register your matching domain name as soon as you can. Your business name and domain name, are ideally the same thing. This will help you build your brand and create consistency across your site and various online platforms. Even if you are not ready to start a website, registering your domain name right away, ensures that once you are prepared to move forward with a site, you will have that part already taken care of.

A key aspect of building your personal or business brand online is being instantly recognizable through your business name or brand. Click To Tweet

It is wise to buy your business name as a domain, as it will be how people find your business online, and tell you apart from others who may have similar offerings. You could look at your domain name as your online phone number. Through this unique string of characters people will easily and quickly find you on the internet, without having to rely on Google or other sources to find you. Not having a domain name is like not having a direct line to reach you, and that could hinder the growth and credibility of your business. The easier you make it for people to find you, the better results you will see in the long run. Purchasing and registering your domain name is one of the very first steps for getting your business online exposure through the creation of a blog or website.

Using a personal name or company name for your domain name?

Your domain name plays a crucial role in your overall branding strategy, so it is important to select your domain name based on your business goals and long term vision. A good tip is to double check that your chosen domain name is available as a twitter handle and Facebook page. This keeps your personal or business brand consistent across all networks and makes it easy for people to identify who you are. It is best practice to run your business under a business name, other than your personal name. This will set you up for future growth. If you intend on hiring people, and eventually having a team, it is easier to do when you have a business name that is not your personal name.

Your domain name plays a crucial role in your overall branding strategy, so it is important to select your domain name based on your business goals and long term vision. Click To Tweet

However, If you also want to register your own name and it is available I would highly recommend buying it as well. A good practice is to own your first and last name as a domain and point it back to your main company website to start out. This gives you the flexibility in case five years down the road you decide to change your mind about the direction or vision of your business. In going this route, you also have the advantage of building your business around your personal brand, which is a great idea for coaches, authors or speakers. This is not always the best route for other less personal, and more serious types of businesses.

Keep it simple and don’t make people think!

Domain names should be short, easy to spell, and easy to remember. I highly recommend .com’s or .nets and if neither is available .co can be a good alternative. Usually when people see a website with dashes in the name like social-media-today.com they instantly come off as less serious and less professional than domain names without dashes. Usually having symbols like dashes, or other non-letter characters can create confusion or frustration, as it is easier to misspell or mistype.

When the domain you want is already taken you can try to add words like : my, online, guide, or blog. If you are wanting a domain like simplewidget.com, and it is not available you can also try to look for plural alternatives like simplewidgets.com. Usually domain names that are clear and don’t need an explanation, will give you the best results. It’s good practice to keep it simple, and don’t make people think too much.

Usually domain names that are clear and don’t need an explanation, will give you the best results. Click To Tweet

There have been instances where people use cre8tive in their domain name for example, and that is not easy to read off over the phone. While this may seem fun, creative, and different, it can create confusion when you are explaining to someone, “ we are a creative agency, but creative is spelled with an 8 . . . ” that can potentially start you off in the wrong foot with a potential client. Simplicity pays off in the long run, so keep this in mind when buying and register your business domain name.

If you are having trouble finding a good one …

If you are just starting your business and you can’t find a domain name that you want, there are online resources that can help you find something that may otherwise show up as taken. Sometimes people register domains but are not using them and they may be thinking about letting them expire, or people could be open to selling domains they don’t use or need.

Godaddy has a database of domain names that have recently expired and are available to purchase, but they may not show up as available in the main search results. Check out godaddy’s domain auctions, but beware that some domain names could be considered “premium” and cost much more than a standard domain name that is available

There are some benefits of buying expired domain names that could potentially help your business. It is widely known that Google looks at the age of your domain for ranking purposes, as well as many other factors. If your domain has been registered for 7 years, it will carry more weight than a website with similar content that has only been registered for 2 years. Usually the domain name with the most age and backlinks will rank higher than newly registered domain names.

When you register a brand new domain name or an aged domain, it is recommend that you register your business domain name for at least 3 – 5 years. Again, Google tends to favor websites with domains that are registered for a long period of time, even if they were just purchased yesterday.

