What is a domain name and how do you choose one?
A website is an important starting point for many entrepreneurs, but for this you need a domain name. You can find all the information here!
If you are going to start your own business, nowadays it is almost impossible to do so without a website. If you want to build it yourself or have it built you need a domain name. But what is a domain name, and how do you choose one?
What is a domain name?
A domain name is an easy-to-remember link to the address of your website. Just like a house, every website has an address, this is called an ip address. The ip address consists of a series of ten digits. Partly to make the Internet more accessible and easier to navigate, domain names were introduced.
So a domain name is the name you type into the address bar to get to a particular website. In our case, hustl.nl is the domain name. A domain name consists of two parts, the first part is often the name of your company or what your site should be called. Then comes an extension which is often a country code: nl for the Netherlands, be for Belgium, fr for France, etc. The most popular extension is .com because it is used internationally. Besides these extensions, there are many other domain extensions possible such as .work, .design, etc.
How do you choose a domain name?
It is important to choose a good domain name. It is the sign of your website and can influence how many visitors you receive. If you already have a company name it is of course easiest to use that as the name. If your site is Dutch, it’s also best to use .nl as the extension. When you don’t have a company name yet, it’s more difficult because then you have to come up with one. There are a number of aspects you should pay attention to:
- Recognizable and easy
By coming up with a recognizable and unique name, people will remember it better. This will ensure that people can easily come back to your website. - Short and simple
Try not to make your name too long and difficult. This makes it harder to remember and you want to prevent people from making typos. - Relevant
Having a domain name that is relevant to what you sell or do with your site will attract the right people to your site. It also ensures that you are more findable when people search for your product.
What does a domain name cost?
It is necessary to register a domain name for your website, but there is also a cost associated with this. Fortunately, the costs are not high. Usually you pay a few euros per month. Often you will also get a substantial discount in the first year.
A .nl, .be or .fr website is usually even cheaper, less than 1 euro. The price differs per extension; for a .com domain name you pay more than when you would choose a .nl one.
What if a domain name is already taken?
It may be that the domain name you came up with is already taken. Now what? If your chosen name is already taken there are several things you can do. First, you should consider how much you like the name you came up with. If you don’t think the name is very important or if you are not yet attached to it, then you can think of another one. If this is the case then you have two options. You could look for another extension. If the .nl extension is already taken, you could consider a .com or if you have a travel blog a .travel for example. This way you can keep the same name and only the extension is different.
Do you really want the .nl version of the name you’ve thought of while it’s already taken? That can be arranged! You can then buy the company name from the person who owns it. However, you must take into account that there are high costs involved. Regularly, several hundred euros or even more are asked for a domain name. For this reason it is important to register your domain name as soon as possible when you start your own business. If you do not do this and someone is ahead of you, this can lead to major problems or high costs.