When you register a brand new domain name or an aged domain, it is recommend that you register your business domain name for at least 3 – 5 Click To Tweet

Another thing to keep in mind is if you want a private registration or a public one. Going with a public one means that your name, address, and e-mail can be published for people to find out who the domain name belongs to. If you are concerned about privacy, it would be best to go with a private registration.

When you register your business domain never pay the full price! Try to Google “ ( current month ) Godaddy promo code” and you will more than likely find promo codes where you can buy a domain name for $2.49 or less.

Look at your domain name, and website, it as a business investment, and branding tool that will help you build a sustainable business.

When we think Search Engine we think of Google . . .

Think about it! A search engine is a giant collection of knowledge, data, and specialized information that is organized and located in a central location. When we think search engine, we often think of the biggest ones like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. (Ok just Google, who are we kidding?! Huh?! ) Search engines are obvious because we use them every day and have become so used to relying on them for information. But if we really stop and think about it, each and every single person on this planet is that highly specialized search engine shock-full of awesome valuable information that is highly specialized, highly specific, and more than likely very valuable to other people! Everyone has gifts, talents, life experiences, and unique skills that they can share with the world.

My son and my sister are search engines too!

For example my son is a search engine about movies, toys, and kid stuff. Ask him anything about angry birds or say a quote from one of The Transformer movies and he will know which movie it is, who said it, and which movie it was in. He is a smart boy and is developing his knowledge but already at age 5 he is a search engine. Our accumulation of knowledge and skills starts early on in life, and over time we become a giant conglomerate of information. My sister is a search engine about anything that has to do with beauty. She blends chemicals in her head like a boss, and has no trouble in determining how she can turn a brunette into a blonde without turning their hair green. (I’ve been told this happens often, ouch!) She knows all about makeup, lotions, fragrances, you name it! She is a beauty search engine, amongst other things. My point is that each and every single human being has special knowledge, the ability to process information, categorize it, and organize it in ways that search engines can’t even dream of! We are walking, talking encyclopedias (if you can still remember what those were back in the day! )

Turns out you’re a search engine too!

So no matter who you are, or what your background is I guarantee that you can take your specialized knowledge and create a product to share it with people who are interested in learning more about what it is that you do so well. You have a gift and you need to shine and share it with the world! Nobody knows the things exactly like you. Nobody will teach them the same way, no one else has your personality. No one else has had the same personal experiences or stories. In all reality there is not a soul on earth who can do anything quite like you. So this means that you can leverage this to easily sell yourself and sell your knowledge through some serious product creation.

Shine and share your knowledge with the world!

So stop thinking of search engines as some kind of technical robot crawling the web and start looking at opportunities that you may have to share your knowledge with the world. You are a search engine, a mighty sophisticated one, you are a powerhouse of knowledge! Have you thought about creating your own product? Think for a minute what do you believe you do better than anyone else? What are you really good at and could kick anyone’s butt at? What is something you love to do? Something you are so interested in that you could talk about for hours? Think about it. Also think about a way to capture your special ability in digital format for easy sales and distribution.

Package your knowledge and sell yourself!

Google states that more than 70% of search queries are new every single day. The chances are high that whatever topic you have a lot of knowledge in, someone out there is interested in learning more about it. Only catch is that someone out there may be in Canada, or Mexico, or Texas (Hey I believe Texas is it’s own country ok! Just Kidding, well kinda…) Find a way to package your knowledge and get creative about how you deliver it and chances are high that you may be astonished with the results. Even if you have a job, it is completely possible to create your own product on the side, the sooner you start the sooner you will make extra money!

Think and think fast! Be the search engine about your topic, be the go-to person about it and strut your stuff! After all search engines are only giant collections of data, add your personality, add your charisma, and personal story and you’ve got a super powered highly specialized walking talking search engine! How about that for Google competition? ( Did you say “Google can’t touch this!” That’s right!

Domain Name Best Practices For Personal or Business Branding